Redefining the Beauty of Nature and Wildlife in Our Gardens
Looking for a native American plant that offers show-stopping flowers as well as food for birds, butterflies and other pollinators? Liatris is a good pick! Liatris has showy flowers (usually pink-purple but also found in white) supplying summer pollen and nectar for pollinators of all shapes and sizes, and the seeds are a favorite with [...]
Here I go again, touting another exotic plant. This time it’s the mum ‘Sheffield’. I had a hard time tracking down the correct name, as it’s variously listed as Chrysanthemum x rubellum ‘Sheffield’ or ‘Hillside Sheffield Pink’ or ‘Sheffield Pink’. It also goes by Chrysanthemum koreana, Chrysanthemum morifolium, Chrysanthemum x grandiflorum, and in a sadly misguided taxonomic [...]
Are you a Rose lover as well as a wildlife lover? Do you love the smell and beautiful colors of Roses but don’t want to go through all of the trouble of deadheading your Rose bushes all the time? Some species of Roses, particularly the Rugusa Rose and other shrub type roses will give your garden an extra display of beauty without any additional work on your part. [...]
Photo by Bio Trek An interesting plant for the beautiful wildlife garden here in Northern California is the California Dutchman’s Pipe (Aristolochia californica). This deciduous vine has heart-shaped leaves and its pipe-shaped flowers are purple-striped. These true vines can reach 60 feet high when climbing up trees. Aristolochia is most often found hanging around hard-wood, [...]
Friday was a glorious day here in Northern Illinois, so I couldn’t resist a walk through the prairie and savanna at Cuba Marsh. While enjoying the scenery, I got to thinking that it’s the perfect place to find inspiration for a beautiful wildlife garden. In her post Sticks and Stones, Kathy Green also recommended taking [...]
When buying plants for the wildlife garden I almost always choose perennials. Most of them are indigenous to the Central Basin of Middle Tennessee. They have adapted to the unique environment that makes gardening here challenging and fun. But, I have a deep appreciation for annuals. They are among the best nectar plants for hummingbirds, [...]
Also known as Seven Sons Flower for its arrangement of blooms in groups of seven, this large shrub or small tree from Asia is a relative newcomer to Western horticulture. Yes, I’m once again advocating a non-native plant, but Heptacodium miconiodes’ fragrant blooms are so popular with the bees and butterflies. I even saw a [...]
Do you want to know a secret? Purple Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) are very rarely true purple but they always provide a welcome mat for pollinators in the beautiful wildlife garden. The native Purple Coneflower (Zone 3 – 9) is a species in the genus Echinacea and can be found thoughout much of the United States. This beautiful [...]
Late summer is the season when many of our beautiful wildlife garden perennials, trees and shrubs come into their own. Colorful foliage, deep colored berries and the bright blooms shine against the rest of the fading summer garden. One of my very favorites blooming now is the American native wildflower Heliopsis helianthoides, commonly known as [...]
Name: Eupatorium purpureum ‘Joe-Pye Weed’ Zones: 4 to 10b Size: 6 – 13 feet, taller if given moist conditions Conditions: Full sun “Hey Jopi, over here, I’ll take some.” That was a common cry to a healer in Boston named Jopi or Joe-Pye. Jopi was a native American colonist and local healer who made a tonic from [...]
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