Itea virginica Virginia sweetspire is a lovely shrub for adding a different texture to a landscape. Understated and low maintenance, Virginia sweetspire is one of those natives that you plant and then leave alone to grow naturally. It is best suited for informal borders or hedges where its naturally rounded, graceful form can be left [...]

There aren’t many good things one can say about an extended drought. Really, it’s pretty difficult to come up with even one. But a result of this terrible Southern drought actually has me smiling every time I drive through the neighborhood right now. Believe it or not, our neighborhood Invasive Forest, as I call it, is [...]

Usually I get all excited finding something new in the garden or the pond. This week, I’m saddened to report that my pond has finally been infiltrated by invasive applesnails that wreak havoc on Florida’s waters. I can’t tell whether they are Island Applesnails (Pomacea insularum) or Channeled Applesnails (P. canaliculata). I haven’t seen any [...]

Today while I was browsing the kitchenware section of my favorite “big box store,” I picked up an item which announced that it was made from bamboo—“the fastest growing plant on earth.” I have no doubt that the product I was holding was probably friendlier to the environment than one made of wood. Still, I [...]

This week is National Invasive Species Awareness Week Garlic Mustard ~ Alliaria petiolata We have at least another month before we’ll start to see bare ground here in Minnesota. During a January thaw, the snow on our south slope melted away for a couple of days. I looked out our kitchen window and saw a [...]

Bush honeysuckle has been my gardening nemesis since I decided to let my suburban yard revert to the oak/hickory forest that was here 60 years ago.  Our back yard was filled with tall canopy trees, what passed for lawn and  a small bit of the former forest tucked in the way back. In my new [...]