Terri and I have done presentations about asters, goldenrods, and coneflowers to several groups. We heard they were helpful, so we took sections of the presentation and created a series of videos. The series includes: Part 1: Overview, Classification, the Asteraceae Family (Length ~ 6:16) Part 2: Asters (Length ~ 10:25) Part 3: Goldenrods (Length…
Category: Garden Care
It’s Spring! Oh No… Weeds and Invasives!
Like everyone else, we’re excited about the coming of spring! Terri recently posted about the early shoots of perennials and the season of spring wildflowers emerging. Bluebirds and other birds are busy and spring peepers are raising their voices. Seeing everything greening up feels so good! Then we see them… weeds and invasive plants! Early…
A Photo Summary of Winter Sowing
An overview was given in a November blogpost which stated my intention to do winter sowing at the end of December or very early January. But here it is, the end of January. It’s possible that some of the seeds will not get the full length of cold they require because I got started so…
Helping Pollinators Overwinter (Part II)
In Part I of Helping Pollinators Overwinter, I concluded by saying the dormancy of pollinators varies a lot. They are dormant in different ways and in different stages. The location of nests and shelters are also varied. This means as we garden in fall and winter that we need to give care to ground disturbances,…
Helping Pollinators Overwinter (Part I)
Ensuring our landscapes have host plants, nectar, and other aspects of native habitat during growing seasons is very important for biodiversity. The increased awareness of this is making a positive impact on how people garden. Unfortunately, this progress can be undermined if we do not also help insects and other creatures survive fall and winter….
Dangling Coneflowers
It’s the time of year when we regularly go out and hunt for dangling flower heads, particularly on Purple Coneflowers, Rosinweed, Cup Plant, and Compass Plant. Unfortunately we are starting to see this kind of damage on other flowers like Black-Eyed Susan, Orange Coneflower, Green-headed Coneflower, and False Sunflower. The damage is from the Sunflower…
Maintenance of Paths in the Garden
A walk on winding paths through landscape beds takes us away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. With native plants growing on either side of a wood chip path, we can appreciate what these plants add to the landscape. I usually enjoy weeding, with one exception. I detest weeding paths. I want to…
Catchfly Commons 