Garden Bloggers Bloom Day— April 15th

Welcome to Plant Exchange on the Northern Plains. We’re USDA Zone 4b-5a and having a couple of weeks of cool temperatures after an early spring warming. We’re featuring a few perennials and trees in bloom now. Hellebores have been in bloom since last month when it snowed, and the sturdy and droopy flowers fit this … Continue reading →

Which Echinacea Coneflowers are Better?

Echinacea or coneflower is a perennial native flower staple in this Northern Plains region (USDA 4b-5a) for its beauty, long bloom season, hardiness in dry periods, ability to overwinter, and pollinator attraction. A bit more growing information about Echinacea may be useful. In the past decade, more cultivars of Echinacea have been developed to give … Continue reading →

Would You Like to Try a Garden Cover?

Spring is here!  The first naturalized daffodil to bloom! The weather beckons to start the garden season on the Northern Plains. Likely ahead, at least a month, is unsettled weather with gusty winds, roller coaster temperatures, and grab-a-book-and read-outside days. Maybe you’d like to consider a garden cover for some root vegetables in early spring. Garden … Continue reading →

Caring for Starter Plants

Spring is here Plant Exchange! Children and the rest of us may soon enjoy sweet summer cherry tomatoes on the patio. Flowerbeds always have room for more Black-eyed Susans. These can be yet be grown from seed in this region in time to transplant into the garden. The recent post “Time to Start Transplant Seeds” … Continue reading →

Dibbles and Bits

Today at Plant Exchange, we’re featuring bits about a flower’s nectar supply, thoughts before planting, and plant pests from the USA. How soon does a flower visited by pollinators replace its nectar? Nectar attracts pollinators to the flower and then helps the plant by moving pollen to other flowers.  Natalie Hamilton for Smithsonian magazine, December 2020, responded … Continue reading →

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day-March 15th

Welcome to Plant Exchange on the Northern Plains, USDA Zone 4b-5a. Temperatures are fluctuating, averaging highs in the 50’s and lows in the 30’s. The ice is off area lakes and days have been mild enough for some trees to flower. Snow fell wet and heavy overnight but is beginning to melt. Moisture is welcome. … Continue reading →

Time to Start Transplant Seeds

Spring is here, according to migrating birds, budding and flowering trees.  If you’re thinking about starting seeds for the flower or vegetable garden, the garden catalogs, back of seed packets, and sites you “Google” have information.  Seeds from catalogs offer a wider variety of choices than garden centers. Maybe you’re looking for a bloom color … Continue reading →

More Sunflowers

Sunflowers are an easy-to-grow Northern Plains flower. If you plant them by direct seeding after the last spring frost, they’ll grow to produce large flowers in August and September. Adaptable self-seeded native sunflowers add summer yellow in road ditches and vacant lots. Cultivated sunflowers in garden seed packets have large flowers like the photos here … Continue reading →

Consider Perennials to Plant

With the latest layers of snow mostly melted, we begin to think about what perennials we’d like to include in our gardens this season. Adding color is a lift. Echinacea cultivars add color variety and intensity. Columbine flowers add delicacy to a flowerbed. Asters bloom later in summer. Rudbeckias are a natural part of summer … Continue reading →