Welcome to Plant Exchange Blog on the Northern Plains, USDA Hardiness Zone 4-5a. Snow, cold, and fluctuating temperatures outside result in plants wintering in dormancy or adapting antifreeze features. Blooming plants are uncommon until at least near spring. While blooms are hard to find outdoors now, indoors, some enjoy the challenge of continuing care for … Continue reading
Filed under Container Gardens …
Try Strawflowers Again
Strawflowers (Xerocurysum bracteatum), also called Paper Daisies or Golden Everlasting, are a commonly found summer annual that blooms from summer to frost in this region. Colors include red, orange, pink, purple, yellow, white, and others. The herb is rather avoided by chewing mammals. Native to Australia and a perennial there in about USDA Hardiness 8-11, strawflowers … Continue reading
Palms From the Land of Milk and Honey
Palms are trees that grow in the full sun of warm and dry or humid climates, such as the Middle East, northern Africa, the European Mediterranean, Mexico, California, Florida, and Arizona. Not here on the Northern Plains. Waving palm fronds at a Palm Sunday church service and eating dates in a Christmas fruitcake is a … Continue reading
Cole Crops for Cool Weather
What can grow at this time of year when it is 29 degrees F. today with wind from the north? As Fall deteriorates, cool weather becomes harder to ignore. But gardeners often gamble and plant a few seeds for the mild shoulder season that we have had so far. Cole crops, varieties related to cabbage … Continue reading
Time for a Change in Vegetable and Flower Gardening Methods?
Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village archeological remains from a thousand years ago in this Northern Plains region show evidence of Three Sisters vegetable gardening methods, saved seeds, and corn cob fossils about three or four inches in length. Immigrants to the Northern Plains in the late 1800s saw that some Native Americans who grew produce used … Continue reading
More Happy Days of Summer with Sunflowers
Some of the best parts of summer are when there are few days left. Lots of sunflowers, symbols of happy days, grow here. In our region of the United States, archeologists have found evidence of corn, bean, squash, sunflower and amaranth cultivation about 1000 A.D. Sunflowers can be found planted in a field in this … Continue reading
Black-eyed Susans and other Rudbeckias
Black-eyed Susans grow in lots of yards in this USDA zone 4-5a region. The perennial, full-sun, yellow flower mounds appear by summer and bloom into fall. Their bold color and easy maintenance make them attractive for borders. Black-eyed Susans and other Rudbeckias are featured this week as attractive, hardy North American native plants with large … Continue reading
Lettuce and Spring Go Together
People who like to eat fresh produce and gardeners might have lettuce in common. Spring growing conditions for lettuce is usually favorable. It’s easy to be enthusiastic with an early green thumb success in spring. Lettuce harvested, washed, and on the plate couldn’t be tastier. Would you like to grow your salad greens? Materials: A … Continue reading
Goals for the Garden Season
Before the daffodils bloom and the first turn of the soil, I consider a shortlist of what I aim for this gardening season. Add More Native Plants They are more adapted to the environment and thrive year to year, require less watering once established, and are more likely to benefit pollinators and other wildlife. More … Continue reading
Grow Your Favorite Houseplant
Even with spring beginning on the calendar, it’s early to move gardening beyond last season’s sanitation outdoors. While the weather settles, a creative outlet with a favorite indoor plant is to propagate cuttings. If it works, you’ll have more plants, like this begonia, to keep or share with others. If you’ve ever included Coleus leaves … Continue reading
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