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
Filed under Container Gardens …
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
Dibbles and Bits
Topics for Plant Exchange Blog include the benefits of a clay plant container, Bayer and glyphosate, and the American Horticultural Society that helped develop hardiness and heat zone maps for gardeners. Porous pots such as clay can help maintain water flow for potted plants. Plants need adequate soil moisture, with the excess water leaving the container … Continue reading
Houseplants to Brighten a Winter Day
In morning winter silence on a walk by the Missouri River, water that slowed before the Gavins Point Dam lies solid. The mile and a half or so across this lake is a panorama of frozen motion. Occasional booming echoes from some fissure, some crack in eight-inch or so layer as water from upstream presses … Continue reading
Garden Winners
Who doesn’t want flower or vegetable plants that grow well with abundant foliage and flowers? When they are grown in your region of the country and compared to similar plants and still have stand-out qualities, that’s a winner. All-America Selections is a national non-profit plant trialing organization that acquaints the public with new cultivars. Impartial gardening … Continue reading
Dibbles and Bits
We’re looking at winter interest, rewilding, and season wind-down for today’s Plant Exchange. ***Nearly mid-December, the first “shoveling” flips the landscape into contrasts we haven’t seen for a year. Now the red hues of Little Bluestem and Miscanthus appear against white snow cover. Snowcaps adorn the spent golden yarrow from summer. No wonder this is … Continue reading
For the Birds
From early December on, seeds, berries, and insects become harder to find after the growing season. Some bird enthusiasts provide supplemental feeder food that draws them closer for observation. Sometimes turkeys are the clean-up crew. While having coffee on the deck last summer, a motionless hummingbird perched on a plant container trellis for a moment. … Continue reading
Another Favorite Plant
A season standout at Plant Exchange Blog is two cultivars of Rudbeckia. The mother plant is native to North America. It grows well in clay soil and is tolerant of drought and deer. Blooms are at least 3 inches in diameter and, in summer and fall, form a canopy of golden blooms like their relative, … Continue reading
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