Welcome to Plant Exchange Blog on the Northern Plains! Our region is USDA Zone 4-5a and spring is in arrested development after heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures. Instead of what’s blooming here, let’s look at flowers at the United States Botanic Gardens in our nation’s capital. The Washington, D.C. area has had a mild spring. … Continue reading
Filed under Landscape Design …
Bouquet of Ideas
It’s a snowy day at Plant Exchange Blog. The kind of day to think about the yard and flowerbeds for next season and enjoy a peony bouquet of ideas. Below is a suburban city lot in the Midwest. The homeowner skillfully created a soil berm in the flat yard that displays all the flowerbed plants … Continue reading
Before We Forget Colors of Autumn
Fall color plants can be the high point of the growing season. Annuals that were stars all summer, disappear with frost, leaving space for cold-tolerant plants to take center stage. Some are easy to grow. One of many plants that display color in fall in this region is the hardy chrysanthemum. It’s a perennial commonly … Continue reading
Wayne’s Hobby Garden
We look for what adds dimension and a bit of passion to an ordinary day. Wayne Nelson-Stastny says his vegetable and ornamental gardening hobby adds to his mind, body, and spirit. The way he chooses to garden, he is involved in it most of the year. His plans for the garden include seeds from many cultures. … Continue reading
Dependable Woodland Tobacco
As the growing season ends, some plants have contributed extra for their part in the flower garden. Here, one of them is Woodland Tobacco (Nicotiana sylvestris). It’s is an ornamental plant that grows as a direct-seeded annual in this region. It’s a member of the Nightshade family (Solanaceae) that contains potatoes, tomatoes, and eggplant. Its origins … Continue reading
Yard that Celebrates Summer
Paula and Dan Hicks have generated a yard that celebrates summer. Flowers turn heads from spring to fall. Many visited their yard on the Missouri Valley Master Gardener Yard and Garden Tour in June. Salmon blossoms and bright green foliage against their white-washed red brick house, red and purple petunias cascading from a décor cart, … Continue reading
Thoughts About Garden Photos
Paul Harens is a retired Yankton High School language arts and social studies teacher who now has time to learn more about photography. His interest in plants goes back to childhood and he combines gardening and preserving what he sees. Harens is self-taught but also learns from others in the Yankton Area Photography Club. His … Continue reading
Landscape Designer’s Yard
How people make their yards one-of-a-kind, is amazing. At a regional Garden Writers Association tour held in western Michigan last summer, Cami Geschwendt, a professional landscape designer, showed her private suburban yard. Trees, perennials, flowers and sculptures are dominant elements in her design. Let’s take a peek: Among the pansies, a sculpture container wears a … Continue reading
Elements of a Welcoming Home Entrance
How do we create more inviting front entrances for our homes? Let’s tour the front entrance of Andy and Jen Holst to see how they applied their creativity to making their front entrance welcoming. Their yard was a part of the Master Gardener garden tour last summer. Their yard in Yankton has an intimate front … Continue reading
Origami in the Garden
We at Plant Exchange Blog send you wishes for peace in 2019. “Rising Cranes” by Kevin Box is displayed in nature in a garden at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, Spring, 2018. The origami is made of powder-coated cast stainless steel on steel. Cranes are associated with peace around the world.
