Apples are reliable fruits grown on the Northern Plains since homesteaders settled the west. As for the variety of apples we see in the produce display today, the kinds of apples just seem to expand. This week’s Plant Exchange Blog focus is on the Honeycrisp and a few related apples. David Bedford is a member … Continue reading
An Indoor Accent Plant–Fiddle Leaf Fig
Houseplants dress our homes like containers of flowers highlight an area or echo a theme outdoors. Trees and shrubs may be the anchors in an outdoor room, but indoors, large plants can assume that role. Fiddle Leaf fig (Ficus lyrata) can be the anchor for a room full of houseplants. Welcome to Plant Exchange Blog. … Continue reading
New Seeds Gardeners Might Try
Maybe this spring you’d like to try a few new seeds for the garden. With the energy building for the new season, we’d like to make smart choices. All-America Selections (AAS) is a non-profit organization that asks horticulture professionals to field test new flower and vegetable seeds throughout the country. Our region is called the … Continue reading
Add to Enjoyment With Plants
Evergreens planted so you can see them from indoors, like this upright mugo pine Pinus mugo ‘Tannenbaum’, are a pleasing contrast on a snowy day. Today we’ll consider a few common indoor plants that flourish in enough sunlight on the Northern Plains. Boston fern stays full and green in a Southern exposure. It receives a … Continue reading
Days of Solitude
One of the features of the Northern Plains is days of solitude. I started a stroll around the yard, feeling the burden of a snowy day. There lay the outline of yarrow in snow I had hadn’t noticed all winter. Silent birdhouse by one of the deer trails. Snow is heavy on the spruce, but … Continue reading
Plant Bits
It’s a cold day in the Dakotas, but a great day to do catch up reading here at Plant Exchange Blog. These are some garden-related topics on attracting more butterflies in the yard, like this monarch on Agastache. Also there’s an item on free leaf mulch, attracting more kinds of birds and a possible perennial … 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
Lewis & Clark Recreation Area Pollinator Plots and Tree Update
Now is a fine time to plan flowers for pollinators. Maybe the hobby wildflower grower will find some tips here. At Lewis & Clark Recreation Area, two 3-acre pollinator plots are at the entrance to the state park. This past early July, the plots were filled with native wildflowers and native grasses. In this mid-summer … Continue reading
Swiss Chard, a Tasty Winter Treat Indoors
In winter, it is hard to find purchased greens that maintain freshness very long and are tasty. Swiss chard has a mild flavor and is easy to grow indoors, especially if started in late fall for a winter crop. Related to beets, Swiss chard is a member of Amaranthaceae that originated in the Mediterranean. Swiss … Continue reading
Butterflies in the House
Last September Jay and Mike Gurney and Cathy Weiss of Yankton Nurseries chatted about the weather of the 2018 growing season and related oddities. They hadn’t seen many butterflies until the end of the season, especially swallowtails and monarchs. Arriving butterflies became quite busy around the nursery, gathering nectar and pollen. As a curiosity to … Continue reading
