Welcome to Garden Bloggers Bloom Day in South Dakota. We’re about USDA Zone 4-5a. With late summer and early fall flowers in bloom, there are lots to attract butterflies and other pollinators to our yard. It makes natural sense to plant more of what we and the pollinators like. Websites like National Wildlife Federation give … Continue reading
Summer Days for Flowers and Art
Meridian Bridge Plaza in Yankton, South Dakota is the site of summer fun for pollinator plants and a “post card” from Yankton photo opportunity there. Lisa Kortan of the City of Yankton led the pollinator perennial plant installations. Brittany LaCroix, city events and promotion coordinator and graphic artist Amy Bailey were creative inspirations for the … Continue reading
Second Year Wildflowers at Lewis & Clark Recreation Area
A welcome sign of any spring is emerging perennials that have survived winter to bloom again. Large pollinator plots of wildflowers and native grasses, now in their second year, grow on both sides of the entrance of Lewis & Clark Recreation Area. Curving boundaries of the plots are defined by mown turfgrass. These plots can … Continue reading
Peofessional Pruning Tips
This week’s Plant Exchange Blog is a topic people who care for plants in the yard want to know more about. Even if we place a tree or shrub with enough space for it to reach its natural shape, sometimes pruning is needed. A great example of a well-pruned shrub is this lilac. It was … Continue reading
Garden Bloggers Bloom Day– August 15th
Welcome to Plant Exchange Blog in South Dakota, USDA Zone 4-5a, most of the time. Warm and cool spring, hot and dry summer and now more temperate days, plants in our raised beds are adapting this season! ‘Pow Wow’ Echinacea grows as a perennial here from seed. Once established it comes back well. It grew … Continue reading
A Look at Our Container Plants
Welcome to Plant Exchange Blog. This week features a look at our container plants. Today is August 11th, a mild summer day with highs in the 70’s and lows in the 60’s. This is quite appreciated after weeks of very hot weather. Join us in the video below to see how container plants are doing … Continue reading
Flowers for Shrine Visitors
Welcome to our weekly Plant Exchange Blog. We enjoy plants and learn from the people who grow them. Flowers have many purposes. One of the unique uses of flowers is as accents for the grounds around the House of Mary Shrine, along Highway 52 west of Yankton, South Dakota. All visitors are welcome to visit … Continue reading
Duke Gardens–What’s in Common?
Welcome to Plant Exchange Blog on the Northern Plains, where we feature plants and people who grow them. For some people drawn to plants, visiting a public garden in a new town is a way to get to know more about the people of the area. Our own region has as much in common with … Continue reading
July ‘Fresh from the Garden’
When local garden produce is abundant, it helps to consider how to select the best of the crop to eat and have new ways to prepare the food. Chef Staci Pederson of the Yankton Hy-Vee Food Store shares her culinary skills in this week’s Plant Exchange Blog. See Chef Staci’s suggestions for selecting and preparing … Continue reading
Tree Stumps and Roots
On a hot July day, it takes little convincing to walk in the shade of trees. This Norway maple, about twenty years old, shelters many bird nests this season. The same tree in autumn, displays its colors, adding to the many benefits of such trees on the Northern Plains. But how do we deal with … Continue reading
