I enjoy taking photos of my garden at all times of the year, but the winter is an especially interesting season. Conventional thinking is that this is when everything is “dead” and resting while it waits for spring, but when we think of the ecosystem benefits of native plant gardening, the action doesn’t stop with […]
Shade Gardens
Is My Great White Trillium Dead? When Does It Typically Emerge in Spring?
Great White Trillium (trillium grandiflorum) is one of the most beloved spring ephemerals in many areas of the US, including my own state of Ohio where it’s the state wildflower. In this article I’ll share answers to some important questions about growing it based on my own garden experience in combination with the research I’ve […]
Why You Should Grow a Shade Garden
The native plant movement has been growing in recent years, and for many this means sun-loving plants and showy wildflowers. It’s increasingly common to find gardens showcasing plants like purple coneflower, black eyed susan and milkweed, while concepts like the “pocket prairie” and “mini meadow” have become more mainstream. Native shade plants, on the other […]
Best Pollinator-Friendly Native Plants for Shade Gardens
When we talk about planting native plants to support pollinators and ecosystem health, the dominant image that comes to most of our minds is that of a sunny garden reminiscent of a prairie or meadow. But it’s worth remembering that a large percentage of areas of the United States were occupied primary by forest, especially […]
Do Native Shade Gardens Still Help Bees?
Most native plant gardeners do what they do, at least in part, to help pollinators. With important bee populations in steep decline as a result of disappearing food sources, this is often an area of emphasis for our own gardens. But for some the dominant image of bees is still the imported honeybee pollinating crops […]