Garden Experiments
For the love of gardening and wildlife habitat
Have you ever found a plant in a garden center that caught your eye, then planted it in your garden, only to have it start taking over? It can be quite the surprise! Many popular ornamental plants are actually invasive species that spread quickly and can disrupt local ecosystems. But don’t worry! This short guide will help you identify some of …
Continue Reading about 10 Common Garden Plants You Might Not Know Are Invasive
Large, copper or brick-red colored flowers adorn the flower spikes of the copper iris (Iris fulva). Native to wetland areas, this unique plant thrives in wetter soils, making it an excellent addition to gardens with moist conditions. We planted this iris in our backyard in a spot with wet, clay soils. It has flourished, spreading and producing …
Continue Reading about Copper Iris (Iris fulva) – A Native Plant for Wetlands and Wildlife
When the early hummingbirds start to arrive, there isn’t much in bloom, so adding early-spring-blooming flowering plants to your garden and hanging up hummingbird feeders can help attract the birds. Here are five flowering shrubs, vines, and plants that hummingbirds feed on in early spring. Red Buckeye In my opinion, one of the best early …
Continue Reading about How to Attract Hummingbirds to Your Garden in Early Spring
When I was learning to identify plants, the leaves of boxelder used to trip me up. To me, they looked so much like poison ivy. However, there are a few key features that can help you tell the difference between these two plants. Boxelder Maple Similarities with Poison Ivy The leaves and leaflets of these two plants have a similar appearance. …
Continue Reading about Is this Poison Ivy? How to Tell Boxelder from Poison Ivy
It’s springtime! The sun is shining, the flowers are starting to bloom, and pollen is coating everything, including our cars. Even the trees are getting in on the action. We have been finding all sort of tree seeds and tree reproductive parts laying on the ground around our neighborhood. From the brown stringy stuff to the tiny helicopters and …
Continue Reading about What are all these trees dropping on the ground in Spring?
The summer heat has arrived and it’s pretty miserable outside. When we're in a heat advisory, the temperature outside FEELS like over a hundred degrees with the high humidity. I’m watering in the early morning and sometimes at night, just to keep up with it, but the plants are still suffering. However, some of my plants are thriving, in spite of …
Continue Reading about Top 10 Flowering Plants that are Heat Tolerant
