Garden Experiments
For the love of gardening and wildlife habitat
Hot, dry conditions require drought-tolerant plants. Find the best drought-tolerant plants for your garden.
Drive down a rural dirt road or along an old fence line, and you will almost certainly spot the familiar silhouette of an eastern red cedar. For generations, these trees have anchored field edges, stabilized soils, and even supplied rot-resistant fence posts. More importantly, eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) plays a critical ecological …
Continue Reading about 4 Reasons Why the Native Eastern Red Cedar is Great for Wildlife
As spring arrives, our garden has a carpet of low-growing, bright pink flowers that catch your eye. It’s a splash of bright color before the rest of our garden has awoken. It really is a sight to see. Blooming Time Creeping phlox (Phlox subulata) blooms in late March through May. Flowers come in pink, lavender, magenta, purple, white, and …
Continue Reading about Creeping Phlox: Spring-blooming Ground Cover
Blue anise sage (Salvia guaranticia) is an excellent addition to your pollinator or butterfly garden. Its gorgeous, small peacock blue flowers attract hummingbirds, butterflies, honeybees, bumblebees, and other insects. Hummingbirds love to feed on these blooms, which are their favorite food plant in my garden. Best of all, this salvia with blue …
Continue Reading about Blue Anise Sage – Grow Salvia guaranitica to Attract Hummingbirds
Cooper’s ice plant (Delosperma cooperi) is a favorite of mine. Don’t let the name fool you – this hardy plant thrives in the dog days of summer. It’s perfect for adding bright color to dry, hot areas of your garden. You’ll recognize Cooper’s ice plant by its dozens of tiny, bright magenta, daisy-like flowers and fleshy leaves. The plant grows …
Continue Reading about How to Grow Cooper’s Ice Plant in Your Garden
I often see sassafras growing along the trails, in the forest breaks, and in old fields. However, it’s the mitten-shaped leaves that stand out to me. If you break off a twig of a sassafras tree and smell it, you get the distinct smell of root beer. My dad used to do this for us every time we took a hike with him. It was a family tradition and …
In late summer, pockets of lavender color begin to appear along the sides of roads, at the edge of streams, in old fields, and in wetlands or other moist-soil areas. These fuzzy lavender-colored flowers belong to the blue mistflower, also known as wild ageratum, a plant native to the central and southeastern U.S. Adding blue mistflower …
Continue Reading about How to Grow Blue Mistflower – Get Lavender Flowers in the Fall
