Garden Experiments
For the love of gardening and wildlife habitat
The pink-hued blooms of native eastern redbud trees (Cercis canadensis) are one of the first signs of color that I see in March. It’s a sure sign that spring is on its way and that more color will begin to pop up in the lawns and gardens in our neighborhood. After months of cold weather and the barren landscapes of winter, the hint of mauve and …
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If you haven’t been introduced to this tiny plant with fuzzy little pink flowers, you are missing out. It might not be much to look at, but sensitive briar does something pretty amazing. It moves. By itself. No, really. Sensitive briar – Mimosa spp. There are several species in the genus Mimosa that share the common name sensitive briar or …
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Black-eyed Susan is My Favorite Plant-It-And-Forget-It Flower: If you're looking for a plant-it-and-forget-it type of plant that still produces lots of flowers AND attracts pollinators, then look no further than the black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta). This easy-to-grow wildflower is found throughout North America, alongside roads, in grassy …
Sundays after church, my dad would pile the family into the car and take us for a drive through the countryside just outside the boundaries of the big city. We would see miles of delicate pink flowers lining the edges of the roads, growing the cracks in the sidewalk, and on the banks of the hills. Pink evening primrose is one of the wildflowers …
As I was working to remove some hellebores, ferns, hydrangeas, and cast iron plants from my shade garden, I made an interesting discovery at the base of the cast iron plants, hidden under the leaves - a cluster of cast iron plant flowers! When I dug up the base of the cast iron plant and saw the flower, my first thought was, 'It's the plant from …
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In spring, my cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit) is covered by tiny, star-shaped, brilliantly red flowers. Although the flowers are tiny, they really stand out against the light green of the leaves and vine. My favorite part about the cypress vine is its dainty, feather-like leaves. The leaves look so fragile and fairy-like that, even when it …
Continue Reading about Cypress Vine: Delicate, But Aggressive
