There are many more native grasses to choose from. All are unique and offer exciting and appealing characteristics to the fall garden. Be sure to check out the Baysafe tags when shopping and pick out a variety of native grasses. They are all worthwhile garden plants which are easy to care for. But most of all, these grasses care for our native wildlife and will bring you new butterflies and birds to your yard.
One of my favorite aspects of summer is seeing all the butterflies, like exquisitely colorful silk tapestries, fluttering throughout my garden.
Winterberry is certainly a show-stopper shrub. Known as Ilex verticillata, winterberry is one of our most prized native plants. Walking through the woods, you would have a hard time finding it in summer. But walk through the woods in winter, and you would have a hard time missing it.
I’m not sure if you have noticed, but it’s been a hot summer. (As a horticulturist, I am always planting; just now I planted my tongue firmly in my cheek.) Last year, July was cooler and wetter than normal, this year just the opposite. Long hot spells with few breaks in temperatures, and the occasional severe thunderstorm to keep it interesting.
By mid-summer, much of your garden is feeling a little dragged out. Hot days and warm nights are tough on plants as well as people. A little pruning back can be just the ticket to rejuvenate annuals and perennials.
Most people are familiar with milkweed as the host plant for the Monarch butterfly. However, milkweed is so much more than just a butterfly plant. Milkweeds are one of our most stunning and attractive native wildflowers.
think it’s a safe bet to say that everyone has grown or at least seen hydrangeas; they permeate the American landscape. What many may not have experienced is the range of hydrangeas out there to try.
A hydrangea with oak-shaped leaves! What will mother nature think of next? How about peeling bark, downy-silver new growth, cinnamon-orange stems, fragrant flowers and rich fall color?
Full sun will give you the richest fall colors, but in the wild these plants can also be found with other understory plants in the brighter spots in the woods.
A holly that doesn’t act like the hollies you’re familiar with – not prickly and not evergreen – and native to boot.
One of those plants that really should have a better name, this native flowering shrub gives you great multi-season interest.
An Explorer’s Journal of Native Plants in the Landscape Great Falls National Park – July 2, 2010 I decided to continue my explorations this time by hiking the 1.4-mile second section of the Billy Goat Trail on the MD side…