Spring and fall are both good times to plant trees, shrubs, and perennials. There’s less transplant shock when the plants are mostly dormant, and our copious northwest rains keep everything watered well.
Planting Time
Plant This, Not That: Shade Plants for Suburban/Urban Woodland Buffers
The exotic (non-native) Japanese Pachysandra (Pachysandra terminalis), periwinkle (Vinca minor), English ivy (Hedera helix) and Wintercreeper (Euonymus fortunei) have long been staples of New England gardens for their shade tolerance and ground covering habit. Go to any garden club sale or plant swap in the spring and you’ll find these plants available by the bucketload — but if you live in […]
A Tale of Two Iris
There are lots of iris in bloom right now in gardens. Just on my way to work I have seen yellows and maroons, purples and blues. Now I don’t know all that much about ornamental iris, but from what I can tell most are the bearded iris, of which there are literally thousands of cultivars […]
Spring Blossoms
As a symbol of friendship, 100 years ago Japan made a gift of 3000 ‘Yoshino’ cherry trees to the United States. The trees were planted around the Tidal Basin, the then future site of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. Three years later, we returned the gesture and sent Japan our spring-blooming, native dogwoods. This year the […]
A Native Alternative to Invasive Creeping Bellflower
Of all the invasive plants we removed in our own landscape, Creeping Bellflower (Campanula rapunculoides) was by far the worst to eradicate. This pernicious perennial, native to Eurasia is very common in the midwest, growing out of cracks in urban sidewalks, creeping along alleyways, and in the suburbs forming large clusters in partially shaded woodlands […]
American vs European High Bush Cranberry Viburnum
Another post in our series on native alternatives to invasive plants. In 2005, after moving into our current house, we purchased a variety of bareroot native shrubs from the DNR to naturalize in the yard. These shrubs included Nannyberry Viburnum, High Bush Cranberry Viburnum, American Hazelnut and Red Osier Dogwood. With two years of drought […]
Plant This, Not That: The Book
Many of the writers on this blog have been contributing to a series of posts called “Plant This, Not That“. In each case, we highlight a couple of plants that are invasive and/or overused and then suggest some great native alternatives. In my most recent contribution, I focused on native groundcovers for Baltimore. However, I […]
Plant This, Not That: Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants
Eastern Red Cedar is a wonderful native alternative to Leyland Cypress Walk through any neighborhood and you’ll see the same plants used over and over again. Landscapers and garden designers seem to use the same limited palette of plants all the time, even from region to region. Some of these plants are quite invasive […]
Plant This Not That: Native Groundcover Edition
After a lecture I gave a few months ago on native plants for Baltimore, one of attendees wondered on his blog about sustainable urban groundcovers. I’ve been meaning to take a stab at his question, so here goes! Specifically, Chris asked: “So, what are the best groundcovers for the Mid-Atlantic? Again, the idea here is […]
Plant This, Not That: Connecticut Natives Edition
Recently, fellow Native Plants & Wildlife Gardens team member, Genevieve Schmidt, wrote a post about native plant alternatives for several overused plants found in many gardens in California, where Gen lives, gardens and works as a landscaper. As Gen mentions in her post, Plant This, Not That: California Natives Edition, by simply looking beyond the […]
