Come take a stroll (or scroll!) through Gina Bartleson's pollinator garden, located in Iowa City, Iowa! View a variety of native plants, including anise hyssop, culver's root, rattlesnake master, and more. Continue reading "July in the Urban Garden"
Who’s excited for the plant sale!? We will be highlighting different native plants in the weeks leading up to our spring plant sale, to help you come ready with a list of your must-haves! First up is for all you purple people out there! (I am one of them ) Anise hyssop: 3-4 ft tall, […] Continue reading "Plant Sale Preview: Native Purple Flowers"
written by Emma Harmon One of the biggest surprises I experienced when I began gardening was how much I enjoy the garden in every season. Each change in weather brings a new way to view my plants: seeing the vibrant colors after a fresh spring rain, the grasses swaying on a breezy summer evening, the […] Continue reading "Winter in the Native Garden"
written by Jerry McConoughey In the spring of 2017 I was given the opportunity to start a new garden in Riverside Park dedicated to native plants. It was a small area, just 86 square feet, 20 feet long, five and a half feet wide at the east end, and three and a half feet wide […] Continue reading "Starting a Native Plant Garden"
written by Paul Crosser The current discussions regarding cultivars are interesting and those wishing to do the right thing can easily be distracted waiting for an outcome. Thankfully, doing the right thing remains a simple task. Let’s see…..how did our current pollinators get here? They used native plants for nectar, pollen, host plants and homes. […] Continue reading "Cultivars: What to Do While Research Continues"
written by Grant Fessler, originally posted on his website, gcology.net Perhaps nothing embodies Midwestern summer better than a July thunderstorm. There is something magical and humbling about watching enormous, rain-heavy clouds unleash their tumult and violence over the low, rolling hills and river valleys. To hear the distant booms and crashes of thunder gradually approach […] Continue reading "Summer Storms and Silphium at Sunset"
written by Grant Fessler, originally published on his website, gcology.net With a sudden burst of unseasonably warm weather this past week, the spring ephemerals have leapt into blooming here in the Quad Cities region. Our remnant woodlands are now teaming with whites, purples, blues, and yellows, and the early spring pollinators are hard at work. […] Continue reading "Hunting Down the Prairie Trout Lily"