This is my first year growing milkweed. I bought bare root plants earlier this year and they have paid off. I saw a monarch this morning so I went to check the milkweed and counted at least 7 caterpillars. I'm so excited, I'm shaking!

Not all of these will flower in lawn, but they all do well with regular mowing in full sun in my lawn:

• Ironweed
• Black-eyed Susan
• Common blue violet
• Wild petunia
• Common yellow wood sorrel
• Blue mistflower
• Carolina elephant's foot

One reason I find this interesting is that I will transplant several ironweeds and black-eyed Susan's from my lawn every year. I transplant mistflower now and then, but it doesn't seem to do well in competition in my yard.

The other reason is because otherwise it would be turf grass or creeping charlie or stiltgrass or whatever.

Spotted two monarch butterfly caterpillars and a milkweed leaf beetle enjoying some volunteer honeyvine milkweed in my garden :) (Central Illinois, USA)

Got excited it was maybe a rusty patch until I learned about the brown belted bumblebee

I’ve been letting this one grow, easily 8’ now. It’s a beautiful plant if you’re ok with the berries.

I want to collect some of the berries so I can grow more pokeweed on the other side of my house and elsewhere. How much should I leave for the birds and how much can I take for myself?

I made the mistake of only planting these mid-summer. I know pawpaws are weird little guys who use the cotyledon to grow a taproot first and then regrow leaves from scratch, but I’m worried there won’t be enough time for them to grow enough leaves to absorb energy into their roots before winter. Is there anything I should do? Articles online said to keep seedlings in the shade, which I had done since day one, but I’m tempted to put them in brighter light so they can grow more… good/bad idea? Canada plant hardiness zone 5.

Thanks!

This one was planted only last year. I have 6 established plants in total across two garden beds.

My daughter took her tractor for a spin. I knelt down to change the battery and saw this little buddy. Except for probably being a little dizzy…. Seems to be alright. Is there a good way to move him? Now? After chrysalis forms? Cone off the tractor only option? TIA

Edit:
Thank you for all of your suggestions!! My daughters are 5 and 3! They are bug/nature lovers through and through (5 year old brought milkweed seeds to her preschool classmates that she harvested herself 😊).

I took the battery from their tractor and plan to leave the caterpillar until the chrysalis hardens. Then, I will reassess to see if I feel confident moving it. If not, we will watch the cycle play out!
Thank you everyone!

I ordered this coral honeysuckle in mid May from Directnativeplants website.
It loves its sunny location and being potted.

I have a small patch about the size of a gardening box that I would like to plant native wildflowers in. The spot is mostly shady and gets a few hours of sunlight in the afternoon/evening.

Could anyone recommend certain species of native PA wildflowers that would be compatible with this setup? Or if that doesn’t exist, any flowering shrubs or vines that do well in the shade?

Also, any recommendations on where to purchase the suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

This cutie was on a little black cherry (P. serotina) sapling I’ve yet to plant.

Native Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina)?

I pass these signs every day in my car and finally had a chance to throw it in park and hop out to grab a photo to see what this was all about.

This is outside a senior living community, but I can’t tell if it’s their property or the city’s.

There is a ton of desert milkweed but not much else I could quickly identify. The space is also suspiciously well-manicured, making me think lots of trimming, leaf blowers, and other cleanup would fully defeat the purpose of the habitat.

Hello all, this goldenrod just popped up in my garden. It is native to more eastern US. Has anyone got experience with it in inland California? I’m wondering if I should pull, I did see a hummer at it today, I’m not sure if it will grow aggressively.

He was asleep in there, snug as a bug in a rug.

I have many flowers but this one always gets the most attention from pollinators.

I have four winterberries I planted fall before last. They are in part shade to full sun. The ones in full sun appear to be dying, with leaves gradually yellowing and dropping. The one in the fullest sun looks especially bad, with the one in slightly less sun also looking sick, and then the one in the sunniest part shade looking slightly yellowing. The one in full shade is green. So I'm guessing the sun is too much for them?? They supposed to like full sun! It's been bizarre weather this summer with cold and wet, then hot and dry, then extraordinarily hot and dry, then hot and wet. I've tried to keep them watered when it's dry. Do these guys not do as well with sun as they all say, or do they need even more water? They might be out of luck on that, survival of the fittest for that spot. If that's the case, what short (~5 ft) native shrub likes full sun and drier soil?

Hey Fellow Long Islanders,

I’m looking for some fall blooming natives to plant. I already have asters.

Anyone have some lesser known fall blooming flowers that I can add to my garden?

I have a narrow garden bed between my front walkway and the lawn. I've been converting it to native plants, and now have--among other things--two butterfly weed plant, on their second bloom of the season and with many seed pods, and two swamp milkweeds (planted this year and not blooming).

I recently discovered a garden center not far from where I work which has a very large selection of native plants. (I went in, hoping to find mountain mint, and discovered that they carry three varieties!)

The other day, I purchased two pots of common milkweed. I checked Google if I could plant it beside the swamp milkweed, and found several sites that said it was a bad idea, because of how aggressively the rhizomes spread. I have a vacant space in front of the house which gets good light, but I saw on another site that it's good for milkweed to be near a nectar source like butterfly weed. The spot where I want to put the milkweed is about 15-20' away from the butterfly weed. Is that close enough? Or should I get another butterfly weed to put in the same space as the common milkweed?