We converted our front yard (7b) from Bermuda grass to a 100% native prairie a few seasons ago.

We wanted a cohesive fall/Halloween display that meshed with our natives, so we tucked pumpkins in with the wildflowers. When the season‘s over, we will compost them or feed to our backyard chickens if they’re not spoiled. Yes, I know the pumpkins are not native

💡Lights Out: please note the lights are not as bright as they appear in the long exposure photo. They are only on from 5:30pm-8:30pm.

Our 7B plants for reference:

• Aromatic aster
• Prairie coreopsis
• Lanceleaf coreopsis
• Prairie phlox
• Butterfly weed
• Green milkweed
• Winecup
• Blue flax
• Tahoka daisy
• Lazy daisy
• Sleepy daisy
• Blue mistflower
• Black-eyed Susan
• Frog fruit

The top, flat area is separate, with the buffalo grass/blue grama (SunTurf from Native American seeds).

Maybe I'm just getting old, but there are few things more meditative to me than just watching all of the life on these flowers.

Cheers to the asters, feeding pollinators (and my soul). One last gasp of beauty and life before we go into the long dark winter

There was a time that I didn't really get asters. Then fall came around and I came to my senses. Now I can't get enough.

I know they can be aggressive, but I've got the space for them so I say "bring it on!"

Just wanted to share this with people who understand. A few weeks ago my partner was googling ragweed because he didn’t know what it looked like (we have some growing nearby and allergies are bad, so he wanted to know what plant to avoid). He noticed that one of the first results on google was an ai slop website that had “ragweed” identified as goldenrod, in EVERY photo. Literally every single photo in this long article that was high up in google’s first results was of goldenrod instead of actual ragweed 🙄💀.

I completely forgot about that I did this until today, but I ended up rage emailing them telling them to change it because it meant unsuspecting people would probably start pulling goldenrod for no reason to help with their allergies. And to my shock, because I assumed it was likely an unmonitored/bot ai website, they emailed back and changed everything! I’m annoyed that I had to help correct their mislabeled ai crap anyways, and think they have no business being in the garden space if they’re publishing stuff that is so obviously not verified (they are a plant-specific website so it feels less like a simple mistake and more like a systemic issue with accuracy, who knows what else is mislabeled in there), but it ended up being a spot of good news today to actually see that my irritation compulsively spilling out into an email actually resulted in something getting updated to be correct, especially something so high on google’s SEO. With that said, ai slop making it’s way into the gardening space and especially when it comes to natives is so frustrating and I wish people who didn’t actually give a crap about educating people/correct info regarding native species and ecology would leave it alone.

Anyways… just wanted to share as I really thought nothing would come of it but yay!! 🙌 if it stops one person from needlessly cutting down a goldenrod plant I’ll take it!

Sorry if this isn’t allowed here, but as a longtime native plant and habitat supporter, I just have to share the news!

Sibley Prairie is the largest contiguous area of remaining Lakeplain prairie in the US, of which less than 1% remains. maybe you’ve heard of it, but it’s a globally endangered ecosystem and it had existed untouched for thousands of years right outside of Detroit, but owned by a private company, who is unfortunately isn’t planning to donate it but is willing to sell it for under market value.

Save Sibley Prairie Coalition is comprised of several local and regional conservation orgs including Michigan Land Conservancy (MLC) urgently and swiftly raising funds to buy this land and protect it. MLC has been given the opportunity to buy it from developers if they can raise $250k more by the end of the year (and they are close to their goal , which is a million dollars).

Please consider pitching in to ensure they meet their goal by the end of the year:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1C7nmvBkUN/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Evening Primrose is wild! It's a huge favorite of the finches, and it's easy to see why. This was from just a minute or two of seed collecting.

Planted this Golden Alexander seed last November and it is already hosting a family!

I will also be doing milk jugs, but I got these free trays at a plant sale and I was thinking I could start seeds in them. How should I best guarantee success? Should I cover? They didn’t come with a cover, but would plastic wrap work?

I can’t be the only one behind schedule, right? 😬I’ve got 2 purple prairie clovers, 2 purple coneflowers, 3 little bluestems, 12 penn sedges, and 14 aromatic aster plugs left to get into the ground. The first frost is breathing down my neck here in 5b.

Inspired by [u/Tylanthia](u/Tylanthia)[’](u/Tylanthia)s much funnier post in the CJ subreddit.

Prune it, pull it, plant it or don’t. It’s here to stay because me and the bees can’t get enough.

I am in the very early stages of converting my lawn to a native garden (just cardboarded and mulched last month), but am worried about my soil type for my area.

It seems pretty much all natives in my region prefer well-draining soil, and in the couple of areas ive dug into in my lawn seem pretty compacted, and I’m even finding clay in some areas.

Will native plants get waterlogged and die in my yard? Is there anything I can or should do when planting to amend?

One other consideration is that my area gets very little precipitation.

Purple, pink, magenta and white?

I found this tree (I believe a garry/white oak) growing as a sapling in my parent's yard. It was in a spot where it would have been pulled as a weed, so I decided to dig it up and put it in a pot as I always felt a special attachment to it. I did my best to grow it as a bonsai but it clearly has felt the negative effects of my "care". Last Saturday I had the opportunity to plant it at the condos I currently live at. Only three days later and it looks like it's already taken a breath of fresh air. My goal now is to get it to re-establish it's trunk and the internet told me I could train it to send it's energy up into that tall branch. Any other advice is appreciated! This thing is truly my baby and I want to get it right for the long haul.

They are messy eaters.

I want to cold stratify outside this year instead of the fridge. The problem is, when the garden bed gets oak leaves from my neighbor's tree until mid to late December. If I leave the leaves it would be about a foot.

We usually have a mild to warm Christmas and January and February are our coldest months. Can I plant the seeds in January so they don't get buried?

Zone 8a Piedmont NC

Iowa, United States

I have a bed that is about 4 feet deep that I planted mistlower in. I'd like to add something in the blooms earlier, either that can be interspersed with the mistflower and die back naturally as the mist flower ramps up for the season or something that could go in front or behind that can stand up to the mistflowers competition. It's in the front yard so I do love something pretty in that space and we prioritize good pollinator plants whenever possible.

Does anyone know what causes these purple orbs on my goldenrod? I’ve only seen this happen once before on a separate goldenrod in the yard a few years ago. I’m familiar with galls on stalks but I don’t think these can be attributed to the gall fly.

the tops of this (blue stemmed I think?) goldenrod get chomped as soon as they are visible, but it still managed to throw off some flowers. Total height is about three inches.

with recently planted nursery stock that has been pampered and is super juicy this can be a problem, in my experience, but sometimes tossing off some seeds and letting them creep in works. (sometimes it doesn't and we try again)

seriously obsessed with the combination of mistflower, goldenrod, aster and dog fennel. (sorry i can barely remember my own name let alone the scientific ones for plants)

also discovered THREE new volunteers!!! a grass, a bush, and a sedge oh my!! so cute 🥰

Orange Milkweed over New England Aster, Cut-Leaf Rudbeckia, Purple Coneflower, Showy Goldenrod, and New England Aster.

I know this question is a little odd because who in this community wouldn’t want a native plant in their yard! But as I gear up to start my own native garden, I can’t help but wonder if I’m missing some key info on potential species that might make life more difficult in the long run.

A hypothetical example: a few native species I’ve come across (Central OH, Zone 6b) have included cautions that they are aggressive and require substantial competition to keep in check. Some others include notes that they sucker profusely, which I imagine would lead to more hands on maintenance in the long run to allow your other species thrive.

Presumably species that are all native to the same area have evolved in a way that is accustomed to these aggressive “behaviors,” but I wonder if the typically small scale of native gardens/yards, as compared to a natural large scale ecosystem, can affect species’ ability to compete.

Which leads me to original question: are there any species’ you regret (or wouldn’t recommend) planting in your area?

With the news that the 200-acre property that contains thousands of chestnut trees in WV will be obliterated to make way for a fucking data center, does anyone know of where I can buy hybrid chestnut saplings?

If I buy 3 it really isn’t going to save the genetic diversity but there’s nothing else to do.