Perennial Plant of The Year- Asclepias tuberosa, what a great choice! With all the hype these days over the Monarch Butterfly this orange Milkweed is a perfect selection to be named Perennial Plant of the Year 2017.
If you enjoyed some blueberries in your cereal this morning or a thick slice of tomato on your BLT sandwich, you have a bee to thank. Native bees, of which there are approximately 4,000 species in North America, are the primary pollinator of many of our agricultural crops. They are generally far more efficient at
Some plants are just better together—a concept that has given rise to the idea of companion planting. If you grow vegetables, you may be familiar with this term. There, companion planting is more about one plant attracting or deterring insects from the other or about plants creating physical support for one another. When it comes
If one of your goals is to garden more sustainably, consider incorporating a rain garden into your landscape. These gardens can look a lot like a perennial garden to help them blend in well with your other garden beds, but they serve a unique ecological purpose. The primary function of a rain garden is to
Lots of people who like to garden also like to collect plants. We find irresistible plants everywhere we go and one by one, our gardens grow. And grow. And grow! While it’s perfectly OK (and fun!) to collect lots of different kinds of plants, we need to get smarter about which ones we allow into
As with most things in life, gardening is more fun when you are faced with fewer challenges like clay soil, hungry deer or full shade—that is, until you know how to meet and defeat those challenges. It takes some practice, but in time, you will learn which kinds of plants you can grow without any
If you are like many people across the country this year, your area may be experiencing drought. While extreme drought tends to end the gardening season due to severe watering restrictions, it’s possible to keep your garden going in areas that are experiencing mild drought by growing plants that can adapt to drier soils. Even
When designing your garden, it’s important to consider elements like color, texture and shape, but don’t forget fragrance too. The sweet perfume of fragrant plants will enhance the way you experience your garden by engaging more of your senses, evoking memories tied to certain scents, and causing you to interact with your flowers more closely.
It’s late August in Michigan and as I am sitting here looking out my window into my garden, I’m seeing an incredible number of bees whizzing by while a beautiful yellow Eastern swallowtail butterfly hangs upside down to feed on my six-foot tall ‘Uchida’ lilies. I am blessed to welcome so many pollinators into my
If a durable, lower maintenance landscape is what you’re seeking, you’ll find this list of reliable native shrubs and perennials helpful. We offer many cultivars of native plants (sometimes referred to as “nativars”) here at Garden Crossings, but we’ve selected these ten for their unique beauty and ease of growth. Find details about where they’ll