Spotlight on a Great Native Nursery: Amanda’s Garden
When you are looking to buy native plants, it can still feel like the search for the Holy Grail. Take the time and effort to seek out local native nurseries that grow the regional native plants you want and that healthy ecosystems need. Skip the big box stores, and support…
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Selling the Sizzle, Not Just the Steak: Promoting Native Landscapes
While meeting with a client who knows nothing about native plants and their benefits, I find myself recommending some great native plants for their landscape. As I rattle off names of possible plants, I notice the puzzled look I get from the client. Did I comb my hair this morning?…
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Ecological Gardening Tips for Spring
As spring begins in earnest, pause for a moment before rushing off to the nursery or garden center to shop for plants. First, consider how the steps you take and the choices you make can increase the health of your landscape and the environment around you. Here are some tips…
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Lessons from the Smokies: Biodiversity in the Home Landscape
During a recent trip to the annual Great Smoky Mountain Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage, I was overwhelmed by the incredible biodiversity of native plants and animals, interwoven in their natural habitat in the Smoky Mountains, making up one of the healthiest and most beautiful ecosystems I have ever encountered. Instead of…
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EcoBeneficial Resolution for the New Year – Connect the Ecological Dots
The new year brings more challenges than ever to our environment. Fires, floods, development of pristine natural areas, species loss, pollinator decline – on and on it goes. Sometimes it can feel a bit paralyzing as we ask ourselves – “what can we do, how can we really make a…
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Native Viburnums and Cross-Pollination – What the Nursery Isn’t Telling You
Ever wonder why those terrific native viburnums you planted are not producing fruit? You are not alone. It’s one of the frustrations of gardening ecologically in a world where “cross pollination” is rarely mentioned at local nurseries or garden centers (and forget about the big box stores!). Some plants, although…
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