Garden Experiments
For the love of gardening and wildlife habitat
Native plants are well-suited to the growing conditions in your area and are often great nesting habitat, a food source, or a host plant for the wildlife around you. By adding native plants to your garden, you can create wildlife habitat that helps pollinators like bees and butterflies, attracts hummingbirds and songbirds, and provides cover for many small mammals. Learn about native plants and how to grow them in your garden.
When I was learning to identify plants, the leaves of boxelder used to trip me up. The leaves of this tree looked so much like poison ivy to me. There are a few key features that can help you tell the difference between these two plants. Boxelder Similarities with Poison Ivy The leaves and leaflets of these two plants have a similar …
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I often see sassafras growing along the trails, in the forest breaks, and in old fields. However, it’s the mitten-shaped leaves that stand out to me. If you break off a twig of a sassafras tree and smell it, you get the distinct smell of root beer. My dad used to do this for us every time we took a hike with him. It was a family tradition and …
In late summer, pockets of lavender color begin to appear along the sides of roads, at the edge of streams, in old fields, and in wetlands or other moist-soil areas. These fuzzy lavender-colored flowers belong to the blue mistflower, also known as wild ageratum, a plant native to the central and southeastern U.S. Adding blue mistflower …
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In the middle of summer, the bright yellow, showy flowers of swamp sunflower light up my garden. This perennial's flowers keep blooming into the fall. It’s late October, and I still have bright yellow flowers that add some fall color to my yard. We have a patch in our backyard that stays wet most of the time. The neighbor's yard and our front …
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Fall is a great time to enjoy the beauty of nature in your garden. Native shrubs offer a wide variety of foliage colors, colorful berries, textures, and shapes that will add interest to your yard all season long. Add a few native shrubs for fall color into your landscape! Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) In late fall and early winter, this …
Fall-blooming native plants are easy to grow in containers or in the ground. We have picked our favorite native fall flowers, vines, and grasses to add color to your landscape this autumn. Fall-blooming Native Perennials There are lots of options for flowers available for planting in the fall. Here are some of our favorites options for what …
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