native-plants

Pussy Willow: Wildflower Wednesday

– Posted in: Native/Invasive

For Wildflower Wednesday, I try to feature a native plant growing wild on our property. I took a walk on Monday to see what was blooming, and found only one plant blooming, a shrub which looked to me like a pussy willow. I looked through my books and discovered that's exactly what it was: Salix [...]

Native Enthusiasm

– Posted in: Native/Invasive

At last.  Finally. Why chicory, Cichorium intybus, the blue flower of August roadsides, should have avoided our rural road for so long, is a mystery to me. So forlorn have I been made by its absence, when all neighbouring roads were bright with its sky-blue gaiety, that I have from time to time been tempted [...]

Bur Cucumber: Wildflower Wednesday

– Posted in: Native/Invasive

What better way to celebrate autumn than with a native wildflower more noted for its fruit than its flower. Bur cucumber (Echinocystis lobata), also known as wild cucumber, balsam-apple, or Concombre sauvage, grows on my property in a hedgerow surrounding a ditch. The leaves of this vine are often described as maple-like, but remind me [...]

Mystery Wild Flower Needs Has A Name

– Posted in: Native/Invasive

This past Sunday I enjoyed a family reunion at Chenango Valley State Park. But, like the gardening geek I am, while other family members were taking pictures of cousins in swimming suits or Grandma eating sweet corn, I took a walk around Lily Lake and started taking pictures of wild flowers with my HTC Incredible [...]

Designing with Native Plants: Creating Sustainable Landscapes for the Finger Lakes & Upstate New York

– Posted in: Design, Events, Habitat gardening, Native/Invasive

Just learned of a fabulous workshop on designing with native plants for the Finger Lakes and upstate New York. Here's a brief synopsis of the offerings: Creating Habitats for Birds on Properties Large and Small Stephen W. Kress, National Audubon Society and Lab of Ornithology Learn how to attract birds using the native plants they [...]