Native Plant Spotlight

Let’s face it, the world is out of balance! Our ecosystems are dysfunctional and events that should be occurring once-in-a-blue-moon are now commonplace (hurricanes and tornadoes in New Jersey, and wildfires and unprecedented drought in the West, just to name a few).  One way to help our ecosystems regain some balance is through the use […]

Suggesting that gardeners plant a grass can seem humdrum. However, little bluestem will have you singing for joy with its many attributes. Graceful, architectural, easy to grow, wildlife friendly, deer and rabbit resistant, good fall color and salt tolerant top the list. Little Bluestem blooming With a fibrous root system that can reach five feet

Imagine a large shrub beautifying the landscape for three seasons while requiring little maintenance and covering a large area, keeping it weed-free. Hydrangeas are popular garden shrubs beloved by gardeners. Unfortunately, the one most often grown—the mophead or French hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla)—often causes gardeners heartaches when it fails to bloom because its buds succumb to

So you’re looking for a tree but want something that’s not too tall? After all, many New Jersey gardens are not large enough for 70-foot trees such as oaks. Our native serviceberry might offer a solution for you. Although some are trees with a single trunk, most serviceberries are actually large multi-stemmed shrubs that can

Anise hyssop Long-blooming, fragrant, and beneficial to bees and birds, anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) is an awesome perennial for the garden. It has lovely lavender-colored flower spikes and begins blooming at the end of June, often continuing until the beginning of September. It grows in full sun and is adaptable to different soils, from average

Many native plants are not widely known and therefore underused. The big box stores don’t carry them, so gardeners are unaware of them. However, they are stellar performers in the garden. Such is the case with mountain mint, a versatile native with tiny, tubular flowers that attract pollinators like there’s no tomorrow. When in bloom

Coral honeysuckle arbor Vines can be a tricky ordeal in the garden, either too aggressive or too weak to bother with. By choosing our native coral honeysuckle, you will have achieved the goldilocks of the vine world–just right! This is an attractive, long-blooming plant that adds height to the garden and provides food for hummingbirds,

Echinacea blooming in a meadow What’s all the buzz about native plants, and why are they a big deal? After all, what makes a coneflower better than a carnation? Well, native plants have many attributes that include being easy to grow, and environmentally-friendly, requiring less maintenance, and saving money. The coneflower will be visited by

In order to help bees, butterflies, and other insects continue to visit our gardens, gardeners need to end the habit of cleaning up their gardens during the fall and early spring. Bagging leaves and cutting back stems kills many of the life forms we enjoy so much during the summer months.

During the fall, so many gardeners are seduced by the late blooms of mums and plant them to beautify their gardens. But there is something better you could be using to give your garden not only color, but make it more eco-friendly by providing food for pollinators.