Native Plant Spotlight

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.

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

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

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

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

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,

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.

This perennial provides food for the more than 180 species of caterpillars in North America and supports many varieties of native bees who would not survive without it. Goldenrod is especially important in the fall when it provides food for insects at a time when fewer flowers are in bloom.

As you stroll past the notice board towards the Knippenberg Center in August, a wonderful fragrance permeates the air. You might look around and wonder where it’s coming from or whether you are just imagining it.