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Leave Coneflowers for Goldfinches
The pink petals on Purple Coneflowers are starting to fade away for the summer. The gold colored seed heads will start to mature and turn dark, as the seed becomes ripe for picking. The American Goldfinches will soon be sitting atop the seed heads picking away at the seeds. Adult goldfinches are seed eaters; and…
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Native Plant Series: Native Asters
It’s getting to the time of the year here in Central Kentucky where many summer perennials are dwindling. The purple coneflowers and blazing stars are nearly done flowering in my yard. However, I know there is still some perennial color yet to look forward to, as the days get shorter and temperatures begin to drop.…
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Black Eyed Susans & How Microclimates Affect their Growth and Bloom
When out shopping for plants, a plant label (when written well!) will tell you how tall and wide a plant will mature to. However, there is no guarantee a plant will be that size. (One reason is lack of fully testing the size of a newly released cultivated plant, but that’s another story!) Usually the…
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Starting Seeds Indoors Pt 2: Lighting
In my last post, Starting Seeds Indoors Pt 1: When?, I covered what plants are best to start indoors and when. But now, how do we start seeds indoors? In this post I will cover lighting. It took a lot of research to figure out what type of lighting I wanted to use. I found…
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Starting Seeds Indoors: What should you start and when
Knowing when to start seeds indoors can be quite confusing! Simply keep this in mind. Starting plants from seed indoors breaks down to 2 factors: Here in Kentucky, our first frost free date is supposed to be April 15th. But remember it snowed in May 2018? My advice, would be to go by the predicted…
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March Garden Chores
Weather in March can be quite unpredictable! It’s like going on vacation as a kid and asking, “Are we there yet?!” For gardening in March, you want to be nimble and quick for certain tasks, but patient with others. Don’t be fooled by abnormal warm days. Start too soon, and work/expense may be lost due…
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Native Plant Series: Witchhazel
On the list of winter flowering shrubs, is witch-hazel (Hamamelis sp.). In the US we have two native witch hazels, Hamamelis virginiana and Hamamelis vernalis. Virginiana starts flowering in October to November. Vernalis flowers later starting in December. Vernalis also holds onto its leaves. My witch hazel shown in the photo is vernalis. This photo was taken…
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January’s Garden Chores
If you’re a gardener, there’s always some kind of gardening that can be done any time of the year. While I won’t be doing any kind of outdoor gardening in January, I will be doing lots of garden planning and designing sitting inside by the heater. Here is the list for January’s Garden Chores. 1.…
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EARTHeim News: ‘Plant By Numbers’ Project for Lexington and ‘Paint By Nature’ Art Exhibit
This summer LFUCG released the ‘Plant By Numbers’ program for citizens who want beautiful, pollinator friendly garden along a stream bank. There are 12 gardens to choose from and are divided by sunlight requirements, garden dimensions, and color palettes. They all feature native plants which are better suited for the environment, stabilize banks with their…
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Proper Tree Care Means Healthy Trees
Some trees can live healthy lives even with some damage to them. Certain species can be more resilient than others, like oak trees for example. Some trees can receive only slight damage and decline very easily. There are often clear indicators that a tree is unhealthy. This can be evident with obvious damage to the…
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Book Review: The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
‘The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate’ by Peter Wohlleben This book has been a top seller on many book lists, including the New York Times. It’s wonderful this type of book is that popular! The book presents scientific research and observations by Wohlleben himself of trees and forests. His observations are…
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Book Review: The Humane Gardener
“The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife” by Nancy Lawson, 2017. This book only took me a few nights to read, but it is full of interesting information. The book has six chapters and covers topics like native plants, letting nature guide your garden, gardening for pollinators and birds, our relationship with wildlife…
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Spring Hike at Mammoth Cave
This past weekend I had the opportunity to travel to western Kentucky to speak about garden design at the Barren County Extension Office. The horticulture agent was able to have the event sponsored by local businesses so the event was free to the public. The master gardeners also put together a table of refreshments and…
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3 Lawn Weeds for Bees & Pollinators
Spring is just a week away! I’ve been seeing daffodils, crocus, hyacinths, spring wildflowers, pussy willows, and some cherry trees flowering already. The perfect spring temperatures and rainfall are making lawns turn greener and greener each day and before we know it, it’ll be time to mow! As we start to draw more attention to…
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What is Garden Coaching?
To learn more about my personal Garden Coaching Service click here Who is a Garden Coach? A garden coach is a knowledgeable professional who can help guide clients in their gardening project with an array of tasks. A garden coach is just like a music lesson teacher, cooking teacher, or personal lifestyle coach, but applied…
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The 2018 Annual ‘Great Backyard Bird Count’ Feb 16-19th by Audubon and Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Thursday, February 16th- Monday February 19th 2018 Every year this time of year there is the Great Backyard Bird Count! It is sponsored by Audubon, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and Bird Studies Canada. You will be taking part of citizen science, which is helping scientist study birds. All you need to do is count…
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Snow Day for the Birds
With all the snow and very cold temperates this January we’ve had, my bird feeders have been full of birds looking for some good nutrition to keep them warm! Please remember: Do Not feed birds any form of bread. It starves them to death by filling them up with food that offers no nutrition. They…
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The Winter Garden As Habitat for Beneficial Insects
It may not seem like it, but gardens are still full of life even in winter and fall. Most if it is hibernating, but if you look close enough you can find evidence. I got out in my garden last November and played detective, finding a few fun things in the garden. This lady bug…
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Early Fall Garden Harvest
With cold weather approaching, I took some last days of t-shirt weather and did some tidying up in the garden. I completely advocate being a ‘lazy’ gardener when it comes fall time to create winter wildlife habitat. There are some things I do before winter gets here though and it mainly has to do with…
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Bulb Planting Season
It’s a month into fall and that means there’s one last chance to get spring bulbs planted in Kentucky! November is nearing and so are chances of frost, so we have a couple of weeks left to get bulbs in the ground. This year for my own garden I picked out some snowdrops and a…
