The Best Native Plants That Feed Goldfinches There are few garden visitors quite as cheerful as an American Goldfinch. That flash of bright yellow moving between flowers can stop you in your tracks, especially when a goldfinch lands on a seed head and begins feeding only a few feet away. But if you want goldfinches […]
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How To Create Small Water Features for Wildlife Water has a way of changing a garden. Add even a small amount, and suddenly there is movement, reflection, sound, and often, new visitors. Birds arrive to drink and bathe. Butterflies may stop at damp edges. Bees and other insects need water too, particularly during the hottest
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How to Use Native Grasses in Your Michigan Garden There is something especially beautiful about a garden that moves. A breeze passes through, flower stems nod gently, seed heads sway, and suddenly the garden feels alive in a completely different way. Native grasses bring that kind of movement to a landscape, and yet they are
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How to Prepare Michigan Native Plants for Winter When the Garden Begins to Wind Down There comes a point in every Michigan garden when summer begins to loosen its grip. Purple Coneflowers lose their bright pink petals. Black-eyed Susans fade from brilliant yellow to brown. Blazing Star turns from purple flower spikes to slender stems
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Why Your Native Garden Gets Better Every Year The Most Beautiful Native Gardens Weren’t Built Overnight One of the hardest parts of planting a native garden is learning to be patient. You spend weeks planning. You carefully choose plants that belong in Michigan. You prepare the soil, spread mulch, and water faithfully. Then you step
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How to Prepare Your Garden for Fall Pollinators Fall Begins Long Before the Leaves Change When most people think about preparing their gardens for fall, they picture rakes, leaf bags, and weekend cleanup projects. But for Michigan’s pollinators, autumn begins much earlier. Long before the maples turn brilliant shades of red and gold, monarch butterflies
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The Best Native Plants for Hummingbirds in Michigan A Flash of Emerald and Ruby There are some moments in the garden that happen so quickly you almost wonder if you imagined them. You’re watering a flower bed on a warm July morning. The air is still. Native grasses sway gently in the breeze. Then, out
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What Happens in Your Garden When the Sun Goes Down The Garden Doesn’t Go to Sleep As the sun begins to sink below the trees, many gardeners head inside. The watering can is put away. The tools are returned to the garage. One last glance at the flower beds, and the day feels complete. But
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How to Help Monarch Butterflies During Migration in Michigan There are moments in the garden that seem almost too brief to notice. A warm August afternoon. The gentle movement of Little Bluestem in the breeze. Purple Coneflowers beginning to fade into seedheads. Then, almost without warning, a monarch butterfly drifts into view. It doesn’t hurry.
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The Best Reasons for Native Plants to Spread “I Think Something Is Wrong…” It started with a single tiny plant. Last spring, you carefully planted a beautiful Purple Coneflower in the corner of your garden. You watered it during dry spells, admired its blooms all summer, and smiled every time a butterfly landed on its
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