How to Add Native Shrubs to an Existing Landscape Adding native plants to an established landscape does not always mean creating another flower bed. Sometimes the most useful addition is a shrub. A native shrub can quietly solve several garden challenges at once. It can give height to a planting that feels too flat, soften
How to Add Native Shrubs to an Existing Landscape Read More »
How to Unravel the Secret Life of a Seed Head What Happens After the Flowers Fade There is a moment in the fall garden when something subtle changes. The flowers that held our attention through summer begin to fade. Petals loosen. Colors soften. Stems turn from green to gold and brown. And where a flower
How To Unravel the Secret Life of a Seed Head Read More »
The Best Michigan Native Plants for Fall Color Fall Color Is More Than Flowers There is a moment in a Michigan garden when summer begins to loosen its hold. The days are still warm enough to spend outside, bees may still be moving among the last flowers, and a few late bloomers are doing their
The Best Michigan Native Plants for Fall Color Read More »
How to Create Spaces Where Wildlife Feels Safe Michigan Garden Article No. 48 A garden can be filled with native flowers and still feel surprisingly exposed. There may be nectar for butterflies, seeds for birds, and water nearby, yet wildlife visits only briefly. A chickadee drops onto a seed head and disappears. A butterfly pauses
How to Create Spaces Where Wildlife Feels Safe Read More »
Why Morning Dew Is One of the Garden’s Greatest Gifts Nature Notes | No. 7 | Published Sep 10, 2026 There is a moment in the garden that belongs almost entirely to morning. Before the sun climbs high enough to warm the leaves, before bees begin moving steadily from flower to flower, and before the
Why Morning Dew Is One of the Garden’s Greatest Gifts Read More »
How to Plan for Your Fall Native Plantings By late summer, your garden is giving you information that was much harder to see in spring. You can tell which plants became larger than expected. You can see where the afternoon sun really falls. You know which areas stayed damp after rain and which dried quickly.
How to Plan For Your Fall Native Plantings Read More »
Educational Series No. 6 | Publication Date August 25, 2026 How to Save Native Flower Seeds for Next Year There comes a point in late summer when the garden begins to change its language. The flowers are still there, but not all of them are blooming anymore. Some petals have fallen. Some stems are turning
How to Save Native Flower Seeds for Next Year Read More »
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
The Best Native Plants That Feed Goldfinches Read More »
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
How to Use Native Grasses in Your Michigan Garden Read More »
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
How to Prepare Michigan Native Plants for Winter Read More »
