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Butterfly Bush: A Must Have For Your Garden

Brilliant color, delightful fragrance and easy care  — a winning combination!   Butterfly bush, also known as summer lilac, is a perfect addition to a Midwestern summer garden. Although it absolutely requires full sun, 8 hours a …

Celandine Poppy: A Must Have For Your Garden

By Sandra Nelson   This week’s pick by Sandra Nelson,  Blog Writer   Celandine Poppy   The perfect plant to brighten up a dark corner of the yard.     Anything from dappled sunlight to deep shade suits this luminescent native wildflower! The Celandine Poppy, or commonly called  wood poppy, blooms profusely from early April until the …

Designing Beds That Delight

By Sandra Nelson   I don’t know how you are handling stress these days, but I find myself drawn more and more to my yard. When I feel anxiety building, I stroll through the yard, stopping every few seconds to discover the changes from the day before and to soak in the calming power of …

Connect To The Past With Heirloom Plants

By Sandra Nelson      

  My grandmother was famous in our neighborhood for her rambunctiously beautiful flower gardens. To my knowledge, she never purchased a commercially produced seed or plant. Instead, each fall she carefully collected and saved seeds from her favorite flowers, dug summer bulbs and took some cuttings to grow on …

Spring Clean-Up, The Environmentally Friendly Way

 By Sandra Nelson   We had a quick taste of spring this past weekend.    It was warm and sunny and people in our neighborhood were out in full force taking advantage of the beautiful days to begin their spring yard clean-up. Leaves were raked and bagged, perennials chopped back to the ground, trees were …

Bring Nature In -- Let Stress Out

By Sandra Nelson   This article was originally published December 2018.   I have been feeling incredibly stressed lately.  Unfortunately, when I am stressed, I just shut down which, of course, increases my stress level and renders me virtually useless. My “To Do” list gets longer and my “Done” list stays blank.The only way I …

Echinacea  -- Sombrero Series: A Must Have For Your Landscape

    By Sandra Nelson The seed catalogs have begun to appear in my mailbox, which always gets me dreaming about the multitudes of plants  — both new varieties and old favorites — that I want to add to my landscape. With so many to choose from though, it’s difficult to narrow down the list …

Who's Showing Off Today?

  Let’s welcome an unfamiliar face to the fall color spectacular!     Diervilla is a native shrub that seems to have it all. This non-invasive 3 to 4 foot deciduous shrub will thrive in sunny or shady conditions, is drought tolerant and deer resistant. It sports yellow flower clusters all summer long and has superb …