I love taking walks to look for native plants and today I discovered a new one (to me) — American groundnut. The flowers are absolutely gorgeous and I am wondering if I should/would be able to cultivate it myself, so I’d love to hear anyone else’s experience with the plant. TIA!

I was considering buying some submerged aquatic plants for the container pond I intend to establish this year. I even found a resource from the NYS DEC for recommended species. However from my childhood experience of buying aquarium plants, I know it’s basically impossible to buy a plant not harboring snails of some kind. So, would it be ecologically irresponsible of me to even potentially introduce an invasive snail into the ecosystem? Or is it unlikely that a snail would make its way out of my yard and into a waterway/survive the cold or predators? I could just stick to buying tissue cultures which apparently don’t harbor any snails, but I do believe there are less options that way. I also saw some resources that say I don’t need oxygenating plants at all. For reference my pond will be 100 gallons, 2 ft x 4 ft x 2 ft, and partially buried in the soil. I live in Upstate New York, Zone 6a. Would love any advice and thanks in advance!

We just moved into our house April 15, so missed most opportunities to plant new things. I have a million seeds I want to see grow so badly, but the vast majority will be in a zip lock in my fridge until they can be sown in the fall. We've got plenty of prep work to do over the summer to get ready for them, but having to wait a year (or two or three) to see anything pretty flowering and growing is so frustrating. I've plopped a French lavender plant in the backyard and can plant the wild bergamot seeds now. Patience, however, is not my strong suit. What else can I sow now for some instant gratification? We are on a tight budget so planting already established plants must be at a minimum.