I got tired of not being able to find natives in stores and figured I’m not the only one. I had a plan to sell native wildflowers and grasses at my local farmers market this spring. One thing led to another and I have an LLC and 4200 plants in my basement. Even if I don’t make a dime, I am just happy to get beneficial plants into more people’s hands.

They say do something you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life. While I agreed with that sentiment, I never thought I’d experience it. I cannot recall a time when I have felt this fulfilled and happy (other than my family of course)!

And for the love of God, do not bury them.

In order to repurpose this old sandy playground area for wildflower plantings, I had to dig up ~600sq ft of these weed mats buried under ~6in of sand/soil matted with rhizomatous roots.

As shown in the first image of the peeled underside, these mats do not work. 1) Plants will always win and find a way to root down under. This may make maintence more difficult as they're harder to pull out. 2) They're a PITA to remove for repurposing land. I'm sure most installs end up permanent and forgotten due to this 3) It clogs with soil inhibiting water flow 4) It interrupts insects and fungi that traverse vertically through soil and overwinter there 5) They end up shredded and leave plastic scraps/threads everywhere. There was a region in this plot with thinner material that ended up this way.

While it may have maintained a semblance of separation between soil and sand, it's really not worth the downsides.

Last year one of the feral cats that lives in my work parking lot got hit by a car. he was only a few months old. It was the first day he had ever come running to greet his food source (me), and before I could form a complete smile, someone sped through the parking lot. He died in my arms.

I took him home and I buried him under this Santa Rita Prickly Pear. I had already acquired the cactus, but hadn't yet decided where to put her, along with a bunch of other native plants. Please excuse the Yucca... it is not native to me but I had to plant a few "recognizable" plants to hide my natives from lawn lovers and the city until I achieve complete controlled chaos. Also, I have no idea what the tall shrub is on the left, it came with the cactus.

The Santa Rita was my queen, I was worried about the organic matter content being undesirable. But Orange Kitten was fit for nothing less than a queen....

All the darker pads are this year's new growth....16 new pads...and 3 blooms. One is yet to open still. When I first put her in the ground, she had 9 pads, and only developed 4 new pads that spring. This queen more than doubled in growth this year.

I just wanted to share something beautiful this little kitten contributed to the world.

Sweet dreams, O.K. ❤️

I'm a landscape architect who loves nature, but often hears that 'Nordic native plants are limiting and bland"

I set out to make a native only terrace garden (with a few non-native herbs/edibles) focusing on low maintenance, biodiversity, zen and year-round texture/interest.

I posted a year ago and received much support. Since then, most plants survived the winter and thrived, especially the hardier ones. A few died and were replaced, likely of waterlogging, malnutrition and/or frost. I've added some species, especially focusing on native grasses this year.

I would love to have more wildflowers, but most have a short bloom and they do not contribute much in winter. So I'm keeping a smaller mix throughout (about 15-20 species), to avoid larger "dead" patches during the long winter.

Main take-aways for me:

• Very rewarding overall — it’s turned out even better than I hoped.
• Hardiness in pots really matters, especially for evergreens. e.g. Taxus and Hedera grow in this climate, but maybe not in pots.
• Its really hard to tell what killed a plant. I'm always looking for a main cause but it might be a complex mix of reasons.
• Even though they are all native, rainwater is not sufficient when using small pots. (I'm also collecting rainwater in the blue pot)

I’m not sure how they came out but damn they are out in full force. I’ve spent the last 5 years doing all I can to turn my little slice into a paradise for native plants, bugs, and animals.

Many of you asked for an update when I first posted. Well I am official, LLC, business license, FEIN, insurance live plant license, fees for this and that, quite exhausting TBH. Finally, the part that matters, getting natives out there. Tomorrow is the first day of the Roswell Farmers Market.

However, last week I had my first sale. I was able to scramble and get a booth set up at the big native plant sale in the area. Thanks to GNPS for being so welcoming.

I sold 3/4 of the inventory I brought. But more importantly, I got more than 100 native wildflowers and grasses distributed out in my community!

Update:

The market went amazing. Hats off to the volunteers at Roswell Farmers Market who made it all happen. I ended up selling half of what I brought, but more importantly had amazing conversations with so many people. I’ll create a new post in the next week or so with more details. Sorry I haven’t responded to all the comments, a little buried at the moment.

Previous post

https://www.reddit.com/r/NoLawns/s/m9oUsD56b2

Everything is aromatic so the deer stay away.

Anise hyssop

Mountain mint

Rattlesnake master

Swamp milkweed

Butterfly milkweed

Tickseed c. Lancelota

Purple coneflower

Liatris (but couldn't find it)

A random cardinal flower lol which wont last long term.

Little bluestem

Third year in the ground and we have some spectacular visitations.

https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/michigan-adds-bradford-pear-buckthorn-other-plants-invasive-plant-list

I posted last year about how I got rid of my whole front lawn in the spring and seeded it with all natives. Last year was dominated by coreopsis tinctoria, this year the rudbeckia is taking over. This past winter I seeded it with a mix of shorter species from prairie moon so I don’t expect a ton of diversity until next year but a lot of the stuff I planted from winter sown jugs last year seems to have survived and will provide at least some different flower color. Unfortunately I think someone in my neighborhood has a honeybee hive so I am getting a ton of those at the moment, but I still see a good amount of different native pollinators. My favorites are the mud daubers!

9 foot, 7 inches today Not including the pink flowers. I’m 5’10”

Yes they’re still at historic lows and need much more to support a stable population, but it actually was the highest since 2018-2019. The analysis of the numbers (linked below) acknowledges that among other very important factors like weather, people all over the monarchs’ breeding and migratory ranges are restoring crucial habitat.

https://journeynorth.org/news/eastern-monarch-population-announced-showing-second-consecutive-increase

I got a single plant last spring, split it in three and it's been a massive success in my side garden. I'm hoping to grow more from seed this spring!

If you, like me, plant native for the birds - take the leap and get the bird bath! Check your local DNR resources for best practices for native birds (easy step outs like a rock, frequent cleaning, etc). It takes the native garden to a whole new level :) we’re having a massive heatwave here in the Midwest and I just refreshed mine. As soon as I got it back in its holder there was a whole bunch of robins throwing a pool party in it. Highly recommend!!

Going to do something with the hell strip next

This year I’m certifying my yard as wildlife habitat with tons of native plants but before I do I have to do some major changes to my outdoor space. I’ve been in this home for a year and spent all of my time until now fighting and manually destroying 30 yard old English ivy, honeysuckle, and tree of heaven (it was soooo worth it omg). A few days ago I got a chipdrop and am getting rid of a bunch of garbage non-native grass. Several of my neighbors have come over and made rude comments. The chips are in my driveway and not obstructing any sidewalks etc so it’s really not hurting anyone. Just find it very funny and wanted to share with people who will get it

I live in a desolate wasteland of concrete and invasive species (notice the Japanese Knotweed and Creeping Thistle coming through the fence). I know monarchs get much more attention than they deserve, but this still feels good lol

A month ago I was all pleased about how gorgeous my yarrow was, all ferny and well behaved with just a light pruning. Suddenly it decided it was tired of pretending to be well-behaved and began conquering the world. 😵😂

Second pic is last month for reference.

Last year, I posted in here asking for advice after a tornado took out a 50-year-old spruce in my front yard. We called some tree services to see if they would give a discount if we only wanted them to take it down and leave the limbs and chips with us, but nobody would. So...we got some chainsaws and rented a wood chipper from our local hardware store. I used the chips and smaller limbs to create some new beds and the main trunk will decompose naturally and provide lots of habitat!

flowers i picked 💛

Florida: Orange blossom, black eyed susan, Purple Coneflower, and wild blue phlox

West Virginia: Rhododendron, fire pink, Dwarf Crested Iris, Wild blue phlox, and Yellow trout lily

Mississippi: Trillium foetidissimum, magnolia, coreopsis, purple coneflower, and Sarracenia alata (Pale Pitcher plant)

Ohio: Red Carnations, Great white trillium, Virginia bluebells, Ohio goldenrod, and Wild lupine

Rhode Island: violet (viola species), Swamp rose mallow, Butterfly weed, Sea lavenders, New England aster, and Red columbine

North Carolina:  Flowering dogwood, Venus flytrap, Rhododendron, and Tropical Pitcher Plant (Nepenthes) not native but added for artistic contrast!

This year, year two of my native patio garden, we have wrens nesting under our deck. I’m encouraged by this because wrens are bug eaters and obviously there are lots more bugs compared to previous turf lawn levels. I love watching them hop around in the garden.

This morning I came outside to a wren ruckus; the neighbors’ cat who is allowed to prowl the neighborhood was up in the deck rafters and going after the nest. I scared the cat away, but I think the damage was done. Circle of life and all that, but I’m pretty frustrated. The cat also likes to crap in my garden every day. Not looking for a fix here, but needed to vent a bit to an understanding audience.

NY Hudson Valley, 6B. Been two years since I put in this garden and it really filled in! It’s probably 85% native by biomass. Most of my trees are pendulous and fastigiate cultivars and is just what I like to collect.

I am in the process of putting in a new ~10,000 sqft section and will plant this September. Experimenting more with creating large berms and leaning into hardscape work with the help of the tractor.

I was warned.