The bee balm blooms in one of the native gardens are so bright that no matter how I take a picture of it they radiate red. The butterfly weed is also trying to compete with the bee balm blooms #plantnatives #nativeplants #gardening #pollinators #pollinatorgarden #biodiversity
Yearly reminder that Nandina domestica is invasive in the Mid-Atlantic and southeast. Consider winterberry holly as a native alternative #plants #PlantNatives

As a botanically trained ecologist in NZ, I get a front-row seat to the slow-motion avalanche of new plants spreading into the wild from gardens.

It will be a massive landscape transformation, just getting started.

On Monday I made the 24th observation of the common lionface on #iNaturalist in greater Christchurch. The first was 2019. It would already take a city-wide effort to stop, and is just one species of hundreds.

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/254076984

#weeds #InvasivePlants #PlantNatives #NZ

Common Lionface (Nemesia floribunda)

Common Lionface from Sydenham, Christchurch, New Zealand on December 2, 2024 at 04:29 PM by Jon Sullivan. The only one I know of anywhere in central Christchurch at the moment. I pulled it out but didn't...

iNaturalist NZ
Here's a good example of a plant that is invasive (Mahonia bealei, in the Berberis family) but flies under the radar in that regard because seedlings (distributed by birds) tend to pop up away from peoples' yards...in dense, undisturbed woods, in this case, where they go unnoticed. I found this large grove of them at the back edge of a local park; there was one super large plant surrounded for hundreds of feet in all directions by countless smaller ones. The only native Mahonia is M. aquifolium, which makes its home primarily from British Columbia to the U.S. Pacific northwest (Washington and Oregon). #plants #shrubs #PlantNatives

Another #NativePlant garden in the ground. Whew, that was SO MUCH WORK. 🥵 LOL @ our edging.
It’s not as bad as it looks. Will look better once we give the soil some time to settle before adding in the mulch.

Back row - grey headed coneflower. Middle row - orange and showy coneflower alternating. Front row - two southern prairie aster in the middle with bee balm horse mint at the edges.

#PlantNatives #pollinators #pollinatorgarden #HomeGrownNationalPark #GrowNative #ShrinkTheLawn

We are NOT #NativePlant experts, but we know a thing or two. For example we plan out each garden using cardboard for weed barrier (plus landscape fabric) and cutout circles to figure out placement. This will be a mostly sun garden. Back row - grey headed coneflower. Middle row - orange and showy coneflower alternating. Front row - two southern prairie aster in the middle with bee balm horse mint at the edges. Let’s see how this goes!

#PlantNatives #pollinators #pollinatorgarden #HomeGrownNationalPark

Fun! Our one early arriver eager beaver pale purple coneflower got a good bit of color over the weekend. How ‘bout THAT for your #Bloomscrolling?! 😂

#Missouri #plantnatives #coneflower #echinacea #HomeGrownNationalPark #palepurpleconeflower

We are trying to be good naturalists by slowly converting bits of our turf lawn to native gardens. Typically you don’t get blooms on echinacea in the first year. But this guy was on a mission. I’m here for it.

#Missouri #plantnatives #coneflower #echinacea #HomeGrownNationalPark #palepurpleconeflower

Today @Jillianmarisa and I went to Arrow Rock Missouri to represent our #masternaturalist chapter and try to convince folks to #plantnatives and get on the #HomeGrownNationalPark map. I think it was a big success.

You can get in on the action, too. Check out https://homegrownnationalpark.org for tips on growing native and to find plants to meet your needs.

#ShrinkTheLawn #GrowNative #Missouri

HOMEGROWN NATIONAL PARK

HOMEGROWN NATIONAL PARK™ IS A GRASSROOTS CALL-TO-ACTION TO RESTORE BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION by PLANTING NATIVE PLANTS AND CREATING NEW ECOLOGICAL NETWORKS.

HOMEGROWN NATIONAL PARK
I met this beautiful green snake in our backyard yesterday. Nature needs our help. With over 8 billion people on our planet and loss of habitat for so many creatures, they have nowhere to go. Please #ReWild your yard to help your local wildlife! #PlantNatives #NoMoreLawns