“Native” has become a buzzword in the world of botany and horticulture, and I guess I’m contributing to it! Suddenly a bunch of people who didn’t care where their plants came from are ready to lionize one group of plants and villainize another. But what does “native” actually mean? This is a question that Mark Richardson and Dan Jaffe attempt to answer at the beginning of Native Plants for New England Gardens:

One of the things we’re sowing right now is Agalinis tenuifolia, a tiny-but-mighty late summer flower. What makes this one unique is the fact that it’s hemiparasitic, meaning it’s (partially) a PLANT VAMPIRE. Like Bunnicula. But pinker. And only a part-timer. Agalinis tenuifolia, a small pink and red-spotted flower with petals fused into a tube and slender, spear-like leaves. I found this one on a path leading between a campsite and the beach.

Want a sneak peek at what we’re growing for sale in 2024? See below! Note that there’s no guarantee we will have these exact plants. Gardening, and nature, follow their own rules, and we’re still learning to grow many of these. (And let’s be real, I’ll probably buy more seeds before spring!) Last updated: May 21, 2024 Native Plants Purchased Seeds These were all purchased from either Wild Seed Project or Prairie Moon Nursery (where we purchase only New England natives).

It’s the most wonderful time of the year – when trilliums are in bloom! Since I can’t get out in the woods much right now, instead have some completely useless facts about red trilliums. Red trillium (Trillium erectum), like all trilliums, is a monocot, meaning it arises from a seed with a single cotyledon or seed leaf. Most plants are dicots, which have seeds with two cotyledons, so this makes trilliums a little bit special.

Or: why I use iNaturalist. I constantly see posts from my Facebook friends (and even in native plant communities) asking for recommendations on mobile apps to identify plants. Inevitably someone will pop up with PictureThis, or Google Lens, or even Seek. But here’s why I use iNaturalist.org’s mobile app. Free PictureThis is ad-supported if you don’t give them money. The premium version ranges in price from $30-$50/year, depending on plan.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The snow has melted, spring ephemerals are… ephemering, and woodpeckers are gettin’ it on in the trees. In my continuing effort to bring you more dumb plant facts, I figured I’d share some of the pictures of what I’ve been seeing in the woods in the past ~week or so. Round-lobed hepatica, Hepatica americana. Close-up on the white/pinkish flowers Round-lobed hepatica (Hepatica americana), zoomed out a bit to see some of the leathery, tri-lobed leaf This is round-lobed hepatica, Hepatica americana.

Multiflora rose – whose Latin name is Rosa multiflora, logically enough – is kind of a shit rose. A lovely portrait of a shit rose. It is native to east Asia, but definitely not North America, where it has become wildly invasive. … if you know me at all, you know I have a bee in my bonnet about the term “invasive,” but my definition of a shitty invasive is “can I find it naturalized in woodlands behind my house?