The post shares updates on the garden, including hopes for certain plants, encounters with wildlife, and the joys of seeing native plants flourish alongside the challenges of managing weeds and wildlife. The author expresses both frustration and delight in nurturing their garden.
Tag Archives: common blue violet
Did I Plant You?
An inexperienced native gardener faces challenges identifying and managing weeds in her Chicago garden. She employs plant identification apps and connects with fellow gardeners for help. Despite setbacks, she finds joy in discovering surviving flowers and attracting wildlife. She also shares her planting strategies and experiments with labeling in challenging weather conditions.
Celebrating the Spring Equinox
The unseasonably warm weather has me itching to play around in the garden. I know however that doing so can disrupt native pollinators and other beneficial insects so I’ve been holding off. I did however celebrate the Spring Equinox by removing the burlap I pinned down to protect from heavy road salt use. I wasContinue reading “Celebrating the Spring Equinox”
More Research
I went back to the research drawing board. I now know that right below the surface is stubborn clay, so I’ve taken that into account. While I knew that it was full sun, I guess I didn’t take the dry soil into account? So that also became an important element. Starting with the Xerces Society pdf for our region, I plugged them into the National Wildlife Federation’s Plant Finder to figure out exactly which varieties would work for this zip code.