Tag Archives: #nativeplants

Native Gardening: Move Over Exotics, Make Way for Natives

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It’s time to let native plants take the spotlight in your garden. While Europeans quickly fell in love with America’s native flora, many Americans have yet to fully appreciate the treasures in their own backyards. What native plants have you been overlooking? Review some of the thousands of plants that are native to Maryland, from annuals and perennials to shrubs and trees and everything in between!

# PDE-163 | $95 (includes fees: $85) A2 Tue, Thu | Sept. 22 & 24 | 6 – 9 p.m. 2 sessions | Main Campus Instructor: Laura O’Callaghan, a Master Gardener, Ambassador for the Xerces Society for the Conservation of Invertebrates, and website editor of IntheGardenwithLaura.com.

Register Here

Goldenrod (unlike ragweed, does not cause allergies, comes in many heights and styles. It is a critical plant for bees and butterflies in the fall as they prepare for winter.

Photo by Sally and Andy Wasowski, Lady Bird Johnson Wildlife Center.

Skunk Cabbage Doesn’t Get Enough Respect

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What ephemerals can expect to see in our forests now?

Last week, bloodroot (Sanguinaria), took center stage, but another spring ephemeral flowers even earlier: Eastern skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus).

This fascinating plant often flowers in late February, the first of the spring ephemerals to bloom in Maryland’s Piedmont Region.

Photo by Alan Cressler, LBJWC.
Though a native plant, skunk cabbage can still grow aggressively as this patch in Virginia demonstrates.

Found in wetlands and along streambanks, this native plant evolved during the Cretaceous period, 145 to 66 million years ago, when dinosaurs were at their peak.

Continue reading Skunk Cabbage Doesn’t Get Enough Respect →

Don’t Despair, Ephemerals Are on the Way

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After this winter’s snow, ice and freezing temperatures, the thought of spring ephemerals pushing their way through the ground brings hope.

These plants emerge in woodlands as the forest floor begin to warm but before trees’ leaf out.

Photo by Doug Sherman, LBJWC.

One of the first harbingers of spring, these hearty souls gather energy from the sun in early spring; it must last them for the remainder of the year since their blooms disappears before many people even notice them.

Continue reading Don’t Despair, Ephemerals Are on the Way →