JBtheExplorer
Native Gardener
Now that the year is coming to an end and the garden season is over, I thought I'd share some of my favorite photos from my native garden that I took throughout the year. As some of you know, all the plants in my garden are native to the United States, and the majority of them are native to my specific location. My native garden supports local wildlife in ways that most gardens can't. I've seen a lot of success with it this year, but it's young and will not be fully mature for a couple more years.
The first image is Spiderwort. The blue-purple color is a welcome addition to the garden, and it really looks great among my other plants.
Penstemon (White), Blanket Flower (Red & Yellow), and Spiderwort (Blue) blooming in June.
Orange Milkweed (Orange), Liatris (Purple), Spiderwort (Blue) blooming in July.
One of my favorite flowers is Blanket Flower. The red and yellow petals are something you don't often see in flowers. Butterflies and Bees are fans, too!
Monarch Butterflies started appearing nearly every day in Summer. Many were female, and it wasn't long before I started finding eggs and caterpillars on the milkweed plants.
You can tell that this one is a male, because it has two black dots on the wings.
Blanket Flower (Red & Yellow), Black-eyed Susan (Yellow), Liatris (Purple), Orange Milkweed (Orange), and Spiderwort (Blue). The color in this photo is only the beginning of what's to come in future years when more species begin to bloom. The garden is also still thinly planted, but will get thicker as time goes on, which will help prevent weeds from growing.
While most of the plants were grown from seed, I added a full-grown plant this summer called Long-headed Coneflower. I also grow its close relative, Gray-headed Coneflower, which won't bloom until next year.
You can't have a native garden in the US without having Black-eyed Susans. They help fill in the gaps, and many flower in their first year. They last no longer than two seasons, though. They can reseed themselves and pop up in new spots, which always makes the garden interesting, knowing it will always look different.
Black-eyed Susans and a few remaining Orange Milkweed flowers, along with the developing milkweed seedpods. The seedpods take a long time to develop, which makes them easy to control. These started forming in August and didn't begin to open until late October, early November. If I didn't want them to spread, I could've snapped them off, but in this case, I kept them on so I could collect the seeds.
Every season must come to an end. The garden needs a few months to recharge before it starts all over again.
I'm excited for next year. I should have at least a few new species blooming, as well as first-year plants that I just seeded in recently. This final image is Blue-eyed Grass. I grow it in another area of my yard, but I added some of it to my native garden this Autumn after it finished blooming. I'm looking forward to seeing it bloom next to all of the plants shown above.
You can see a complete list of the plants I grow in my showcase, which can be easily accessed by clicking the image in my signature.
The first image is Spiderwort. The blue-purple color is a welcome addition to the garden, and it really looks great among my other plants.
Penstemon (White), Blanket Flower (Red & Yellow), and Spiderwort (Blue) blooming in June.
Orange Milkweed (Orange), Liatris (Purple), Spiderwort (Blue) blooming in July.
One of my favorite flowers is Blanket Flower. The red and yellow petals are something you don't often see in flowers. Butterflies and Bees are fans, too!
Monarch Butterflies started appearing nearly every day in Summer. Many were female, and it wasn't long before I started finding eggs and caterpillars on the milkweed plants.
You can tell that this one is a male, because it has two black dots on the wings.
Blanket Flower (Red & Yellow), Black-eyed Susan (Yellow), Liatris (Purple), Orange Milkweed (Orange), and Spiderwort (Blue). The color in this photo is only the beginning of what's to come in future years when more species begin to bloom. The garden is also still thinly planted, but will get thicker as time goes on, which will help prevent weeds from growing.
While most of the plants were grown from seed, I added a full-grown plant this summer called Long-headed Coneflower. I also grow its close relative, Gray-headed Coneflower, which won't bloom until next year.
You can't have a native garden in the US without having Black-eyed Susans. They help fill in the gaps, and many flower in their first year. They last no longer than two seasons, though. They can reseed themselves and pop up in new spots, which always makes the garden interesting, knowing it will always look different.
Black-eyed Susans and a few remaining Orange Milkweed flowers, along with the developing milkweed seedpods. The seedpods take a long time to develop, which makes them easy to control. These started forming in August and didn't begin to open until late October, early November. If I didn't want them to spread, I could've snapped them off, but in this case, I kept them on so I could collect the seeds.
Every season must come to an end. The garden needs a few months to recharge before it starts all over again.
I'm excited for next year. I should have at least a few new species blooming, as well as first-year plants that I just seeded in recently. This final image is Blue-eyed Grass. I grow it in another area of my yard, but I added some of it to my native garden this Autumn after it finished blooming. I'm looking forward to seeing it bloom next to all of the plants shown above.
You can see a complete list of the plants I grow in my showcase, which can be easily accessed by clicking the image in my signature.
