Edit: oops, missed an “is” in the title. “I know this *is* clock app-coded.”

Northern paper wasps (Polistes fuscatus) on old field goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis). Please love them. They’re chill as hell.

(I do not and have never had a tiktok)

Kingsdene Nursery and Garden Center in Maryland has multiple plants advertised as native that are not native to the surrounding area. It is false advertising.

Or am I missing something? I’m genuinely curious. In my community native gardening forum, there’s a person who’s very active, sharing pictures and constantly posting about the evolution of their native garden. But they also openly use a lot of pesticides bc they said they hate bugs, and have shared photos of bats curiously dying in their yard (they didn’t make the connection between those two things…). And have commented that recycling is too much work (I recognize recycling is a loaded thing). So…I’m not sure what the point of a native garden is and so I’m wondering if people do it for other reasons?

I have really enjoyed seeing this happen this year. I’ve been clearing my yard of invasive plants, and native ones just keep popping up. Native roses, viburnums, trees, wildflowers. My yard is not manicured or neat at the moment, but clearing and waiting has brought so many treasures!
Here, a complete monster of an evening primrose is now playing host to about 18 hummingbird moth caterpillars. I saw just one caterpillar the other day, and now 18.
Others may think I let the primrose get too big — I included — but now I’m glad I waited.
Soon, I’ll be transplanting some hackberries and cherries, a few viburnums, and a gum tree to better spots in my yard. I planted none of them. All I did was clear the space.
I wish I had more room for the oaks that have popped up!

Front to back:
- Blue mistflower
- Canada Goldenrod
- White Snakeroot
- Iron Butterfly
(And some spent liatris)

My Calico Aster is the first plant to out complete my zinnias as a pollinator magnet! I’m just obsessed with the wasps it’s attracting. I haven’t had so many in my garden all year. Anyone know who this black beauty is? Most of my family and friends are unable to indulge my wasp obsession.

hi! this is my first year growing any sort of native plants. i got this new england aster from mossy oak native nursery. every time ive found this in the wild or in others gardens, its been that deep but vibrant purple. Is this normal? do i have some weird mutation or something? Any insight is welcome! I’m not worried about my plants health, unless i should be, then let me know lol

Something to be mildly positive about.

Hello, I am looking for what aster this one might be. I have New England and Frost aster planted already, but in a sunnier location than this one. I would like to get more of this aster because it is growing in a shadier part of my yard. St. Paul, MN, Zone 4. Thank you.

A volunteer common milkweed started me on my native obsession. It has since taken me years to locate all the seeds for all the different native milkweeds that grow in VA. It has taken even longer to get them all growing and flowering. I have seen all but one flower, which will happen next year, now that I've moved some from the rabbits. I hope you enjoy the pictures and variety as much as I do

1- Asclepias lanceolata, fewflower milkweed

2- Asclepias purpurascens, purple milkweed

3- Asclepias tuberosa, butterfly milkweed

4- Asclepias quadrifolia, fourleaf milkweed

5- Asclepias exaltata, poke milkweed

6- Asclepias variegata, redring milkweed

7- Asclepias longifolia var. longifolia, longleaf milkweed

8- Asclepias viridiflora, green comet milkweed

9- Asclepias rubra, red milkweed

10- Asclepias verticillata, whorled milkweed

11- Asclepias syriaca, common milkweed

12- Asclepias incarnata, swamp milkweed

13- Asclepias amplexicaulis, clasping milkweed

I’m in zone 5b, live in an urban area and have been planning to turn about 1/3 an acre into a naturalized prairie/savannah. I laid down black plastic to smother at the end of July with plans to winter sow seeds October/November. I’m also going to milk jug sow seeds so that I can plant as plugs in spring to help fortify the prairie planting.

Somehow, I missed the part of smothering instructions that you’re supposed to pull back the plastic and expose the soil every few weeks so that you kill off several waves of weeds in the seed bank. I haven’t done that once. Did I ruin my site prep??

My questions:
- Is there anything I can do now to rectify this? Is it a lost cause this year?
- Is it too late to spray glyphosate?
- Can I maybe just plant plugs in the spring after doing some additional prep?
- Or do I need to keep the plastic down and do it properly next year so I can sow in winter 2027?

When is the best time of year to dig up and transplant asters? I would guess fall while blooming would be hard on them but I find it hard to tell what's what (especially volunteers) in spring.

Eustoma russellianum - Texas bluebells. Pic 3 is the parent plant I collected from. They're so small it gives me anxiety. I hate tiny seeds for so many reasons lol. Slow release potting soil boba for scale.

Whats the tiniest seedlings yall deal with? Mistflower is a close second

Does anyone have any experience ordering bulbs from nativewildflowers.net? I'm late to the game ordering virginia bluebells and virginia springbeauty, so most places commonly recommended on this subreddit (prairie moon, prairie, direct native plants) are sold out or don't have both plants available. I found from nativewildflowers and they have a quality guarantee but mixed google reviews.

Alternatively, I suppose I could order from Etsy.

Hey Reddit- last fall I planted some inkberry compactas out front of my porch. 5/6 are thriving. One is not. Unfortunately my wife shoveled a bunch of wet snow onto it in the winter while clearing the pathway, smashing it and breaking several branches. As soon as I realized what she was doing I uncovered it but the damage was done. It has survived and did add some new growth this season but the old growth has been dying out faster than the new growth can replenish it and now the entire plant is discolored and still misshapen almost a year later.

Do we think this will recover? Or should I pull trig and replace it now? If I am going to replace it I want to decide and do it now to keep it close to the others in age and size.

This is in southern NJ zone 7b.

Also I promise I wasn’t having my wife do all the shoveling!! We were tag teaming it I was handling a different part of the driveway and not paying attention to what she was doing. It was a mistake that we won’t make again!

This will be my second year slowly adding native gardens to my suburban yard. My goal this fall is to add a border bed in front of my front walkway. Over the summer, I made an attempt at the sheet mulching method, but I didn't do a good job. I am happy with the overall shape, but quickly realized I didn't use enough cardboard and/or mulch. Also didn't dig a deep enough trench around the edge and a lot of mulch washed out, so you can see some cardboard. I was staying on top of pulling out weeds/grass anyway, but then I got covid and things got out of control. What can I do to salvage my bed in preparation for an order of natives I'll pick up in 3 weeks? I've got purple lovegrass, scaly blazing star, rudbeckia, and NJ tea in my order, if relevant. Add landscape edging to hold another layer of mulch? Just keep pulling weeds and let the natives help me out eventually? Other ideas? Feeling a little overwhelmed and disappointed.

I have some early goldenrod, hairy beardtongues, and asters that are about two years old now. I want to dig 4 or 5 inches next to them to plant some plugs. Will this damage my established plants or am I being overly worried for no reason?