I’ve been enamored with the Common Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) since I first noticed it growing wild along the shoreline of Lake Norfork. Even when I knew nothing about this plant, it’s fragrant pom-pom flowers fascinated me. Seriously, I love any plant that looks Dr. Seuss-inspired. Now that I understand its importance to wildlife, I’m one of its biggest cheerleaders. One thing that makes the buttonbush unique is its love of water. This particular plant thrives in marshes, bogs, along shorelines and streams, and other low-lying wet areas. (This explains why it lines the shores of ..read more

I decided to try my hand at making botanical confetti. Since it’s my birthday week—yay!—confetti is definitely in order, but really, you don’t need a special reason for a confetti-filled day. And what can be better than confetti made from nature? Can you believe all the colors found in our backyard? The small dots of botanical confetti look like paper. But they aren’t. Each leaf not only provides a glorious color, but also a completely unique pattern. No two pieces of confetti are the same. In the first batch I made, I tossed in bits of clover and other blossoms, so it was a little like po ..read more

I decided to try my hand at making botanical confetti. Since it’s my birthday week—yay!—confetti is definitely in order, but really, you don’t need a special reason for a confetti-filled day. And what can be better than confetti made from nature? Can you believe all the colors found in our backyard? The small dots of botanical confetti look like paper. But they aren’t. Each leaf not only provides a glorious color, but also a completely unique pattern. No two pieces of confetti are the same. In the first batch I made, I tossed in bits of clover and other blossoms, so it was a little like po ..read more

Well, friends, after months of anticipation and preparation, the Arkansas Master Gardener garden tour has come and gone. Whew! Now that I’ve had a minute to sit back and think about it, I scribbled down a few random notes about the whole fabulous experience. Start Early. Gardening is one of our favorite hobbies, so in a way, we’ve been preparing to be on this garden tour since we bought our property in 2014. But, as soon as we officially agreed to participate in this year’s state garden tour, we began honest-to-goodness planning. The end of winter seemed a very long wait. We pulled weeds bet ..read more

After last year’s major whammy of a winter, we seem to be skipping winter altogether here in Arkansas. One thing’s for sure—our weather is becoming more and more extreme. I hope that by calling out this crazy idea of skipping winter, Ole Man Winter will straighten himself out, and we will indeed have more seasonable weather in January. The plants and animals depend on it. We all do. I’ll admit it—eating cobbler and vanilla ice cream outside on Christmas Day was kinda nice. Walking Annabelle and Gracie without wearing our Icelandic gear has been kinda nice too. But I need a little winter ..read more

Today’s Santa Succulent is a fun, last-minute gift for the plant lover in your life. (Or, for yourself.) Really, this is for everyone reading today’s Christmas Countdown post, right? Aren’t they adorable? I saw these whimsical fellows at Greater Goods Marketplace in historic downtown Van Buren, Arkansas, and thought about how fun it would be to make these for Christmas gifts. Santa Mugs This time of year, vintage Santa mugs can be found front and center at resale and thrift shops everywhere. Many retailers sell cute reproductions too. The price seems to be about the same for vintage and new ..read more

Life in Milkweed Milkweed is vital for monarchs because it is THE host plant for monarch butterflies (meaning, monarch butterflies lay eggs ONLY on milkweed, AND monarch caterpillars ONLY eat milkweed). Of course, there are a variety of other species besides monarchs that enjoy nectaring from milkweed. This year, I’ve been keeping track of the critters I’ve noticed in my swamp milkweed—life beyond monarchs. And, I thought it would be fun to document this life in milkweed, the teeny flies and bugs, frogs and just-hatched insects, the butterflies feeding every afternoon. Each time I inspe ..read more

I love purple and blue in the summer garden. Blue, especially, is more rare. Don’t you think? If you want to attract a variety of pollinators to your garden, it’s important to include diverse plantings in a variety of colors. Adding blue and purple will attract certain butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, and even bats. Today is all about a few of my favorite purple and blue blossoms for your summer garden. Black & Blue Salvia The bluest flower in our garden is Black & Blue Salvia guaranitica. I discovered this variety a couple of years ago and absolutely love the dark stems and vibrant ..read more

This spring, so many garden surprises have entertained me. Almost every day something reveals itself. Something unexpected, curious, even unusual. It helps that I spend a crazy amount of time poking around outside. (The more time one spends with any activity, the more accessible and intimate the parts of that activity become.) Each inch of soil surrounding our home is habitat for fungi, bacteria, insects, tiny burrowing creatures and organisms. Healthy soil supports plant growth by anchoring and insulating roots, filtering water, holding oxygen, and supplying nutrients.  While soil prov ..read more

There’s great power in porch flowers, y’all. Last week, I finally planted flowers in the pots around my front porch. As fast as spring seemed to arrive, I waited and waited before filling my front porch containers. Our temperatures kept dipping into the thirties and forties every few days, and I didn’t want tender buds to suffer from cold weather or frost. (And I didn’t want to cover them.) This doesn’t mean for the last three months I haven’t been torturing myself by visiting all the area nurseries, lusting over flats of red geraniums, drooling over pea green foliage, inhaling the perfume o ..read more