As we have discussed over the past few weeks, beautiful gardens don’t happen by accident. You need to analyze and deeply understand your garden over time. Once you have a pretty good handle on what you are working with, you will be ready to begin the process of choosing the right plants. Here are a couple more things to be aware of within your landscape. Sight Lines One of the questions I ask clients about their property is “Where will you be looking at your garden from?” Seems like a simple question, but it is often overlooked. This helps orient the plants in the right lines and heights for m ..read more

The more you understand your garden, the easier it will be to choose the right plants for your site.  We all have plant preferences but not all of your plant preferences will grow in your garden.  Here are a few more aspects to consider as you analyze your landscape.  Soil Type Here in south central Kansas, our soils are typically alkaline, which is good for growing most prairie plants.  Soils can be pH neutral with a value of 7.0, or anything below that is classed as acid, and anything above, alkaline. To determine your pH, a simple soil test can be done by yourself from k ..read more

Over the past few months, I have been working on some landscape designs.  These designs have reminded me how important site analysis is to a successful design.  Choosing the right plants for an area begins with a close look at the area being considered for a new garden. In my opinion, gardeners (I include myself in this category) don’t spend enough time observing our gardens throughout the year prior to planting anything. Here are a few important aspects to consider that will help you develop a rewarding planting scheme. What is the size of your outdoor space?  Site analysis beg ..read more

Originally posted on May 1, 2019 This is such an important topic and such a huge problem that we thought it is worth sharing again. Several years ago, I noticed something disturbing was happening to our prairie reconstruction.  Small little trees were popping up throughout the original prairie planting. I could not figure out where they were coming from, but they looked like pear tree saplings.  It wasn’t until I saw a large white blooming Callery pear tree in the spring that it all came together.  Callery Pear Although the flower clusters are beginning to fade, Callery pea ..read more

As gardeners, we have many choices of plants to introduce into our landscapes.  From trees, shrubs, annuals, and perennials (including grasses), the options seem to be endless.  Here at the Arboretum, we gravitate toward perennials for a number of reasons.  What is a perennial? Unlike annuals that germinate, flower, set seed, and die all in one season, perennials are typically cold-hardy plants that will return again and again each spring.  If situated in the right place in your landscapes, perennials will thrive, and will bloom either in spring, summer, or fall. In my mind ..read more

When most people visit Normandy, they aren’t coming for the gardens. World War II historians flock here from all over the world to learn, explore, and pay tribute to the thousands who died here liberating France, and later freeing Europe. I personally love this area of France. It is my favorite by far, not only for its history, but for its beautiful, rugged landscape and friendly people. (And did I mention Normandy is the home of Camembert cheese?) Of course, no trip to Normandy would be complete without a stop at the American Cemetery and Memorial. And though we aren’t always looking for grea ..read more

St. Malo is known as the corsair city; a place of pirates and lighthouses, rocky islands and medieval walls. Besides great history (and excellent pastry!), a botany-minded visitor in St. Malo can enjoy sightings of lichen, ferns, algae, and more. We did not visit one of the “gardens of France” in a traditional sense, but the plants of the city spoke for themselves, needing no formal planting or ornamentation. This was my second visit to the charming town, and because we got to spend several days here lazily walking the ramparts and beaches, I had plenty of time to admire all the plant life! Vi ..read more

Refined, elegant, and dare I say…lady-like? The castle and gardens of Chenonceau are truly a must-see in the Loire Valley. It is known as the ladies castle because of its many famous female inhabitants, as well as the fact that its construction and upkeep was overseen by women. With formal gardens surrounding it on two sides, and an extensive estate with woods, hedge maze, vegetable plot, and a medicinal herb garden, one could easily spent the entire day here. This is one of my favorite gardens of France, but sadly we only had a few hours to admire the grounds and take a few notes on the exqui ..read more

This time of year we are looking for any hint of spring.  Often we can find tips of green from bulbs or swelling buds of the silver maple. On other trees, such as birch, hazelhut, alder and later willows, you can see catkins dangling from their branches.  One of the first harbingers of spring here at the Arboretum is the Ozark witchhazel.  Flowers Ozark witchhazel, with the scientific name Hamamelis vernalis and pronounced ham-ah-MAY-lis ver-NAH-lis, is a native shrub found in Missouri and Arkansas spreading down through Oklahoma and Texas. In January to early March, depend ..read more

Bird enthusiasts often flock to Dyck Arboretum to observe birds in our prairie, woodlands, and pond. In fact, Dyck Arboretum has been a data collection site for the Halstead-Newton Christmas Bird Count for 20+ years. Many FloraKansas patrons ask about how to attract more birds to their own landscapes, and the answer is simple: provide food, water and shelter! Echinacea for goldfinches. Columbine for Hummingbirds. Corylus (hazelnut) for grosbeaks.Rudbeckia for chickadees. Bird photos courtesy of Gregg Friesen. The Arboretum is a hot spot for birds because of the density of native plants on our ..read more