Blog

Have some space in your landscape and want to attract more lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species? Some big trees that are starting to show off their fall colors (a little after many other trees have already dropped their leaves) are the oaks (Quercus spp.) The benefit of some oaks’ fall color aside, you are left...Continue Reading

While we are a little further north than its native range (which extends into Southeast Missouri), I thought it worthwhile to highlight the Sweet Gum tree. Many of the Sweet Gum trees are reaching their peak in fall color. It’s worth the trip to places like Bellefontaine Cemetery if you have a chance to get...Continue Reading

As far as late-summer-to-fall blooming plants go, many Goldenrod species are a good choice for adding color to the landscape and food for pollinators later in the growing season. A few good species for the sunny, dry spaces include Showy Goldenrod, Rigid Goldenrod, and Cliff Goldenrod. Cliff and Showy Goldenrods can take some shade as...Continue Reading

Read a nice article by NPR on plants and treehoppers here.Continue Reading

Wasps really have a putrid reputation, many unjustifiably so. This Great Black Wasp (Sphex pensylvanicus) is one that, no doubt, can appear frightening just in its size alone at a length of 1+ inches. But these are not like the Yellow Jackets that have sent many of us running with arms flailing. These wasps are...Continue Reading

Currently in bloom: the Purple Beard Tongue and Prairie Beard Tongue, (Penstemon cobaea and Penstemon tubaeflorus.) These flowers have four fertile stamens and one sterile stamen. They are commonly referred to as “Beard Tongue” because of the one sterile stamen having a tuft of small hairs. These are clump-forming plants with spikes of flowers that...Continue Reading