Around the Grounds has been informing and entertaining home gardeners about native plants since 2021. If you are looking for information about a particular plant or gardening subject, or just want to browse, see the chronological listing below and click on individual posts. Feedback is always welcome!

#1 Let’s Talk About Plants

#2 Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) – What’s In a Name?

#3 Goldenrod (Solidago spp.) – Don’t Blame the Goldenrod

#4 Wild Bleeding Heart (Dicentra eximia) – Be Still, My Bleeding Heart

#5 Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) – A Tale of Two Dogwoods

#6 Mountain Witch-alder (Fothergilla gardenii) – Oh Fother, Where Art Thou?

#7 Recommended foundation plants (Viburnum nudum, Itea, Hypericum) – From Ho-hum to Home Sweet Home

#8 Fall leaf clean-up – Turning Over an Old Leaf

#9 Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) – Season of the Witch-hazel

#10 Providing winter habitat – How Can We Help?

#11 Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) – Deck the Halls…and Gardens

#12 American Holly (Ilex opaca) – ‘Tis the Season to be Holly

#13 Red Osier Dogwood (Cornus sericea) – Winter Interest That Pays Dividends

#14 Evergreen foundation plants (Inkberry, Globe Arborvitae, Dwarf White Pine, Alberta Spruce) – Winter’s Green

#15 Rhododendron – How Cold Is It Outside?

#16 Doghobble or Fetterbush (Leucothoe fontanesiana or axillaris) – Lookin’ Good, Leucothoe!

#17 White Pine (Pinus strobus) – Oh, Say, Can You See…a White Pine?

#18 Evergreen groundcovers (Creeping juniper, bunny blue sedge, Christmas fern) – Forever Green 

#19 Ivy is Invasive! – Evil Ivy Over Everything

# 20 River Birch (Betula nigra) – Barking Up the Right Tree

#21 Yellow Wood Sorrel (Oxalis stricta) – The All-American Shamrock

#22 Pollinator gardens – What’s the Buzz?

#23 Milkweed (Asclepius spp.) – Marvelous Milkweed — Not Just for Monarchs!

#24 Switch Grass (Panicum virgatum) – Let’s “Switch Grass”

#25 Butterfly host plants (Zizia and Antennaria) – Feed That Hungry Caterpillar

#26 Serviceberry or Shadbush (Amelanchier spp.) – A Most Gracious Host

#27 Golden ragwort or groundsel (Packera aurea) – Can Your Ground Cover Do This?

#28 Redbud (Cercis canadensis) – The Redbuds Are Coming! The Redbuds Are Coming!

#29 Canadian Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense) – A Small Wonder That Makes Us Wonder

#30 Relationship among Milkweed, Monarchs, and Carpenter Bees – It’s Complicated

#31 Recommended native ferns (Osmunda, Athyrium, Adiantum, Matteuccia, Polystichum) – Made in the Shade

#32 Blue Wild Indigo (Baptisia australis) – Baptisia: It Will Return!

#33 Double flower forms – The Trouble With Double

#34 Pollinator Garden at the Nature Center – Happy Pollinator Month!

#35 Goatsbeard (Aruncus dioicus) – Billy Goat or Nanny Goat?

#36 Virginia Sweetspire (Itea virginica) – How Sweet It Is!

#37 Downside of mulching – Much Ado About Mulch

#38 Shrubby St. John’s Wort (Hypericum prolificum) – Summer Buzzin’

#39 Mountain mint (Pycnanthemum virginiana, tenufolium, and muticum) – Worth a Mint

#40 Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) – For the Birds

#41 Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium pupureum) – Who Was Joe Pye?

#42 The impact of drought on gardens – About Drought

#43 Anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) – Too Much is Not Enough

#44 Turtlehead (Chelone glabra and lyonii) – Late Bloomers

#45 Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) – Where Did That Come From?

#46 Coral Bells (Heuchera villosa) – Bambi Shrugged

#47 Native weeds to tolerate – Good Weed, Dude!

#48 Native Plant Meadow at the Nature Center – How We Made a Meadow

#49 Year-round beauty – Seasons in the Meadow

#50 Scary invasive vines – Boo!

#51 Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) – Autumn Hy-lights

#52 Prairie Dropseed (Sporobulus heterolepsis) – 5 Stars — Totally Recommend

#53 Northern Bayberry (Myrica or Morella pensylvanica) – A Better Hedge

#54 Willow Oak (Quercus phellos) – My Favorite Tree

#55 Protecting root systems of trees – For the Love of Trees, Part 1

#56 Protecting the living trunk of trees – For the Love of Trees, Part 2

#57 Protecting the leaf canopy of trees – For the Love of Trees, Part 3

#58 Bunny Blue Sedge (Carex laxiculmus) – Ever Blue

#59 Habitat for winter birds – Thin or Thicket

#60 Plants for stormwater control – After the Deluge

#61 The importance of Oaks – If You Can Do Just One Thing…

#62 Why the focus on native plants? – Back to School

#63 Pussy Willow (Salix discolor) – Before the Bulbs

#64 Best trees for caterpillars – Bird Food Grows On Trees

#65 Eastern Bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana) – A Perennial Star

#66 Common Blue Violet (Viola soraria) – Violets are Blue…

#67 Plants to add to your garden – Spring Shopping List

#68 Eastern Red Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) – Oh, My Darling Columbine!

#69 The prehistoric interrupted fern (Osmunda claytoniana) – Pardon the Interruption…

#70 Fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus) – The Fringe Element

#71 Buckeye shrubs (Aesculus pavia and parviflora) – An Eye for Buckeye

#72 Hairy Beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus and digitalis) – Call the Marketing Department!

#73 Beebalm and Wild Bergamot (Monarda didyma and fistulosa) – Monarda: A Balm for the Spirit

#74 Weeds that deserve no mercy – Nip ‘Em in the Bud!

#75 Summersweet (Clethra alnifolia) – The Sweetest Scent of Summer

#76 An endangered azalea (Rhodendron prunifolium) – A Rare Azalea

#77 Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica) – Here, There, and Everywhere

#78 Bringing fall color to the suburbs – Autumn Wonderland

#79 Plants for screening and hedges – Privacy Without “O’Fence”

#80 Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) – Mighty Arborvitae

#81 Holiday decorating with native plants – Holiday Decorating: Retro Style!

#82 Bringing nature into your own yard – Side Effects: May Include Joy, Calm, and Delight 

#83 Shrubs for wet areas (Buttonbush, Possumhaw viburnum, Winterberry, Pussy Willow) – Soggy Solutions 

#84 Don’t plant invasive plants – What NOT to Plant  

#85 Twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla) – A Woodland Wonder

#86 Magical spring ephemerals (Trout Lily, Rue Anemone, Bloodroot, Spring Beauty, Dutchman’s Breeches, Mayapple, Virginia Bluebells, Trillium) – Spring Awakening

#87 Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium) – Blue Skies, Blue Eyes

#88 Good plants for paths (Blue-eyed Grass, Field Pussy-toes, Prairie Dropseed, Mountain Mint, Prairie Smoke, Barren Strawberry, Shrubby St. John’s Wort, Potentilla) – Walk This Way 

#89 Hydrangeas that are and are not valuable to bees – The Shape of Hydrangeas

#90 Value of the Nature Center – What Is It Worth?

#91 How to garden to attract fireflies – Where Do Fireflies Sleep?

#92 Providing resources for birds and bees for winter – Stocking Up

#93 Witch-hazel (Hamemelis virginiana) – November Flowers? 

#94 Eastern Red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana) – American Evergreen: Easter Red-cedar

#95 Creeping Juniper and Common Juniper (Juniperus horizontalis and J. communis) – American Evergreen: The Junipers

#96 Eastern White Pine and cultivars (Pinus strobus) – American Evergreen: Revisiting the White Pine

#97 Rhododendrons (Rhododendron catawbiense and Rhododendron maximum) – American Evergreen: Rhododendron Refuge

#98 Native evergreens for suburban yards (American Holly, Inkberry, Alberta Spruce, Globe Arborvitae, Leucothoe) — American Evergreen: Think Outside the Boxwood!

#99 Wait! Hold Off on Your Spring Clean-Up!