Labor Day 2022

Mon. Sep. 5, 2022

Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show/podcast: Labor Day 2022

 Happy Labor day 2022.

Today we pay tribute to the contributions American workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

That, according to the Department of Labor

As for worker plants, well, let me tell you who to salute and, possibly select, for your own gardens.

As most of you know, topping MY list are native grasses. I have many but the next two are the latest planted! 

Big bluestem ‘Blackhawks’ seed heads 9322
Big bluestem ‘Blackhawks’ full plant 9422 – that foliage will go completely burgundy!
Pennsylvania sedge 9422

Perennial Butterfly weed is a must if you want to encourage pollinators and there are several types of butterfly weed which is in the Milkweed family. Here’s a link to many selections from Prairie Moon Nursery

July 4th, 2019 Teri Knight – the orange flowers are the butterfly weed. This was the year the city was going to redo my street… it didn’t happen till 2020

Cardinal Flowers are outstanding hummingbird attractors with their vibrant red color and long-lasting bloom.

Rain garden Aug. 2022
Cardinal flowers Aug. 2022

Purple coneflower, the native, NOT the cultivars, are the best pollinator attractors AND their seeds feed the finches. In the photo above you can also see all the purple coneflowers on the edge of the rain garden. 

Purple coneflowers, partridge pea, butterfly weed, grasses in rain garden Aug. 2022

Rough Blazing star is a 3 to 5 ft. purple beauty. Bright purple fluffy looking disc flowers are crowded into rounded groups along the stem. Also known as Liatris, this perennial blooms from August to October.

Liatris – Blazing Star 2019 by Teri Knight

 Virgin’s Bower, Clematis virginiana, is a showy native vine that blooms in a flurry of small white flowers in mid-to-late summer. The long vines can extend up to 10 feet and flower for nearly a month. This avid climber will easily twine around a trellis or fence, or tall vegetation and shrubs. 

Clematis virginiana ‘Virgin’s Bower’ at neighbor Aug 2022

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