Seed Starting Secrets Workshop Sign Up Genius link is LIVE!!! For those who snag a spot I will email back info within 24 hours, if you don't hear back from me check your spa or email me at [email protected] www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B4BA5...

Signs up for my Seed Starting Secrets Workshops goes LIVE Saturday at 10 AM!! A Sign up Genius link will post here and on my website. Dates: Sunday April 27th 1:00-3:00 Tuesday April 29th 10:00-12:00 Saturday May 3rd 10:00-12:00 Cost=$70, participants go home with their own 50 cell plug tray

Love podcasts? I introduce you to Gardening for Hot People by the fabulous Cheryl Rafuse of Plant Magic Gardens and Katie Upchurch of Soy Much Brighter. The podcast explores gardening in an era of climate change. I was guest #2 and we had A LOT of fun! www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yKV... or streaming

Did you know birds tuck seeds into empty plant stems to snack on later? Took a lovely walk around my garden yesterday and found sunflower seeds hiding in last years Joe pye.😆 My neighbor is an avid feeder of his yard birds so it’s no surprise some ended up stashed in my ‘left natural’ winter garden.

And now some not so good news....monarchs may have almost doubled last year, but butterflies in general have declined a whopping 22% since 2020. What to do? Ditch pesticides full stop, plant host plants, plant nectar plants. Create habitat. xerces.org/press/study-...

GOOD NEWS! The Eastern monarch population numbers were just announced. The population is UP 99%!! It's still the 5th lowest amount recorded since counting began, but I'll take the win. We need every little win right now. More at: journeynorth.org/monarchs/new...

A little green to cheer up your Wednesday 🌱

SQUUEEEEEEEE! FIRST BUTTERFLYWEED SPROUT!!!!!❤️❤️❤️

Noodles says "rabbit! rabbit!" and 'Happy March!" I'd usually post a link for a newsletter on the first day of the month. But I'm going to wait until the Mexican overwintering monarch population numbers are announced and do it then. Last year the news came out on February 7th, so it should be soon!

Look what I just checked out of my local library! 'Soil' by Camille T. Dungy was recommended by a follower named Anika. I haven't started it yet but was sold in seconds when I read the book jacket. A perfect way to finish out Black History Month, I'll report back when I'm done 😉

For 4 years now I've been trying to boost the germination of wild Essex Co. hempvine - Mikania scandens- seeds. Last summer a plant I grew, and planted in my garden, finally flowered. It's seeds from THIS wild offspring that are germinating like mad. Instead of 4 or 5 for sale I should have dozens!

With the world iced over this vacation week I was determined to find a outdoor place to take my cooped up 9th grader. And it dawned on me: the Stone Zoo! Bats, black bears, a yak, a porcupine, wolves and reindeer. Then our favorite, the snow leopards showing us their tummies. Cats will be cats 🤣

Jeff is my only winter-time employee, with one job: keep mice out of the greenhouse! He finally got off his floofy chonky butt today and for the first time this winter wandered in from the basement. He got straight 'to work' spreading his cat scent everywhere. Good boy Jeff! Extra treats for you!

82 species have germinated! And Mother Nature dumped 6” of fresh fertilizer last night, a bin is melting to use on the shrubs soon. Natives don’t generally need fertilizing but after a few months in the same dirt a little is always a good idea and snow contains usable nitrogen.

It's been a month since we checked in with the baby sweet pepper bushes, Clethra alnifolia. SO MANY BABIES!! I gently moved 72 into a cube tray today but could easily make up another 4. Who doesn't love what is the best smelling native shrub in the northeast? Baby and all grown up below.

5 big Monarch Gardener stars for Night Magic! One of the best nature books I've read in a long time! Each line is either a nature fun fact for me to store away, or feels like soft moss wrapping me in a hug. Henion brings you along on night time adventures with salamanders, fireflies, bats and more.

I dropped the ball on Valentine's seed packs! I am packing them now. If you're within driving distance of Ipswich, MA email me at [email protected] and I can give you info on how to get these from my Little Free Milkweed Seed Library in time for your kid's class Valentine's exchange.

I did a little experiment yesterday to see if I could coax more tree seeds out of dormancy. I placed these flowering dogwood seeds on a damp paper towel in a plastic bag and set them in a sunny window. I should say it worked. Overnight 7 popped. It's amazing how much heat really gets natives awake.

Long time followers know I'm a sucker for blue. So I am very excited today to have sown some of the thousands of seeds I collected from bottle gentians, Gentiana clausa, I started from Maine ecotype seed now growing in my yard, shown below. These need light to germinate, so I sow on the surface.

Brace yourselves for a big SQUEEE as I swoon over these baby black elderberries basking in the sun. OK, so elderberries can't solve all the world's problems but they can host 37 caterpillars, and the birds who fatten up on their fall berries sure have a better world with elderberries in it.

Me again with your regional drought report. My area has slipped back into a moderate drought! I'm in Essex County, the Cape Ann coastal area north of Boston, MA. But look at parts of New Jersey! Extreme drought there 😱 I wish you lots of gentle precipitation where ever you are in the northeast.

On a trip over to the farm this morning to grab 10 fresh bags of potting soil I did a quick check of my stored nursery benches. Look what the chipmunks left me! It fills my heart to know that somewhere in the world a chipmunk is happily hollowing out acorns oblivious to the follies of us humans.

Daddy Owl says "It's 5:00 PM and STILL light!" And, "have you contacted your Massachusetts State Rep and Senator to tell them to back the new bill to phase out rodenticides?" You can do so at the link below, or find your rep's and senator's local office hours. web.massaudubon.org/site/Advocac...

HAPPY DANCE TIME!!!! NEW SOIL IS HERE!! Did you know Coast of Maine heats all its potting soil up to 130 degrees F for SIX WEEKS guaranteeing no hitchhikers of any worm kind!?!??! Huge thank you to the guys at the Essex County Co-Op for bringing this over to the farm for us today.

Did the groundhog predict six more weeks of winter? YES Has spring come anyway at the nursery? ALSO: YES Lovers of seaside goldenrod and wild bergamot will be pleased to know I'm having fabulous germination this 'spring'.

February newsletter is out! Monarch news, greenhouse news, and news of being over here in this fabulous Blue space :) To subscribe click on the subscribe button in the top left corner of the page that opens with this link: mailchi.mp/e4ee249b3af6...

That’s a wrap January!! 65 species germinated!! Just finished updating my Google spreadsheet, link below. Can you spot the new species I added to the nursery for 2025? Hint: one has a pink flower that can reach the size of a dinner plate 😱 docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

A bright spot in your scroll today: BABY FLOWERING RASPBERRY!! Baby on left, flowering in my garden last summer in right. The Rubus genus can host a whopping 159 species of moths and butterflies including everyone's favorite, the woolly bear. SO excited to have these for the nursery this year!

With only 9,119 overwintering butterflies, this is the 2nd lowest year ever recorded since the Western Monarch Count started in 1997. Numbers had increased slightly after the 2020 all-time-low, so this year's sharp drop is troubling. Learn more & get involved 🦋 xerces.org/press/wester...

What I did today after I shut off the news: 1 Gazed at my baby chokeberries while they soaked up the sun in my greenhouse 2 Sliced up the dense chunk of baby Spiraea tomentosa and gave them some more leg room 3 Teased out 50 elderberries and moved them to a plug tray. Big exhale..I feel much better

In Mexico, monarchs cluster together in oyamel fir trees to stay warm during the winter. Each tree can hold thousands of butterflies, creating a vibrant tapestry. Have you ever seen this phenomenon in person? #MonarchMonday #MonarchsinMexico #Mexico #MonarchButterfly #MonarchConservation

My vibe today. I started Amy Tan’s ‘The Backyard Bird Chronicles’ last night, perhaps I shall continue it out loud to my seeds. Amy writes of “ ‘intentional curiosity,’ what leads us to deep observation and wonderment.” I will leave you with that thought 😉

Had a little greenhouse therapy today at Nunan’s in Georgetown MA . The place was empty, and quiet, and I wanted to sit down on the floor and be that meditating frog 😆

The wild cucumber vines have reached ‘feed me Seymour!” size!

Cattails sprouting now at The Monarch Gardener 😂 I actually am growing Typha but Jeff thinks his cat tail is better

SQUEE!!!! First spicebush sprout! Northern spicebush -Lindera benzoin- is a wetland native shrub that's common around here and hosts this adorable spicebush caterpillar. They are either male or female, only the females make berries. But 11 species of caterpillars can eat the leaves of both genders.

Big planting day #2! It was slow going due to frozen potting soil. I dragged a solid block of Coast of Maine into my kitchen, I hit it with a hammer to help it melt...you don’t want to know how messy my kitchen got, all in the name of NATIVE PLANTS! Meanwhile Jeff was hoping steal my hot noodles🙄

I know what you're thinking, "WHY is Katie posting a photo of a bucket in her shower?" 1) I never turn on the tap to water my plants and 2) we are STILL in a drought! Sticking a bucket under my warming-up shower collects just enough a day for my sprouts until rain barrel season ;)

This is the time of year when I spend A LOT of time staring at trays of seeds. It's not very glamorous, trust me. Many think running a native plant nursery is all traipsing through the woods surrounded by floofy creatures like a Disney Princess. I can tell you it most definitely is not.

Native perennials that take 10 days or more to sprout have been planted! To see what's sprouting, what's been planted, and what I plan to plant next week check out my real-time spreadsheet: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

ZOOM tonight with USFWS to go over the monarch 'threatened' ESA listing. Register here: empsi.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

SNOW in your garden part 1: the subnivean zone. THE WHAT?! The subnivean zone is the space between the ground and the snow pack where creatures find food, shelter and warmth. These raised ridges criss-crossing the grass in my front yard are tunnels made by voles. Voles = screech owl snacks ;)

If you live in the Northeast you are hopefully covered in a gorgeous blanket of snow this morning. Daddy Screech Owl isn't so sure about it though. His expression at sunset last night says 'Meh'. He's been guarding his territory since October, Momma Owl should show up any day. Stay warm Daddy Owl!

What's sprouting in the nursery? Sweet pepper bush, Clethra alnifolia! These tiny sprouts are from wild seeds collected, with permission, in Gloucester. They will grow into the stunning wetland shrub seen here on the Ipswich River. And the smell: HEAVENLY!

Running a native plant nursery isn’t all just blissful playing in the dirt and communing with butterflies. Today’s annoyingly mundane but must-do winter task is organizing and inventorying the tubs of loose plant tags that accumulate all summer. A task made more annoying by Jeff who won’t stay OFF.

Um.....ooops. I sure hope you all love steeplebush, Spiraea tomentosa. It appears I will have a lot this spring.