I got my free trees from the township today! This was the line an hour before pick-up time. It extends all the way back by the time it starts. You have to show up early if you want the best selection of everything. I got Tilia americana, Carpinus caroliniana, and Magnolia virginiana 'Moonglow'

Blue-eyed Marys are such a cool native winter-annual. I was really hoping to offer these this year, but only four of mine germinated, so I'll need to wait to collect seed from the ones that grew and try again next year. The trick is to get them going. Once established, they should happily re-seed.

Don't forget to protect tender new growth tonight from frost damage if possible, especially on your smaller plants. Native plants shouldn't be killed by frost (unless they're annuals, they might be), but the recent heat wave did speed up budding out.

number one question this market: "Can I grow it as a houseplant? I don't have a yard." ... y'all, I suck at taking care of houseplants and had long since given up on it, but I'll give it a shot for science.

This is why it's important to set boundaries. Businesses: pick a method for reaching customers and stick to it. If you do email, one per week is enough. Consumers: don't be reachable 24/7. Patronize those that are respectful of your time and assume you know how to find them without being clingy.

Come see me tomorrow at the Earth Day Celebration at Skippack Village! I'll be selling all sorts of awesome native plants next to the Earthware Sustainable Goods store (10am-5pm), like this native large-flowered chickweed (Cerastium strictum) which makes a lovely groundcover!

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Mustaaaaaaaaaaard

I am definitely bringing these along this weekend to the Earth Day Celebration at Skippack Village! Stop by my booth if you're in the area!

"Sustainable land use is that which meets the needs for production of present land users, while conserving for future generations the basic resources on which that production depends. Sustainability = Production + Conservation" - Anthony Young (Agroforestry For Soil Management)

Trillium cuneatum, aka little sweet betsy

Neglected toebeans. Antennaria neglecta. I'm changing the common names of all Antennaria henceforth.

Totally coincidental (we must be on the same wavelength) when it comes to my "WTF Did I Sow?" page, NPSNJ recently posted a lecture with Dr. Randi Eckel. Randi is the owner of Toadshade Wildflower Farm, and a friend and inspiration to me as a nursery grower. Highly recommend checking it out!

As your plants and seedlings start popping up, I've created two really fun pages that feature mostly eastern US native plants, though there are a few veggie plants mixed in as well (because I have them, and why not). "WTF Did I Sow?" shows cotyledons, first leaves, and anything else worth noting.

Reminder that I'll be at the Abington Garden Festival tomorrow 1-3pm to kick off spring (event includes a free seed exchange, raffles, crafts, goats and wild animals)! Come on by with your family, and bring home some native plants to add to your garden (like the Little Lanterns in the photo)!

This is the largest bird's nest fungus I've seen yet. Usually the ones I find are a bit smaller, maybe half that size. I still enjoy finding them. They'd probably make a good dollhouse bowl or something that goes in a diorama of sorts.

I'm starting to experiment a bit with gibberelic acid. Ibought some a year ago but was afraid to use it until now. I know the dangers of overdoing it. That being said, Deno was a huge fan of them, so I wanted to give it a go and see what happens. Enemion biternatum responds well to the treatment.

Is Rupert Sheldrake reading my zines? 👀 (I know, I'm behind by 2 weeks... was taking advantage of the false spring, plus cleaning up for my son's birthday playdate this weekend. I'll get back to the zines soon enough.)

Alnus incana subspecies rugosa in bloom

More cotyledons! Similar to Apios americana, it would appear Phaseolus polystachios is also a hypogeal germinator, meaning the cotyledons remain below-ground. Instead, here we see true leaves. Desmodium glabellum has interesting kidney-shaped cotyledons. Strophostyles helvola is really neat.

nevermind, back to ragebait He doesn't even notice he doesn't get many likes/views on these compared to his more thoughtfully-written helpful posts. Otherwise he just sounds like he's virtue-signaling for asspats.

Host plants for humans are starting to germinate! So far, a few of the home-grown asparagus and several cucumber varieties take the lead. Last year's brush with food insecurity plus my own past early struggles with growing veg made me decide to start adding heirloom starts to my nursery. 1/2

It's a bit last minute, but I highly recommend going to my friend Katie Fisk's lecture about transforming her front yard into a native garden. I promise, it's not like other native gardening lectures. This one includes battles against ordinances and rage against a tree-hatin' beech of a neighbor.

I'm trying to document cotyledons of some of our native plants. Here we have Lupinus perennis, Lespedeza capitata and Apios americana.

I've been calling my basement my "greendungeon," and I guess nature finally decided to move in properly. I'm curious if any other ferns start popping up after all the ones I'd sown this year. I just noticed this, but it must have sown in months ago. I never peek behind the shelves.

Did you know that last year PA launched a new program called Invasive Replace-ive? We're not just telling you to chop invasive plants down to force you to buy new trees and shrubs. They will give you native trees and shrubs to replace them.

First market day of the year. Won't have a TON of stuff yet, since many plants are still sleeping, but there are a few that would be ready by then. Spring beauties, anyone? March 21st at the Abington Free Library, 1-3pm. Get a jump start on native plants!

I'm adding some food crops to my nursery, apropos of current events. Grapes take a few years to start producing, but far less than orchard trees. I do have wild type Vitis labrusca, but those need to he requested so I can save some grapes for seeds. Otherwise, these are all seedless table grapes.

Short documentary about invasive species in Lake Erie titled "Seeing The Unseen: Aquatic Invaders & What's At Stake" The glove method he uses on the cattails also works really well on lily-of-the-valley.

For veggie seeds, I'd also recommend buying from Indigenous Woman-Owned seed shop www.allianceofnativeseedkeepers.com

Um... what? (to the people who aren't on threads seeing this shit)

One of the things I hate about conversations about gardening on social media today is the lack of nuance. People, especially "experts," make blanket statements, sometimes twisting results of a study. Instead of blindly following public figures, experiment. Even studies are peer reviewed.

my spores are here! Soon, I will be drowning in ferns. I wouldn't have it any other way!

Adding this to my reading list!

Today I noticed that Desmodium glabellum seed coats leave a very strong, bright orange stain. I'm going to have to play with this in the future!

Super excited to be sowing some more ferns really soon! Glad I prepped all that soil! This is my order from American Fern Society. If you haven't joined them, you should do so, and give it a shot! Once you're an AFS member, if you have any questions about ordering spores, let me know.

Here's my second merch design for NISAW (National Invasive Species Awareness Week). Yes, that is Ross from Friends, but instead of yelling PIVOT, he's yelling PRIVET! Whenever I come across more privet in the woods, I humor myself by picturing him popping out from behind it to announce its discovery

Seeds Underground Zine 7 - NISAW Seeds Underground Zine #7 is a little story about invasive species. I think you'll like it. I promise, it's not preachy (unlike the...

The most fascinating part of this experiment for me, and why I am so giddy and won't shut up about it, is you get to see first-hand what "modified leaf" means, and you get to witness it as it's happening. DOES ANYONE ELSE FEEL THIS? YOU CAN SEE IT PHYSICALLY ADAPTING TO NITROGEN LEVELS! 😱

Since on another social someone brought up the issues of nutrient toxicity in pitcher plants, I figured I should share WHY I felt confident to test that. Take a close look at the keels on the plants in these two photos. One is in a bog, the other in a wet meadow.

I absolutely love Danthonia spicata, one of the top choice east US #NativePlants for native lawns. It does well in full sun/dry, it also can handle seasonal ponding and full shade (at least mine can). Although clumping, will gladly reseed if you let them and give them space. Oh, and they're curly!

Here are some more Sarracenia purpurea (purple pitcher plants) sitting at the edge of my Equisetum hyemale pot in my frog pond (the pond only exists for frogs. I do not keep nor do I want to keep any fish).

Turns out, pitcher plants can handle a wet meadow (so far). Other plants here include tons of lobelias, halberd-leaved mallow, virginia bunchflower, red (bog) milkweed, and rose gentian, and some other things. Too many to list. This used to be compacted lawn prone to ponding from being compact.

I'm starting to add new product to the site! Final total will be in the hundreds of #NativePlants (which is why it takes me so damn long to do the site stuff... but anyhoo...). Here's the first of the new product uploads from today. I'm aiming to do at least one per week if not more.

You can also look up 30 year normals on NCEI with this link. You can select for probability of last day below 40 degrees, choose your location and pick one or more data locations. I chose Dover because it's the closest to me. Add your email, and check your inbox. You can then follow the link to DL

Quick tip: Is it too late to winter sow? Not necessarily. Freezing temps aren't part of the stratification. Stratification happens around 33-40 degrees Fahrenheit. To know how many days left, go to this link, look up your location, and check the calendar's history data for previous years.

Two-parter to fit all the photos, here is my photographic chicken-scratch-labeled process for sowing spore for ferns (and also trying clubmosses - this one is Lycopodium clavatum) Part 1/2

Here's a little experiment I'm trying: can I grow clubmosses from spore the way I grow ferns? We shall see! Worst case, nothing happens. Unfortunately, I am working with spore that's a few years old, but they've been refrigerated most of that time. So that's also a factor.

My new, favorite, simple lunch: sandwich with freshly harvested lettuce & dill with mayo on whole wheat. A little kitchen hydroponic system with a few herbs and cut & come again lettuce is an easy way to get some greens in the middle of winter.

Seeds Underground Zine 6 - Monocarps What's an annual, a biennial, and a perennial all at the same time? A monocarp! Learn more with Seeds Underground Zine...