We now have input a list for the Northeast and Mid Atlantic Native plant nurseries. Here is an update: beechhollowfarms.com...

Finally installed Obsidian and have been busy trying to get my ish organized, including inventorying all my seeds that I have just for my own purposes. 1. Holy shit I have a lot of seeds. 2. Doesn't stop me from ordering ones I don't have yet. Gotta collect them all.

Homeschool outing today. My son was asking why the butternut looked different on this Souperman at the Wood in Art Museum in Philly. Haha... butternut 😂 this one tickled all the punny bones

Other personal focus areas: Nature journaling. Planners w/ stickers. Adult coloring books. Sewing. Embroidery. Homeschooling. SEEDS. Watercolor painting. Thrifting. Waxing my thrifted army green canvas jacket before lining it with a botanical printed cotton gauze stuffed with milkweed fluff. Music.

If you haven't looked at seeds under a microscope, even a cheapy $20 digital one, you're missing out.

Something that frustrates me is the surprising lack of photo documentation of seeds on the internet. Some seeds are obvious. Others, not so much. Here's Hylotelephium telephioides seed. It's the elongated teardrop shaped one. Not the equally heavy roundish brown bits. #NativePlants

I wish I had time to dedicate to this properly. Please note, they're not just handing out free seeds. If you're willing to take on the responsibility of a proper seed trial and submit data, sign up!. This is how we help to continue the line of contemporary garden-adapted heirloom crops.

In case you were curious what Rhododendron periclymenoides seed looks like, this is it. Rhodie seeds in general look similar to one another. I will have Rhododendron maximum 2nd year seedlings available this year, as well as a few Rhododendron colemanii, both of which I grew from seed last year.

Came up in convo with a friend, another nursery owner, who just got a tat... I'd be totally willing to barter plants for tats. In fact I'd be willing to barter for other things, contractor work, car mechanics, etc. Why can't we bring bartering back? I mean I know it doesn't pay the bills, but...

Happy New Year! I'm planning to add tons of cool new #NativePlant species to my offering this year. Here's a little sneak peek of what's in store...

When you're a big nerd at heart and excited to get a new microscope for Christmas... time to dust off my AmScope slide boxes and test it out! This will make checking seeds so much easier for some of the species I grow.

Few things are more comforting this time of year than sipping on hot mulled wine while spending well over an hour to perfectly string up the lights on a Pennsylvania-grown Douglass fir. Normally I prefer Balsam or Fraser firs, but Douglass is certainly less... sappy? It's quite a bit messier though

I've been getting back into a daily sketchbook practice, and love how this one turned out. I sliced oranges and put them in the dehydrator to string up as a garland for our tree. My son says they are also a good snack. I had to ask him to save them for the tree, but clearly, I need more oranges now.

I spent all week working on this watercolor "Ferns, Dogwood, Trillium" design, which is now complete, scanned in, cleaned up and uploaded to my shop on Threadless. I already ordered mine in chalky mint in the Comfort Colors shirts. Any correlation to FDT may or may not be intentional.

Who doesnt love Ferns, Dogwoods, Trilliums in spring? Watercolor illustration that will be scanned and uploaded as a tshirt in the coming days. Just needs a few finishing touches and cleaning up digitally.

My favorite thing about my oak-hickory woodland when it comes to winter interest are the large patches of native grasses, sedges and rushes that I've been encouraging to spread by keeping areas free from leaves. It's fun seeing which species choose to colonize which areas - sun, shade, dry, wet...

Introduce yourself with five animals you have seen in the wild: eastern box turtle pickerel frog red tailed hawk pair of cooper's hawks pileated woodpecker

I located some long forgotten and neglected pots of Lilium canadense I started two years ago and decided to check on them. Look at how bright yellow these seed-grown bulbs are! Vegetative propagation crowd would split those off to make individual plants. I planted mine back up. Someday I'll get seed

I am extremely grateful for all the love and support I've received as a first-year native plant nursery from my local (and extended) native plant community. For all the pots, plants and seeds, for helping to get my name out there, for the advice and encouragement, and for giving my plants a chance 💚

Sorry I've been a bit MIA. I've been busy fall cleaning. Fall cleaning is a deep clean and organize thing so I can keep a more relaxed pace during the winter months. Spring cleaning for me is a freshening up, dusting and throwing open windows. It involves everything, including organizing my pots.

What is on your native plant wish list? #NativePlants #NativeGardening

If you love carnivorous and parasitic plants, NJ Native Plant Society recently posted a lecture about them, primarily focusing on species found in NJ #NativePlants

When tidying before winter, carefully lift items instead of dragging them along the ground. This salamander was hiding under a bag of rocks. They will hide under just about anything outdoors, and are easily crushed if those items are carelessly moved.

Cotinus obovatus, a rare southeastern native tree that is hardy in southeastern PA winters, has some of the most stunning, surreal fall color I've ever seen. They don't get big, topping at around 30 feet. I've shared this one before, with its blue-green leaves in summer.

I love seeds. 300 characters is not enough to explain all the reasons why these little perfect packages of hope are so fascinating to me. Instead, here is a photo of Hibiscus laevis I clean by rolling the fuzzy little seeds between my fingers to dislodge any weevils present before freezing & storing

Moth almost fooled me into thinking it's a leaf. Which reminds me, leave the leaves. By removing them, you're harming these beautiful creatures. You can rake them, blow them into a pile, leave them on a flowered or turn into leaf mold (open cage) so they can escape. But leave them on your property.

It's quite easy to convert these raised garden boxes to protective enclosures to keep wildlife out of your pots. All you need is hardware cloth (top and bottom) and snips. I attached them using the included screws and wing nuts. Leave one end open to add and remove plants. Crates also work.

This may be overkill for some, but this is my favorite way to store seeds. I have many such boxes. Each vial holds more than enough for my needs. I struggle with stacks of envelopes or bags of bags. This makes it easier for me to organize and quickly see everything I have.

Some views from my office as I work to winter prep my nursery stock #NativePlants

Summer bluets (Houstonia purpurea) are truly summer-and-fall bluets thanks to their long bloom period. Add this rare Pennsylvania native species to the list of #NativePlants for fall blooms!

Symphyotrichum georgianum has the most perfect purple 💜 #NativePlants

For everyone local to me in southeastern PA, please turn out to speak out against making a zoning exception to convert an old factory into a datacenter that would use the Schuylkill river for its cooling systems. We cannot support this here - neither the people nor the environment. #PSA #Call2Action

Have you ever seen a ginormous milkweed pod with wings and wondered what it is? It's not a milkweed, but in the same family. This one is known as anglepod, aka Gonolobus suberosus, a milkweed vine native just south of PA #NativePlants

Did you know beech nuts are edible and delicious? The ones that are rounded in the middle are good. Flat ones are empty. You should be able to get at least one per cluster. Save some to plant as well. Dont worry, wildlife can climb to get higher ones, so enjoy the ones within reach. #NativePlants

Virginia! What the hell? Rip it out!

I don't agree with falsifying information. Something I keep hearing is that people don't see bug splatter on windshields anymore because of the decline of insect populations. So I tested it (we're road-trippin'). I cleaned this 2 hrs ago. There is plenty of bug splatter.

Lobelia puberula looked all sad and floppy just weeks ago despite my other Lobelias looking amazing, and now it has taken on a new life. Of course, long after the market days are done, lol. Now many of my plants are feeling renewed again in the cooler weather. Sure, why not. 😂😭

Echinacea laevigata I grew from seed and planted last year decided to bloom a bit late in the season. Another started a month prior. First one white, this one pale pink. True to the epithet, all parts are smooth. I added more this year, with the goal of offering them in future years. #NativePlants

Son, your minecraft seed ended up in my garden! Son: ohhhh, it's a rattlebox! Me: oh, you remembered! #NativePlants

Meadowview Biological Research is in need of donations to meet their 13.7K payment in a month. Plus you can buy really cool bog plants or just a big bag of live sphagnum moss. Don't let this wetland fall in the hands of those who would quite literally "drain the swamp."

For those curious how I keep my head intact while starting/running a business and homeschooling, my favorite tool is Homeschool Planet (not sponsored). You can use it for yourself as well to keep track of other tasks in one place. I've tried many different methods, but I keep coming back to this.

Apologies for the radio silence as I work on getting my kids homeschool year kicked off (we can start whenever we want, since our holidays/breaks aren't the same and snow days count as school days here). Currently taking a break to save all the milkweed floss - future goals pillow or a winter coat.

This is why what we plant matters. Directly across from my driveway on the other side of the road is a mix of weeds, culinary mint and poison ivy. This lone aster and goldenrod seeded in together. Our plants spread beyond the garden. Are the plants you're spreading beneficial? #NativePlants

That shag isn't just aesthetically pleasing. That's a bat-habitat high-rise and nursery. Many bat species, including our endangered bats, utilize shaggy trees and snags for roosts/nests in the summer months. This is why I encourage everyone to sow shagbark, shellbark, and white oak nuts.

I wasn't sure I'd be up to anything after getting my flu, covid and tdap vaccines yesterday on a whim. Today I decided to try moving one of my Sarracenia purpurea plugs to a hummock in my vernal pool restoration area. I noticed with it being dry, this spot was still moist. Cont'd...

More photos from my September sun/part-sun garden

End-of-September bloom report (sunny garden part 1 - will post more tomorrow) #NativePlants 1.

This is the mother tree that gave me a lovely harvest of nuts this year. I gave a 5 gallon bucket full to The Naked Oak Tree Farm to grow in his air-pruning beds. I'm still finding nuts, so those I'm bringing to my booth at the festival.

I've decided I'll bring some shagbark hickories from a gorgeous specimen on my property to my booth at the Whitpain Community Festival. I will not likely have them sitting out. Introduce yourself and let me know if you'd like to sow them. They're near impossible to grow/find in the nursery trade.

I was getting TONS of planting done yesterday where I'm in the process of restoring a vernal pool. 1.5ft down (deepest part of pool) is where I hit arkose. The 2nd photo shows freshly dug soil is moist despite it being dry and no cover. In the comments I'll list off plants. Geology app is Rockd.