It must be garden planning season because two different people recently asked me variations of this question. Let’s dig in. Question: I’d really like to convert part of my yard into a prairie garden. Can I just stop mowing it and let it naturally convert back to prairie? If I want to add plants, which…

There is little else as satisfying in the garden as watching wildlife use the space: cardinals dashing in and out of oaks, skipper butterflies and sweat bees methodically circling coneflower blooms. What is a garden without the critical ecological function that makes the world work and brings us closer to nature? When we cultivate native…

Planting for pollinators… the concept was just a blip on the radar a few years ago. Now it’s a nationwide trend, only growing in popularity. When we think about pollinator conservation, we often look at restoring large swaths of habitat by adding native prairie plants-the vibrant collections of flowers and native grasses insects rely on…