Pocket prairie

Plano's first and my garden's first landscape tour was last Saturday. I am not sure anyone knew what to expect. Based on the turn out and response received to my garden, I think the tour went well. At least 243 people passed through my garden during the six hours the tour was open and more continued to stop or drive by for the next couple of hours. Somewhere around 3:20, the doorbell rang and a woman that said she had a late start wanted to ask questions and look around. I was exhausted…

Take a moment to look outside your window, or take a stroll in your backyard. Imagine what that very land used to look like before it was ever settled on or used for agriculture or development. The…

10 Gardens That Capture and Drain Water With Style

This pocket prairie is my front yard in Cincinnati,Ohio. I started this small prairie community 4yrs. ago, using plugs of several species of native plants. The first year, there was not an abundance of bloom, the prairie plants were putting down there roots! As with any garden just started,I had to weed and water. But once the natives got established and started reproducing, they fill in nicely...weeds no more! Now I can sit back and watch the flora and fauna! Some species here are: Purple…

This week, May 2-8 is National Wildflower Week. As I was thinking about how I could work that into a blog post, I started wondering if the native flowering plants in my prairie garden are still considered wildflowers. Are wildflowers still wildflowers if I buy them at a garden center or a native plant sale? Are they still considered wildflowers when I purposely planted them in my garden? Have I domesticated or tamed the wildflowers when I plant them where I want them to grow and remove them…

A blog about birds and conservation issues, Houston-area birding, and the happenings of Houston Audubon.

I have been thinking about the future of my prairie garden for a while and now on April 1, I have finally made the difficult decision that it is time to abandon this foolishness and declare my four year prairie garden experiment a mistake and a waste of time. I know this will come as a shock to many, but I have thought long and hard about this and the truth of the matter is that I miss my lawn and I want it back. I wish I could have known how much I would miss my lawn before I went through…

English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), Russian sage (Perouvskia artiplicifolia) and fernbush (Chamaebatiara millefolium) It’s FAC time in The Art Garden! Grab your favorite beverage and pull up a chair. You didn’t really want to work this afternoon anyway, did you? Leave a comment to join the garden party. Today’s topic: Honeybee heaven! This collection of plants, now in full bloom, is covered with honeybees and other pollinators. What's the bee magnet in your garden right now? These…

If you are here for the first time because of the story about my prairie in the Dallas Morning News, thanks for the visit. Feel free to look through my posts and photos from the last year and a half. Check back again in the future. I usually have one or two new posts a month. If you are a return visitor to the Plano Prairie Garden, check out the story with the link above. Backyard 08-10-10 I started this blog in January of 2009 as a journal of my prairie garden. I never intended for it to be…

If you are looking to add some flair to your outdoor space, then the prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) is just the plant for you.