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Plant of the Week: Dwarf Juniper (Siberian Juniper): Juniperus communis
This is one of those believe it or not situations, but this is the most widely distributed conifer in the world, although it is rare in Kentucky. Unlike its cousin, eastern red cedar, this specie is...
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Plant of the Week: Field Chickweed (Cerastrum arvense)
Field chickweed or Field Mouse-ear has to be one of my favorite native ground covers for full sun to part-sun locations.It loves dry, often gravelly soils, spreads slowly, rarely gets above 8" tall,...
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Plant of the Pinxter Flower Azalea (Rhododendron periclymenoides)
I don't know about you, but I am just about sick and tired of winter. So to brighten up this week, I have decided to discuss one of your native azaleas, the pinxter flower, because it is generally...
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Plant of the Week: Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra)
This is one of the first trees to leaf out in the spring and as the leaves just unfurl they have this 3 - 6" in length and they appear like they are in a whorl but in actuality there are 5 leaflets in...
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Plant of the Week: Trailing Arbutus (Epigaea repens)
Is it a shrub or a wildflower? This common species of eastern Kentucky and the Appalchians is one of the very first things to flower in the woods. It grows on the upland sandstone ridges and you...
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Plant of the week: Southern Red Trillium (T. sulcatum) or is it Trillium...
Of all the spring wildflowers the trilliums are perhaps the showiest of them all and Kentucky is privileged to have a variety of species including large white-flowered (grandiflorum), Nodding or bent...
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Plant of the Week: Bishop's Cap (Mitella diphylla)
This outstanding member of the Saxifrage family is often overlooked as a native shade groundcover because it looses out to it's cousin, foamflower. However, this is a much more well-behaved species...
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Plant of the Week: Bleeding Heart (Dicentra eximia)
I absolutely love this plant even though it is technically not a native to Kentucky. It occurs in states adjacent to us, does very well in woodland gardens here, and is very easy to grow. This is...
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Plant of the Week: Yellow Corydalis or Scrambled Eggs (Corydalis flavula)
This is a diminutive spring ephemeral that is an annual. Even though this is an annual, it holds a worthy spot in the garden and if the conditions are proper, rich, organic humus, moist, soil in the...
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Plant of the Week: Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
Are you looking for a wildflower that will work under your black walnut tree? Look no further than the showy Virginia Bluebell. It not only tolerates black walnut but also rabbits and deer (partly...
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Plant of the week Trout Lilies
The yellow (Erythronium americanum) and white (E. albidum) trout lilies are synonymous with early spring ephemeral woodland wildflowers. These small (4 - 6" tall) members of the lily family can put...
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Plant of the Week: Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
When used en masse at the edge of a woodland garden as a focal point or specimen tree, this early blooming small tree deserves to be in everyone's yard. Put some dogwoods or serviceberry (Juneberry,...
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Plant of the Week: American Bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia)
This is a wonderful woodland small tree or large shrub that has interest in the spring with the white bell shaped flowers and in the fall when the fruits appear as papery thin inflated bladders that...
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Plant of the Week: Wild Hyacinth (Camassia scilloides)
This is one of the showy late spring woodland wildflowers that can form a large colony but is a great plant for attracting honeybees, bumblebees, Cuckoo bees and Halictid bees. It is fairly easy to...
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Plant of the Week:American Bur Reed (Sparganium americanum)
This is a native wetland plant that has some of the plant submerged under the water and can reach 2' tall. It is however an excellent candidate for landscaping in a pond or water garden and for areas...
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Plant of the Week: French Grass (Orbexilum onobrychis or Psoralea onobrychis)
This member of the bean family typically flowers in late May and early June and can reach heights of 2-2 1/2' tall. It is a much larger and robust species compared to it's cousin, Sampson's snakeroot...
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Plant of the week: American columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
This is a uniquely an American Plant and is a great example of evolution in process. There is only one columbine in Europe, it is mostly bluish in color, and is pollinated by bees which can see that...
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Ohio Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis)
Kentucky has two species of early summer blooming spiderworts, Ohio and zigzag or wide-leaf (T. subaspera). The more showy of the two species is definitely Ohio as it grows to 2-3' tall in full shade...
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Plant of the Week:Shrubby Saint John's Wort (Hypericum frondosum)
' Imagine an easy to grow shrub that in the wild can reach 6' tall or more but in the home landscape there are cultivars like 'sunburst' that get 3' tall at most and 3' wide.It has somewhat flat linear...
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Plant of the Week: Indian Pink (Spigelia marilandica)
Early summer in most woodland gardens is pretty boring because the spring ephemerals have flowered and are gone and the later summer lilies, cohosh and other species have not yet flowered. This...
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