Garden Experiments
For the love of gardening and wildlife habitat
Bright, colorful flowers are a must for every garden. They can add color to container gardens, shade and full sun gardens, and mixed in with shrubs and trees. Find the perfect flowering plants for your garden's light, soil, moisture, and other conditions. Using a mixture of annuals and perennials helps keep your garden full of flowers throughout the seasons.
Native Ironweed Feeds Butterflies in Late Summer In the mid to late summer, the deep purple flowers of ironweed start showing up. They stand out in the landscape, not just for the bright color but also because they are so tall. What caught my eye were the many butterflies that land on the flowers to feed. American ladies, monarchs, sulfur …
Continue Reading about Ironweed Grow Guide – Late-Season Butterfly Food
Large, copper or brick-red colored flowers adorn the flower spikes of the copper iris (Iris fulva). Native to wetland areas, this unique plant thrives in wetter soils, making it an excellent addition to gardens with moist conditions. We planted this iris in our backyard in a spot with wet, clay soils. It has flourished, spreading and producing …
Continue Reading about Copper Iris (Iris fulva) – A Native Plant for Wetlands and Wildlife
Blue anise sage (Salvia guaranticia) is an excellent addition to your pollinator or butterfly garden. Its gorgeous, small peacock blue flowers attract hummingbirds, butterflies, honeybees, bumblebees, and other insects. Hummingbirds love to feed on these blooms, which are their favorite food plant in my garden. Best of all, this salvia with blue …
Continue Reading about Blue Anise Sage – Grow Salvia guaranitica to Attract Hummingbirds
I love this plant color combination! Dark purple and lime green or chartreuse create a bold and striking contrast of color in the garden. It's really eye-catching. You can use this plant color combination in shade gardens or full-sun. Just be sure you're selecting the right plants for your garden. Full Sun Purple and Lime Green …
In late summer, pockets of lavender color begin to appear along the sides of roads, at the edge of streams, in old fields, and in wetlands or other moist-soil areas. These fuzzy lavender-colored flowers belong to the blue mistflower, also known as wild ageratum, a plant native to the central and southeastern U.S. Adding blue mistflower …
Continue Reading about How to Grow Blue Mistflower – Get Lavender Flowers in the Fall
In the middle of summer, the bright yellow, showy flowers of swamp sunflower light up my garden. This perennial's flowers keep blooming into the fall. It’s late October, and I still have bright yellow flowers that add some fall color to my yard. We have a patch in our backyard that stays wet most of the time. The neighbor's yard and our front …
Continue Reading about How to Grow and Care for Swamp Sunflower – Helianthus angustifolius
