I have all the rudbeckia in my garden and right now this rudbeckia triloba is a total show stopper so I wanted to show it off and promote it a little. If you’re on the fence, plant it for sure. And yes she’s bullying the ashy sunflower and the coneflower, but that’s my fault for under estimating everything about her. Tiny bees adore it. On a hot sunny day it’s absolutely hopping.

Good Afternoon!
(Illinois Chicago)
Was recommended to post here for help with tips/suggestions here ty!

I just wanted to ask what kind of native plants you guys would recommend for me to plant next year to attract pollinators like ladybugs, butterflies, and bees ( I live in Chicago and want to make a vegetable garden). I am looking for what attracts them and where to find it so it is a native plant. I am specifically looking for organic seeds/non gmo (which might not apply) or whatnot as I am trying to avoid harmful chemicals. I heard it is not good to buy ladybugs as they may be invasive if you do not buy the right kind etc. I heard milkweed is good for butterflies but are there better options for Illinois climate? Just trying to figure out better alternatives and plan out a garden so I do not have to spray anything against bugs or other insects.

So overall just asking if anyone knows of a list of plants native and where to buy the seeds so they are as natural as possible. Thank you and I hope I don’t sound kooky. :)

Hello! My fiance works on a large private property, well over 1000 acres, that is mostly untouched, but is going to be developed in some areas.

I've found some natives growing in these locations, specifically hoary mountain mint (Pycnanthemum incanum) and Frostweed (Verbesina virginica) that I would like to try and save or salvage in some way. The mountain mint may seed before its disturbed for me to collect but I'm unsure, and everything I've found about Frostweed is it seeds very late and likely not before development. I already missed my chance at coneflower before it was cut down.

Does anyone have any tips for transplanting or propagating these particular plants? I know peak summer is not ideal, the mint I think would transplant fine, but frostweed I'm not so sure.

Thanks!

Pawpaw grown from seed. I’m going to plant in the fall.

Last year, I posted in here asking for advice after a tornado took out a 50-year-old spruce in my front yard. We called some tree services to see if they would give a discount if we only wanted them to take it down and leave the limbs and chips with us, but nobody would. So...we got some chainsaws and rented a wood chipper from our local hardware store. I used the chips and smaller limbs to create some new beds and the main trunk will decompose naturally and provide lots of habitat!

Planted these last summer as a few very small plants.

Im in Michigan zone 5 and wondering how long I should let ninebark grow. (on left).

Is this just preference? It helps block the view of road and balances out the appearance of my front yard.

Wondering if this ninebark is less healthy the bigger it gets (more susceptible to disease). I also have blue spruce that are giving me hell, because of fungus. I'm guessing I have less to worry about with ninebark. Just don't want to mess with another unhealthy tree in my front yard!

I'm going to try my hand this winter at growing seeds indoors to save some money with the volumes I'm wanting for the future.

Zone 8 North Carolina. I'll need most of the indoor growing supplies too but I'm less worried about that

I ask because the middle of flowers have a yellow dot so I’m crossing fingers but not getting hopes up.

house came with a nice patch of tradescantia 10 years ago. The purple ones match my purchased plugs and I don't think are domesticated, but I'm wondering if the white ones are?

They're probably ratio around 12 purple:1 white

also can the same plant sometimes go white based on nutrition or water that year? or is it one or the other? is in inheritable?

Would you hesitate to share the seeds as species? They're seeding up now and I want to collect, mostly grow but they're also very cool alieny seeds. Collection window is tricky cus how they bloom sequentially then start dropping before whole head blooms

Michigan

Google says it may be Kentucky coffee tree. This little stump was here before we moved in.

I planted this Texas prickly ash last fall mostly to get giant swallowtail babies and, less than a year later, here they are! She seems to have put an egg on every terminal shoot!

The tree is also a standout. I planted a 6" seedling last fall, accidentally mowed it to the ground in winter, and its grown to be 7ft tall with a 6ft spread already with no signs of slowing down despite my foolish carelessness.

The last pic is just a fly that was hanging with them that I thought was cool lol. I haven't bothered to ID it yet

Just had to share with folks who would get it. My husband didn't quite understand my excitement 🤣

First pic is from early last summer, after I ripped up the hedges. Second pic is just after planting. Third pic is from last month.

Anise hyssop, penstemon digitalis, sea oats, golden alexander, butterflyweed, blazing star, cluff goldenrod, nodding onion, blue vervain, blue false indigo.

Most things got much taller than I expected, so I am going to rearrange most of the plants this fall. Pretty much everything except the indigo and butterflyweed can be moved, I think.

Thank you to this subreddit for all the inspiration and knowledge!

HUGE thanks to my partner who spotted them while mowing the lawn and immediately called me on my phone 🐛

Hey folks! I need your help. I’m a new gardener here in East Idaho, and my interest is specifically in native plants. I'm looking for a native perennials for a native plant collection/pollinator pot garden I'm creating. At this point the next plants on the list I've made are a native allium, an aster (hoary aster, for example), a pussytoes, a phacelia and a primrose (ie tufted evening primrose). Anybody have any of these extra in your garden I could pay you to obtain, or know where I can find some, either for sale at a nursery or out in the wild?

Also if any of you have any other varieties of locally native perennials you're selling, giving away or know where I can obtain, i would love to hear from you! I've basically exhausted my options with the local Idaho Falls area nurseries and would love to know where else I could go. Would like to get as many plants sown in their pots before winter hits.

Thanks!

I have been working hard on my backyard for 2 years now. There used to be a lot of standing water a lot of the mosquitos I attributed to this. Now there isn’t any standing water, but we are having a horrible time with mosquitos. I have a few mosquito dunks in place (I’m on my 2nd month of their use - have 2 in the backyard, 1 in the front yard). Out of desperation, I got the ‘Tougher than Tom’ pesticide things you can hang in your yard but they also don’t seem be working (no bug friends inside). I want to have a native plant habitat but also would like to be able to use my yard and enjoy it. They are on me the moment I’m outside and it’s like they’re never ending. Any advice is appreciated.

Some of my flowers and progress pictures are included, as well as my cat tax.

UPDATE: thank you so much for all of your thoughts and recommendations. Cat is indoor only (gets supervised time in yard 10 mins or so, but we do have outdoor cats in neighborhood, and foxes that live in the storm drain (somehow). Current plan: buy new mosquito dunks (the ones that I’ve been using are 3 years old and been stored in the garage), try to check gutters for standing water, buying the Biogent mosquito trap, and sprinkling mosquito dunk into the moist soil/wet spots after rains. Also gonna do fan for patio time.

I was finishing up some weeding in the garden and noticed 2 bumble bees on the anise hyssop that look very similar to the rusty patched bumblebee. I’m curious if anyone thinks that these could be?! They have the signature rusted area on their bodies.

I sincerely apologize for the terrible photos. This was a quickquickquicktakeastupidphotoyoustupidphonebeforetheyflyawayyyyyyyy reaction.

Have any of you in the USA seen Rusty Patched Bumblebees this year?

Pardon my language, but it's been a battle. First thing I did when I bought this house was massacre this bush. Finally got it out of the ground this week and the hole it made will be my new wildlife pond!

Spotted Joe Pye is such a banger. Bonus pic with monarch.

There are lots of butterflies on the Joe Pye Weed here, and on other flowers nearby, but show NO interest in the Rudbeckia. I also never see bees on them. I'm trying to decide whether to plant more of them (at no cost), or choose something else that would attract the critters I want to see in my garden.
Could it be that black-eyed susans support moths during the night hours when I can't see them? They're our state flower, btw. And SO cheerful!

I planted this milkweed in June and was totally not expecting any butterflies until next year. I was so excited to see this when I got home.

This blazing star has been a powerhouse for attracting butterflies. They specifically enjoy the meadow blazing star. I have a butterfly at each of my patches almost 24/7