buddleia

The Disconnect Between Garden Aesthetics and Local Ecology

by Curtis Jirsa

The horticulturist Alan Chadwick, according to his disciples, rebuked anyone caught weeding sow thistle (Sonchus) from his garden beds. “They’re all plants,” he once declared. “It’s just that, if a […]

Groundcover

Native Ground Covers for Beauty and Biodiversity at the Ground Level

by Heather McCargo

Groundcovers are low-growing plants that fill in quickly to make a dense carpet of foliage. Once established, they’ll crowd out weeds, provide year-round protection to the soil, and offer overwintering […]

Connecting Habitat in Portland: Creating corridors of native plants for urban biodiversity

by Heather McCargo

In urban areas, green spaces of natural habitat rapidly lose biodiversity if they exist in isolated patches. Many cities across the country and the world are working to promote corridors […]

Swamp milkweed with fritillary

Flowers, Pollinators and the Sex Lives of Plants

by Heather McCargo

The warm, sunny days of midsummer are a great time to observe the many kinds of pollinators that visit flowers. In Maine, the pollinators include the ruby-throated hummingbird and a […]

In the Shade: Gardening with Native Plants from the Woodland Understory 

by Heather McCargo

There are many beautiful and resilient plants – [ Read More ]

Butterfly illustration

Monarchs and Milkweed: Creating a Landscape in Maine to Support Monarch Butterflies and Other Pollinating Insects

by Heather McCargo

As we wait in hopeful anticipation for an increase in monarch butterfly populations, we can prepare for their arrival by planting native species that provide food and habitat for these […]

Managing Meadows and Lawns for Beauty and Biodiversity

by Heather McCargo

MEADOWS In the summertime, meadows are buzzing with life. Vegetation is tall and verdant, many species of flowering plants are blooming, and sex and child rearing are in full swing […]

Pink Lady Slipper

Where the Wild Things Are: Pink Lady Slipper Orchids and Poachers

by Heather McCargo

Some of our most beautiful native plants do not belong in our gardens. When you see them for sale in a nursery, they are more often than not dug from […]

Pussy Willow branch

Pussy willow (Salix discolor)

March 2015

A large shrub, or small to medium-sized multi-trunked tree found across Canada, south to Montana and S. Dakota, and in the East, from Newfoundland to Delaware; inhabiting old fields and […]

Sowing Maine’s Future

by Heather McCargo

The impact of people can be seen everywhere, even in the wildest parts of Maine. In the southern and coastal regions, what was once a mostly forested landscape inhabited by […]

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