Honey bee on honeyvine

“A weed by any other name would smell more sweet.”

I step outside the back door and immediately grow heady on the intoxicating perfume of honeyvine.

Bees, butterflies, iridescent flies, and jaw-droppingly giant wasps float in and out of my garden nectaring on this sweet feast.

Of all the flowers in my garden these are the ones the insects love most. So, is honeyvine, usually called a weed, really a native plant treasure?

What is honeyvine?

If you have honeyvine in your garden you probably know it. At the start of summer honeyvine appears.

At first you’ll see slim, delicate, curling stems with little heart-shaped leaves, in pairs, on opposite sides of the slim stem. The stems are quite easy to remove at this point with a quick tug.

In August clusters of small green-white flowers appear. From a distance honeyvine, otherwise known as mikweed vine, is mostly green. You’ll see it though because wherever it appears it grows like crazy – it smothers fences, shrubs, and small trees. If you leave it be it will even kill a shrub or small tree by blocking all their light.

Black swallowtail adult on honeyvine

Why honeyvine is a treasure

Despite its thuggish nature honeyvine is a native plant treasure. It has a hidden secret which is revealed by its other common name, milkweed vine.

Let honeyvine, Cynanchum laeve, grow and you have the easiest ever monarch caterpillar food source.

Yes, honeyvine is related to milkweeds, but, in my experience it is just a ton easier to grow.

Many are working to save the amazing monarch and honeyvine is the secret treasure which never seems to get a mention.

Where does honeyvine grow?

Honeyvine milkweed, also known sometimes as Ampelamus albidus, is native to the US east of the Rocky Mountains and to Idaho.

Honeyvine milkweed can currently be found, according to the USDA, growing in the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Washington DC, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Monarch chrysalis by SidPix

The treasure of honeyvine

If you have never seen the chrysalis of a monarch you are missing a rare treat. Photographs can not do it justice.

Monarch chrysalis are dotted with pure, shining, gold dots. They are truly nature’s gemstones.

Let honeyvine milkweed grow in your garden and it’s easy to find a monarch caterpillar to raise.

Take a monarch caterpillar inside, place in a large pretzel jar with masses of honeyvine, add new leaves every day, supply a twig, and wait.

Your monarch caterpillar will quickly grow, then it will build a silk attachment, hang upside down, and transform into a gold-decorated chrysalis right before your eyes. Nature is so amazing!

Is honeyvine a weed or a treasure

Despite it’s sweet name, honeyvine milkweed is considered by many to be a weed. In truth it is a native plant with much to recommend it. It’s not even very difficult to control in your garden – simply pull out unwanted stems when they appear.

While you want to remove honeyvine from shrubs and small trees, be sure to leave some for the monarchs. What could be a more beautiful garden treasure than gold-encrusted chrysalis and floating monarch butterfly beauties?

Are butterflies visiting your garden? Do you have any honeyvine milkeed?

Kid tip: raising caterpillars is one of the easiest and best nature projects to do with kids. I don’t know about you, but I never tire of it.

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There’s a little corner of my front yard, right by the driveway, which needs some help.

I’ve issued myself a butterfly garden challenge. You too can do a butterfly garden in a weekend.

Plan your garden

I’m sure every garden has a place for at least a few butterfly plants. Whether there’s a non-native plant you’d like to replace, or simply a blank spot, together we can come up with a plan. This should be a quick and enjoyable project.

Start here

Here are the five steps you need to take:

1. Pick a spot in your garden. If there are several equally good options it doesn’t matter which you pick; butterflies don’t care, though they prefer sun. My corner garden is on the north side of my house, but it gets sun from dawn to mid-day. For sun-loving plants you need 6 hours of sun and I have that.
2. Measure your space. If you’re planning on plants for butterflies to fill an empty garden spot simply get an idea of the size in square feet. My corner garden is a quarter segment of a circle with a 5 foot radius. It calculates out about 19 square feet.
3. Choose your plant types. If you’re replacing non-native plants you can choose a native with a similar size and shape. If you’re planning a new garden, or a bigger replacement, you’ll want variety. Small perennials usually need 1 square foot. Larger perennials are spaced 3 feet apart, needing 9 square foot of space. Shrubs often grow to 5 feet wide and take up 25 square feet. My corner garden is big enough for a shrub, but it would look out of place. A grouping of smaller perennials would be better.
4. Make a plan. Sometimes I do a simple garden plan on square paper, other times, for a smaller area, I prefer just to calculate the number of plants, go shopping, and find something I like the look of.
5. Find your local native plant source. You’ll need to know your best local source for native plants. Garden centers normally carry only a small selection of butterfly plants, but there is an extensive network of specialist native plant centers across the country.

With just a little garden space and a few hours this weekend you can add some butterfly plants to your garden. These five steps outlined above are the planning you need to go through before you go shopping.

What questions do you have? Do you need help finding a local nursery which sells native butterfly plants?

Kid tip: tell your kids about how some plants are good for butterfly nectar and others for the larvae to feed on. Ask them what colors of flowers they’d like to grow.

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“Little bluestem is one of the most widespread and important of all the prairie grasses.”  Wasowski, 2002.

Little bluestem, Schizachyrium scoparium var. scoparium, is a well behaved and attractive addition to your nature garden.

Features

With blue-green, delicate grass leaves, fluffy seed-heads, and attractive fall and winter color there are plenty of  reasons to plant little bluestem.

Habit

Schizachyrium scoparium var. scoparium grows in a delicate clump and, while it will self-seed, it is very well mannered.

It grows just 2-3 feet tall and about the same width. It’s a summer hot season grass, doesn’t grow new blue-green leaves until late spring, and is really at it’s most attractive from late summer through winter.

In the garden

Little buestem is ideal for the front edge of a prairie garden and for accenting delicate prairie flowers.

It looks especially nice next to fine-leaved, yellow, fall-flowering natives, such as stiff goldenrod.

Easy native

I’d class this a an easy native. It will grow in part sun, such as you’d find in open, native oak savannah woodlands.

In native prairies little bluestem is found on upland sites with thinner, more rocky, soil which never has standing water. If you have rich, moist soil, you’d be better with another plant.

I’ve not tried growing it in a container garden, but it would be bound to do better than the larger native grasses.

How to grow little bluestem

Potted little bluestem from native plant suppliers can be planted as long as the soil is workable.

Seed should be spread in the fall or winter. If you are new to gardening I’d suggest 1-3 potted plants rather than beginning with seed.

After a season or two of seeding you’ll find your little bluestem naturalizing and picking it’s own new spots to grow and bring nature’s beauty to your garden.

Native range

You’ll get the best results if you grow native plants which belong in your area. Little bluestem, Schizachyrium scoparium var. scoparium is native to every one of the lower 48 states, apart from Oregon and Nevada, and to most of Canada.

If you’re in Europe or beyond do let me know where you are so I can point you to something native you might like to add to your garden. Every part of the planet has declining native plants which could use your interest and will bring you enjoyment and support wildlife in your garden.

Have you seen little bluestem in your area? Do you have native grasses in your garden?

Kid tip: help your kids learn to identify grasses native to your area by planting them at home, by taking a trip to a native plant nursery, and by choosing one local nature reserve to visit through the seasons.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

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Hairstreak on Butterfly Weed, Carole Brown 2010

There are many reasons to plant a nature garden – my friend Carole Brown knows them all.

The following post appeared originally at Carole’s blog Ecosystem Gardening.

It’s easy to assume that you can’t possibly make a difference for wildlife from your small share of the planet. But every positive choice you make in your garden can actually make a huge difference for the wildlife in your area.

And when you help your neighbors make better decisions the benefit to wildlife is magnified. And so it spreads.

Reasons Why Your Garden Matters

#1 The Power of Doing Just One Thing – really, choose just one thing and start making a difference now.

#2 Why Your Garden Matters to Wildlife even When we Have Protected Lands – only 5% of available land in this country is protected, but much of that is being overrun by invasive plants. We’ve simply left wildlife nowhere to go.

#3 Your Ecosystem Garden is Important to Wildlife – habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation due to human action is the number one cause of wildlife declines. You can help reverse this by planning your Ecosystem Garden.

#4 Ecosystem Services: How Your Garden Contributes to a Healthy Environment – Healthy ecosystems contribute many vital services that we tend to take for granted: oxygen production, clean water, soil health, and more. Your Ecosystem Garden can provide some of these services.

#5 Health Care Reform in your Ecosystem Garden – a fun and tongue-in-cheek look at the importance of your garden by borrowing the language of the health care debate.

Children, Nature, and Your Habitat Garden

#6 Awe and Wonder always Welcome in Your Wildlife Garden

#7 The Sense of Wonder in the Wildlife Garden

#8 Helping Your Neighbors Learn to Love your Ecosystem Garden – we mentioned this above in the introduction. Remember that old commercial “They told two friends, and they told two friends……” That’s the way we’ll start making a bigger difference.

#9 Best Reasons NOT to be an Ecosystem Gardener – having some fun by reverse engineering the best reasons for creating your wildlife garden

What are you doing to help wildlife in your garden?

Carole Brown can be found at her blog Ecosystem Gardening, on Twitter at @CB4Wildlife, and on Facebook at Ecosystem Gardening.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

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Garden Plot by OakleyOriginals

Organic weed control methods come in four main types: heat, light, mechanical, and chemical.

Being unfamiliar with chemical organic control of weeds, I am going to stick to describing the first three methods.

You’ll find each method of control broken down by the type of tool and/or materials you need. Useful videos are included.

Water, or lack of water, can also affect weed success, but this knowledge is of limited use unless you’re planning a paddy field or know how to control the weather.

Get Out the Tools

If you’ve ever seen a rake or a hoe you know something about mechanical organic weed control. Open a gardening catalog, or visit your local hardware store, and you’ll see an amazing assortment of tools designed to damage and/or remove weeds.

1. Long Handled Weeding Tools

Long handled weeding tools are designed to damage weeds or to pull them from the ground without you needing to get down on your knees.

• Garden Fork – used to loosen up the soil and make it easier to remove weeds by hand or with a rake and/or hoe. Here Kenny Point from Veggie Gardening Tips explains about a garden fork.
• Hoe – designed to cut weeds off below the leaves or to disturb the soil and roots enough to kill young weeds. Hoes come in many styles. They are easy to use in loosened soil and almost impossible to push through compacted soil. Here’s a video which shows how easy a hoe can be to use.
• Garden Rake (different from a leaf or grass rake) – again these need to be used in loosened soil. They can be used to pull weeds into a pile after using a hoe, to level soil after forking or hoeing, or to remove weed seedlings from mulch and gravel areas.

In this video a master gardener explains the uses of different long-handled tools and the circumstances under which you’d use them.

Here’s a long-handled tool from Red Pig Tools which explains essential tools for every gardener.

2. Short Handled Weeding Tools

Short handled weeding tools are designed for using in confined spaces – around plants, in raised beds, and in paving stone cracks. There are short-handled garden tools which pulls weeds out and others which cut weeds.

Short-handled tools are also used up-close to pry out perennial or biennial weeds which have deeper roots, such thistles and dandelions.

• Fingers – a very useful gardening tool for removing young seedlings from around plants and for pulling up shallow-rooted annual weeds.
• Hand Fork – good for loosening soil to allow weeds to be pulled up by hand.
• Hand Trowel – a narrow-bladed hand trowel is an effective tool for digging out perennial weeds like dandelions.
• Sharp Tools – there are a number of useful sharp hand tools which range from Hori Hori Knives, through Cobrahead Weeders, to pruning snips and saws. The first two are designed to get in small spaces and cracks. Snips and saws are useful for woody weeds.

Here’s a video from DeWit tooks which demonstrates the use of a wide range of both long-handled and short-handled garden tools useful for weeding and planting.

3. Weed Control Using Heat

Heat methods of weed control are perhaps the least used. You’ve probably noticed that weeds spring up at specific times of year. This is in part due to temperature requirements for germination of specific weed seeds.

There are two ways to control weeds using heat:

• Weed Dragon, Weed Torch, or Flamer – uses fuel to create heat which when placed close to weeds causes cell sap to heat and damages the weed. There is a risk of fire when using a weed torch, or flamer. Most effective on weeds in the seedling stage. Find more information at Flame Weeding 101. Here’s a promotional video from the manufacturer of the Weed Dragon.
• Soil Solarization – uses sunlight to generate soil temperatures high enough to kill weeds. You can read all about soil solarization by taking this link, which downloads a pdf document from UC Davis. For a discussion of when to use solarization try Country Roads Magazine. Watch this video to see and hear how soil solarization works.

Block Light and Block Weeds

Some weeds require light in order for the seeds to germinate. Every plant needs light to grow. Basically you block light by covering the soil. By covering the soil you also prevent new seeds coming in contact with soil.

4. Mulching

Mulching is a popular way to reduce the need for weeding. It works well in perennial beds, between the plants, and can be used around annual bedding plants and in vegetable beds between rows. You should use at least 3-4″ depth. Different types of mulch are as follows:

• Sawdust – good for paths because it suppresses weed germination and growth. Do not use around plants.
• Bark, Shredded Wood, and Bark Nuggets – comes in different colors. This is a lightweight mulch and is not suitable for areas where water flows downhill during or after rain (it will just wash away). Cedar mulch takes the longest time to decompose. Best for flower beds.
• Straw – good for paths and fruit and vegetable beds but can cause weed problems. I’ve successfully used straw without weed problems, provided I had 4-6″ of it. Also, you want to know your source – straw could contain pesticides.
• Compost – great for fruit and vegetable beds and for lawns. As an organic gardener you can never have enough home-made compost!
• Rocks, pebbles, stones – work well for paths and rock gardens. You probably want to put down a porous weed barrier below to prevent your pebbles sinking into the ground.

Here’s a step by step video guide on mulching.

As fresh weed seeds fall on top of your mulch and your mulch decomposes (not the rock one of course) you will need to top up with more mulch and/or rake the surface. It’s easier to rake loose mulch though than to rake compacted soil.

5. Weed Barriers

Weed barriers are of two types – porous and non-porous. Porous weed barriers are of most use under mulch to prevent your mulch from sinking into the soil. Also known as landscaping fabric, I use them on paths, but not on beds. Check the warranty – you can get landscaping fabric with a 25 year, or a lifetime, warranty.

Black plastic can be used as a non-porous weed barrier. It is useful for temporary soil coverage. I’ve used it to cover the soil in garden areas which I know I will be working on later and which I don’t want to have to weed. You can use it to kill turf – allow a few months to do the job properly. Over time black plastic will break down enough to fall apart. While it’s not a great environmental choice, I’d rather use it than spraying with Roundup.

Here’s what happens to black plastic if you leave it down too long.

There are two further organic weed control methods which I plan to write about later – biological methods and the use of ground covers. Be sure to subscribe and get all of of my tips and inspiration (use the posts and e-mail links at the top of the page).

If you need more information on controlling weeds organically I suggest Organic Weed Control at The Organic Gardener.

Which methods of weed control are you using? Which have you tried? What do you like or dislike about controlling weeds?

You may be interested in some of the following from Amazon.com: Red Dragon Weed Wand; DeWit Garden Tools.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

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Moreton Bay Fig by Caro Webster

Gardening friends are the best friends. Today’s post is the first of a planned series brought to you through my friendship with Caro Webster.

“When I sit under a tall, majestic tree something amazing happens. I feel embraced, calmed, part of something larger, transported.” Alison Kerr, 2010

Tall trees: awe-inspiring; humbling; grounding. Is there a place for tall trees, large trees, shade trees, in your garden?

Tall Tales of Trees

Nowadays, for many of us, tall trees, old trees, are the stuff of fantasy, something to read about, imagine, and dream of.

Indeed authors from Tolkien, through Piers Anthony, to Terry Pratchett use trees in their fantasy stories, trees with sentient powers, or protective tree spirits; as if large trees just aren’t a part of 21st century life. Fantasy is what sprang to mind when I first saw Caro’s Moreton Bay fig. There could be fairies living under a tree like this!

Roots of the Moreton Bay Fig by Caro Webster

The Strangler Tree

When these photos arrived from Caro, I just had to find out more. Did she plant this tree? Is it grown around the world? Would you want one in your garden?

Here’s some of what I learned. The Moreton Bay Fig is an amazing tall tree. It begins its life as a seed which lodges in the top of an already established host tree. Over the years the Moreton Bay fig grows larger and sends down roots to the ground. As the roots expand, the host tree is gradually strangled and eventually is enclosed and killed.

So much for plants being gentle creatures! I asked Caro to tell us more about Moreton Bay Figs and about this one, pictured above, in particular. I’m curious about what role it plays in her Australian garden and how it inspires her, and her kids, to spend time outdoors, time in nature.

Invasive Roots by Caro Webster

Caro Shares About This Fantastic Tree

Thanks Alison.  I can see you’ve done a bit of homework on the beautiful Ficus macrophylla.  Sadly the tree pictured isn’t in my garden! I would have to knock down the houses on either side of me to accommodate a beauty like this.

This particular tree is sitting precariously on a slope in a nearby street.  I’d estimate it to be around 60ft  tall, with a canopy around 50ft across.  But these trees can grow to over 200ft.

I suspect this tree started life as a seed dropped into the bough of another tree by a Rainbow Lorikeet or some such native Australian bird.  You can see it is crushing the surrounding sandstone work of a neighbour’s fence.  Its roots are incredibly invasive.

Trees on a Mission

These are trees on a mission!  The kids and I like this particular specimen as the enormous buttress roots are easy to climb and there are a number of staghorn ferns growing in the upper reaches of the tree.  My daughter and I imagine these to be fairy refuges.  We like playing an improvised game of snakes and ladders whilst we scale up and down the roots.

My daughter commented recently that this tree was like an inversed Whomping Willow (Harry Potter)!  Like you, we are transported to another place when we sit under trees such as this.  They calm us, refresh us and instantly connect us with our immediate environment.  They provide us with a sense of place, of belonging.

Flying Foxes, Birds, Beetles and Fig Wasps

Like all figs, this particular tree is host to so many creatures.  Flying Foxes, birds of all kinds, scurrying beetles and, of course, Fig Wasps, on whom they depend to pollinate their fruit.

A few facts for you.  The common name comes from Moreton Bay in Queensland. They are native to Australia and are found in mainly sub-tropical, tropical and temperate areas on the east coast of Australia.  Used commonly as a streetscape tree and in parks or other large public places, they are actually rare in private gardens because of their size.

See a Moreton Bay Fig, Get Inspired

The Botanic Gardens in Sydney has some truly breathtaking specimens.  And believe it or not, they can be bonsaied.  Now there’s a challenge!  They are planted around the world where conditions suit.  Their leaves are stiff and ovate/elliptic.  They have a really funky rusty-coloured underside.  Put simply, if I had the space, I’d grow one in a flash.

Thanks Caro, I think it would be wonderful to have a tree like this to visit with. Fortunately, we don’t have to travel to Australia to see a Moreton Bay Fig and get inspired. There’s a whole street of Moreton Bay Figs in Los Angeles, California. And the San Diego Natural History Museum has one too. I’d say they’d be perfect trees to picnic under on a warm, sunny, spring day.

Pick A Tree That’s Right!

When it comes to your own garden though, like Caro says, you really want to choose trees that fit. The best trees are going to be native trees and you need to consider the mature size the tree will grow to. A tall tree in the wrong place can be a giant headache. Exotics can be even worse than native trees, reproducing, spreading, and damaging environmentally sensitive areas which native critters depend on.

Ficus macrophylla has invasive potential and is already causing problems in Hawaii and New Zealand. While I thoroughly suggest that you start right now planting any large trees you’d like to have in your garden – they’re the first things you will want to plant, because they take so long to grow – you need to choose a tree which is good for your climate, and space, and which will support native wildlife. I will be sharing more on this later.

Are there tall trees in your garden or neighborhood? Do they inspire you to get outdoors? Which critters do you see around them?

Caro Webster is a life-long gardener, playoutdoors enthusiast, loving mom, and author of Small Fry Outdoors. You can visit with Caro and read more of her writing at Caro & Co and follow Caro on Twitter.

I’m excited to be working with Caro.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

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Self-seeded Wild Flowers

I don’t know if you’ve really stopped and thought about this, but nature hates bare soil, which means you can carpet your nature garden with masses of flowers, practically for free.

My native plant woodland garden was planted nine years ago. I’ve spent very little on plants for it over the years, yet it now contains a carpet of wild flowers, which varies from year to year.

Self-seeded Violets

Woodland Violets Appear

When I planted my woodland garden nine years ago I purchased just 3 each of most of the native plants I chose. One of the woodland natives I chose was Viola sororia – common blue violet.

To prevent weeds in my woodland garden I put down cedar mulch.  Over time, as the mulch composted, small patches of bare soil appeared. By that point the plants had flowered and dropped seeds. Seedling violets sprung up, at first close to the plants, but, over time further and further away (they’ve now reached the other side of my house).

Native Columbine and More

Columbine and More

Not long after the violets began spreading through my woodland nature garden, new columbines, Aquilegia canadensis, began to appear too.

My native woodland garden is right next to my prairie garden. One of the amazing things is that the plants are free to choose the niche, or environment, which works for them. The plants I put in for their shade tolerance have mostly stuck to the shady areas.

Surprise Yellow Poppies

Nature in Balance

In spring of 2009 I was a little shocked to discover both the violets and columbines munched to total destruction, leaving only the flower stalks and leaf veins.

Rabbits have always enjoyed the violets, but this was different. It was too late to do anything and I don’t like spraying anyway. I wondered what would happen. Would the violets be gone, or would they spring back from the roots?

Mother Nature Takes Care of My Garden

In the fall of 2009 I enjoyed a massive display of Ageratina altissima (also known as Eupatorium rugosum, or white snakeroot). I’d planted white snakeroot 8 years before within the prairie section of my garden and it had never spread until 2009. And this last week, when looking to see if the violets have come back, I discovered that for the first time in nine years I am blessed with extra Stylophorum diphyllum, or wood poppies, another native plant which had not previously germinated from seeds.

We never quite know what Mother Nature has in store for us. Have there been any native plant surprises in your garden?

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Kansas Woodland Moss, March 2010

Kansas Woodland Wild Flower, March 2010

Kansas Garden Garlic, March 2010

Kansas Garden Parsley, March 2010

I hope you enjoyed these signs of the Kansas spring. What’s happening in your neighborhood?

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Self Watering Garden - copyright Mike Lieberman

In exploring container gardening for my deck I came across the idea of self-watering containers.

Today’s article is by Mike Lieberman who kindly agreed to share his knowledge on container vegetable gardening.

Last year when I was first became interested in gardening on my fire escape, I knew that my options were limited as to what I could grow my vegetables in. I knew that I had to grow in some sort of container, but wasn’t sure if I had to buy a special one, could make my own, or what.

That’s when I came across the self watering container concept. It’s pretty much a homemade version of an Earthbox, which were way too expensive for me.

Self Watering Containers and How They Work

It’s easy to build a self watering container and cheap as well. It’ll cost around $5.00. The most difficult part in building is cutting out the insert for the container.

The way that a container functions is that the water reservoir is below the insert and the soil is above the insert. There is a small wicking container at the bottom of the container to bring the water up to the soil. A pipe is used to get the water down into the reservoir.

This way the plants suck up the water with their roots, which is a more natural way for them to get water. When plants are watered from above, it takes a few moments for the water to work it’s way down to the roots.

Watering a self watering container is simple as well. When the reservoir is filled, water will start to spill out of the overflow hole. This takes the guessing out of over or under watering your plants.

Container Vegetable Gardening

On my fire escape, I had lettuces, red peppers and cherry tomatoes in self watering containers. The lettuces and tomatoes did great, but the peppers didn’t produce as much. I think that had more to do with sun than with the containers.

For the upcoming gardening season, I plan on changing up the design a bit and using a container within a container as opposed to making the inserts. This is one of the fun things about gardening, the constant learning, tweaking and experimentation.

Self watering containers are something that I’d recommend for first timers, not only are they cheap to make, they take the guessing out of watering. They are also great for gardeners with small and limited space.

Mike Lieberman resides in NYC. He is someone who walks their talk as a living, breathing demonstration of how sustainable living is possible anywhere. Lieberman shows others how they can do the same on his own blogs and writes for others around the web. You can find him at CanarsieBK.com.

Have you tried container gardening? I will be visiting Mike’s blog to view his videos and learn how to build self-watering containers for my deck. I’m amazed at what he has managed to grow in such a small space.

Download your copy of Simple Sprouts ebook here (it's Free).

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Are you looking for native evergreen trees for your Kansas or Missouri garden, or maybe just curious about what grows here? Here I outline your evergreen choices. These same trees are native to a larger part of the USA – I’ll explain that too.

Eastern Redcedar - Juniperus virginiana

Native Evergreen Trees in Kansas

If you are looking for a native evergreen tree for your Kansas or western Missouri garden your top choice is eastern redcedar, Juniperus virginiana. In fact it’s your ONLY choice.

Eastern redcedar is the only native evergreen tree in Kansas and western Missouri. It is also native to parts of every state east of the Rocky Mountains.

Male and Female Juniperus virginiana

In farmland, where eastern redcedar self-seeds and is prone to become invasive, it’s common practice to remove female trees.

Given that a variety of birds feed on the small berry-like seed cones you may want to plant a female tree and take the risk of more sprouting up in your garden. It’s not a difficult tree to remove if you get too many – merely cut it off below the lowest leafed branch and it will not re-sprout.

For great information on eastern redcedar download eastern redcedar pdf from the US Forest Service.

Don’t Plant with the Apple Family

Do not plant eastern redcedar near to apple trees or trees in the apple or rose families because it is an alternate host for the fungal disease cedar- apple rust. If you already have a cedar tree and want to grow apples choose varieties which are resistant to cedar-apple rust.

Pines (plus) Native to Missouri

There are some additional evergreen trees native to parts of Missouri, most of which are in the pine family, as follows: loblolly pine, Pinus taeda; shortleaf pine, Pinus echinata.

In addition baldcypress, or swamp cypress Taxodium distichum is, according to The Sibley Guide to Trees, native to Missouri and even to Kansas. Although baldcypress is native to wet, swamp habitat, according to Sibley, it grows relatively well in dry settings beyond it’s native range.

So, if you’re looking for a native evergreen tree for your Kansas or Missouri garden you’re not going to be lost choosing among a long list of trees!

Do you have evergreen trees in your garden? Are they natives?

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