The MagiK Garden

The MagiK Garden Backyard plant nursery selling retail with home grown and propagated native plants.
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Here's a species I'll be able to offer in the near future: Myosotis laxa, one of our native forget-me-nots. Most people ...
06/10/2026

Here's a species I'll be able to offer in the near future: Myosotis laxa, one of our native forget-me-nots. Most people are familiar with the introduced species, not realizing there are native ones as well.

I didn't either, until a few years ago, a dear friend of mine gifted me a few plants which I added to the woods. Now that this one is established and reseeding, I know that I should be able to grow and share this with y'all. It has a long bloom period, lasting nearly 2 months (started early April and is just now finishing up), and grows in dappled light with consistent moisture. This is a lovely groundcover that isn't anywhere as aggressive as the introduced species. In fact, it took 3 years for it to reach the size you see in the photos and begin to reseed. The flowers are also generally larger and far more conspicuous at their peak. This is just the tail end of their blooming season.

Have you ever looked closely at the flowers of an aster? Asters are composite, meaning each flowerhead is a cluster of m...
06/10/2026

Have you ever looked closely at the flowers of an aster?

Asters are composite, meaning each flowerhead is a cluster of multiple flowers.

Zoom in.

Something's really chowing down on my Hibiscus laevis...And I couldn't be more proud.This is my wet meadow planting. The...
06/09/2026

Something's really chowing down on my Hibiscus laevis...

And I couldn't be more proud.

This is my wet meadow planting. The vast majority of what I planted is written on the signs in the second photo. I think there are maybe 2 or 3 species I still need to add to the list since I'd planted them after I made the signs.

I know it's generally not advised to allow 1st year seedlings (for perenials) to flower, but I just had to see these cut...
06/08/2026

I know it's generally not advised to allow 1st year seedlings (for perenials) to flower, but I just had to see these cuties. Hieracium venosum is a native hawkweed (unlike that invasive s**t I keep having to pull) and a perfect drought-tolerant addition to a native lawn mix. I'll be bumping these up next!

Another native returns on its own as the lawn is slowly replaced with native grasses, sedges, rushes and wildflowers.If ...
06/07/2026

Another native returns on its own as the lawn is slowly replaced with native grasses, sedges, rushes and wildflowers.

If you see this one popping up, it's self-heal, aka Prunella vulgaris var lanceolata.

Prunella vulgaris is a circumboreal species, with most varieties hailing from overseas. However, Prunella vulgaris var lanceolata (meaning lance-leaf), is the one variety native to the US.

Unfortunately, I really doubt Prunella 'Magdalena' is native. It looks like a cross between two European species. As the kids would say these days, the math ain't mathing on that one.

If there is an aggressive species that you absolutely love and want to plant, but you're afraid it will take over, one o...
06/07/2026

If there is an aggressive species that you absolutely love and want to plant, but you're afraid it will take over, one of my tricks is to plant it in lower light levels.

Here's one example. This is Pycnanthemum muticum, of the "friends don't let friends plant Pycnanthemum muticum" fame. Yet this clump is about the same size it was when I moved it here 3 years ago, in part sun. It gets morning shade, afternoon dappled, and in a few hours it'll get maybe 4 hours of sunlight at the tail end of the day. In full sun, this would have filled the entire bed by now.

The same goes for many other species. Grass-leaved goldenrod doesn't look anything like what you're used to when you find it growing wild in the woods.

Just because something can tolerate, even thrive (and rule the world), in full sun, doesn't mean you have to plant it in full sun. Sometimes, the only way to have your native and grow it too is to tame it a bit.

The first of the pinxterbloom seedlings have been pricked out. I expect there are over 100 seedlings, but I need to get ...
06/07/2026

The first of the pinxterbloom seedlings have been pricked out. I expect there are over 100 seedlings, but I need to get other plants handled, so I'll do a bit at a time.

That being said, never count your seedlings before they mature. We're off to a good start, but nature will slowly cull the weakest ones. I won't try to save them, because if they're struggling despite special care & attention, they wouldn't have made it in the wild.

What I do try to save them from are the damn squirrels, like the one you can see in the distance past the bench tops. Yeah, that one. Despite all my efforts to keep them distracted and discouraged from digging up my plants, they still manage to get a few. Hence the need to tie the tray upside down over the flat.

I will say, at least for entertainment purposes, the peanut truck was a solid investment.

If you (if you're a young follower) or your teens are struggling with self-image during puberty...Remember, plants go th...
06/07/2026

If you (if you're a young follower) or your teens are struggling with self-image during puberty...

Remember, plants go through it too, like these Rhododendron maximum.

I am not as purist as some people might think.No, I no longer continue adding exotic species to my garden, because there...
06/07/2026

I am not as purist as some people might think.
No, I no longer continue adding exotic species to my garden, because there are thousands of native species I want to add, so it's a logistical problem. That being said, I am not ripping out all exotic species, either.

My rules are this: doesn't or very rarely reseeds, doesn't or very rarely speads/suckers, and isn't evergreen (no problems with it shading out habitat). I.e. if it's a PITA to propagate, it's probably innocuous. Secondary to this, if it shows benefit to habitat in addition to myself/my family, it's dropped down to the bottom of the list of species to remove if I run out of space.

Some introduced species are beneficial to pollinators, too, like this thyme that I've had for over ten years. It's absolutely buzzing with activity at the moment. Some of the species are exotic (English bottle flies appear to be a pollinator for this species, for example), but there are some native bees that enjoy it as well.

So far, my list of least-problematic species is pretry short. Heirloom, own-root old-world roses are one (not the hybrid teas, I actually strongly dislike those). The shrubby mint species like this thyme, tarragon, and some interesting mediterranean thing I forget the name of. Tender annual veggies are another. Some blue clumping fescue that hasnt moved from its spot in the decade since I planted it.

The point here is to share how I prioritize what I remove vs keep when it comes to native gardens. This goes for both exotic as well as native species. Usefulness alone isn't a determining factor - after all, many invasive species were brought here on the basis of being useful. At the same time, the discussion of native vs exotic is far more nuanced than the discussions on the internet. A responsible gardener is ready to say "time to go" to any introduced species that suddenly is shown to have invasive tendencies...

And yeah, I know, some of those are going to be sentimental, and it will sting a bit (just a heads up: Japanese maple is one I've already had to kill off, and it's on the invasive species watch list).

Hm, I guess it's time to prick out these Rhododendron periclymenoides and Kalmia latifolia seedlings and start acclimati...
06/07/2026

Hm, I guess it's time to prick out these Rhododendron periclymenoides and Kalmia latifolia seedlings and start acclimating them outdoors.

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