Prairie Up

06/03/2026

In yesterday's monthly community Q&A meet-up (Prairie Upping) I went over a few more details about this 12,000 plug project: how I designed, selected plants, installed, etc. (You can watch the recording, and every recording from this year, by signing up.)

Often the topic of mulching comes up so I'm glad to address a few of the most common questions:

1) How much mulch? On our clay to clay loam soils we use 1 to 1.5" in shade, and 1.5 to 2" in such. Mulch breaks down faster in sun. The goal is just to slow up annual weeds for DIY managing clients then have it break down soon enough to allow plants to self sow. In sand I would never use wood mulch.

2) Mulch before or after planting? Always before. It's really hard to carefully mulch around hundreds and thousands of tiny plugs post install.

3) Preen or not? On some jobs I come back and wish we had used it, but I generally don't. Annual weeds won't be back the next year if we planted thickly enough, although if something like crabgrass gets too thick it's best to cut it back a bit to let light back on the plugs. Annuals are nature's way to heal over a wound and, in some cases, can even be helpful / useful in controlling more problematic / invasive plants.

06/02/2026

Say hello to my albino Asclepias syriaca. I guess.

06/02/2026

I do use a few cultivars here and there in my work. I prefer Symphyotrichum oblongifolium 'October Skies' for example, and it's still covered in insects each autumn and host to caterpillars.

The elephant in the room, though, isn't the conversation around bloom shape or color, or leaf color -- it's about cloning and predictable products on a shelf. Another elephant may be how close you live to a natural or conservation area (think cross pollination).

Should you be using native plant cultivars? Are they as robust or as beneficial to wildlife as straight species natives? Oh my, what are straight species? As you plan your garden for climate resilience, wildlife benefit (pollinators and birds especially), and low maintenance design, here is some information to keep in mind:

Should you be using native plant cultivars? Are they as robust or as beneficial to wildlife as straight species natives? Oh my, what are straight species? As

06/01/2026

It's Penstemon cobaea season. It and P. digitalis were loaded with Ceratina bees this morning. I am enjoying it paired with Amorpha canescens this year.

And yeah, this is clay-loam soil, but it's also hot and near a sidewalk -- where it definitely prefers to be in this bed. I think you could do it in clay on a slight slope in full sun, too.

06/01/2026

Every month a community of natural gardeners meets to ask me anything, ask one another anything, and listen to my candor about, well, anything. This is perfect for seasonal issues that come up in your landscape.

Tomorrow, 6/2, is June's meeting where I'll go into more depth about the 12,000 plug project recently installed. Plant list, methodology, design tips, management, etc.

We'll also take a look at participant's gardens and help them out.

I'm still offering the first month free, which also gives you access to the recordings of all prior months. Prairie Upping is just $13 a month or about 1/3 what a webinar is.

https://prairieup.com/prairie-upping-monthly-meeting/

05/31/2026

Things we should discuss. Things we should have been taught in school. Things that still affect the systemic structures of so much in our society and thus are not taught in school lest the hierarchy crumble.

in 1921, the two-day Tulsa Race Massacre began.

A white mob attacked the predominantly Black Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma, destroying homes, businesses and entire city blocks of what was known as “Black Wall Street.”

As many as 300 people were killed, thousands were left homeless, and generations of Black wealth and opportunity were erased.

The Tulsa Race Massacre remains one of the deadliest acts of racial violence in U.S. history and a reminder of the lasting impact of white supremacist violence.

05/31/2026

We'll see about this one. https://reprairiesuburbia.etsy.com/listing/4514167493

05/31/2026

I think there are a lot of people out there who get angry and offended by those who try to be different because, in some small part of the arithmetic, they once tried, too, and got beaten up so hard it fundamentally changed them.

We're so propagandized into believing that if we play within the rules of a made up system -- and force others to, as well -- we'll all be better for it. It's fair. And ironically, the more the system forces us back in line the more we are willing to play along -- even when the system beats us up more and more. We're told that's freedom. And the abuse feels safe.

I don't know how long the flowers will bloom here, but for now they do. Bright. Facing the sun. Drinking the UV light and giving it back to us through tissue and leaf and stem and bloom and seed. If we stand with the flowers, and turn toward the light, too, what do we ever have to fear and what will we ever lack for again.

05/30/2026

Doing some touch up work this morning.

05/30/2026

As I head off yet again for an early morning of gardening in client landscapes, I'm reminded of a social media influencer who last year ignorantly accused me of "probably" not even sweating or doing any work and of not knowing the names of those who installed my gardens.

The dewpoint is nearly 70. I'll be sweating a ton and getting in my daily steps. And not only do I know the names of those who help me, but I also have the honor and privilege of getting to know them and their personalities and their lives. Because this work is people work -- and plant work and insect and bird work.

There are always things in life that stick and never go away. And maybe this one does more because I've always had a healthy dose of imposter syndrome, perhaps owing to the fact I came to gardening from a completely different field (a PhD in English doesn't prepare one for planting -- but it DOES prepare one for researching, teaching, and writing).

I'd prefer not to sweat and also to sleep in today, but I need to do something as the fire rages all around, to make defiant compassion occur in more ways, to practice active hope, to provide flowers.

So today, go plant something. Anything. And fight on in the painful joy of soil-caked hands, sweat-covered brows, and the voices of others who said you can't, you won't, you aren't as you double down and succeed one aster at a time.