Autumn Native Plant Journal

The grass has never been browner and you might be hard pressed to find something not drab in your landscape. There is a way…to see past all that brown. Just like adding a splash of color with a throw blanket, this one thing will brighten the dull.

There are certain times of day for whatever reason that my yard (whether front or back) is dull. I call it dead time. But it never lasts long. In a matter of seconds it can all change. A bird lands to survey the landscape, or a breeze will blow. The trees appear lifeless, but in truth, the roots are having a party down below.

If you plant native plants that provide for all seasons, your yard will never be dull. For example: a variety of nectar-producing flowers, berry-bearing shrubs, and pines or cedars for winter hiding spots and shelter. And you leave those spent flowers and leaves were they lay. Very important!

A 5-minute walk through a native plant garden will having you seeing far beyond the brown. That’s your fix.

Maybe you will spot a wooly bear caterpillar or hear a wren belting out a tune. Perhaps a walnut-carrying squirrel will gallop past.

Inside all that brown there is life. It is all there. Under a brown blanket of leaves.

Favorite Berry-Producing Shrubs:

Ilex verticillata — Winterberry Holly (don’t forget to buy 2 because you need both a male and female plant to produce berries)

Juniperus virginiana — Eastern Red Cedar

Viburnum trilobum — Cranberry bush viburnum

Cornus florida — flowering dogwood

Photos included in the journal linked below.