Sunday, June 10, 2007

Weekend Photoblogging


Green Square
Originally uploaded by urtica.

A patch of crown vetch (Coronilla varia) at the Boston Nature Center in Boston, Massachusetts.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is there *anything* that grows well in the Boston area that's native and good?

I'm working on ridding my yard of garlic mustard, black swallow-wort, and bittersweet nightshade, not to mention the chopped down oaks and maples that just won't die.

But everything that's moved in as I've eliminated those makes me suspicious that it's just as bad...

Jennifer Forman Orth said...

The short answer is "yes"...the long answer is that the right plants for your yard depends on soil type, sunlight, etc. and also on how much care you will be able to give those plants. I'm a low-maintenance gardener and I've done well with Potentilla shrubs, Asters for herbs and dogwoods for trees.

I have had really good luck with this web interface that queries the native plant catalog of Garden in the Woods, but I am biased since I helped make that website! Don't be afraid to ask the staff at places like Russell's and Mahoney's for advice either, they even have lists of the native plants they sell.