Great video! My son also said buttonbush flower looks like covid! I have one tiny spicebush thats been struggling since i got it, it grew one berry this season. Leaves do smell when crushed but not all plants do. It's struggling so I had to pot it. Maybe it needs more water than I've been giving it 🙃 I do love the caterpillars, they come out at night to eat and go back in their taco🌮 leaf when done

Very interesting topic.

One plant that really attracts pollinators for me is Rattlesnake Master. It's a gorgeous plant, the flowers smell like honey, and I see more pollinators on one plant, when it's blooming, than in my entire native garden at other times of the year.

I have a Poodle (Time 31:27). A GREAT dog that I never give a "Poodle" haircut so that I have a dog and not an accessory. Great information!

I have a hard time finding native ground cover for areas with full sun in Southeast. Most ground covers mentioned area for shade areas.

Great presentation ladies!!! We need more information on plants that can be used in formal beds and make the HOA's happy!!

Before I knew better, I got an Annabelle hydrangea. What a disappointment!

These are some gorgeous shrubs. I wish the Leadplant and Shrubby St John's Wort were native here in VA. Those two together would be a lovely contrast when their bloom times overlap.

Oh my gosh!!! I’m so excited to have Stumbled onto this! I’ve looked into this a bit but have been too busy with other projects. I’m really psyched you are in the Chicagoland area. I have locations in Elmhurst and Villa Park and I’ve been wanting to convert the lawns. Grass makes no sense but I haven’t managed to do the research yet. I just watched another video from a group out of the area and was wishing I could find someone around here to help guide me through this process.. as it may take a bit of time to do the full research needed and finding a local place would make it much easier! I’ll definitely join the community and look into what kind of guidance you offer or if you are for hire in any way. Thank you so much! 🌲❤

Great vid. I love the selections though due to deer, I steer clear of NJ Tea. I also love Northern Spicebush and Downy Arrowood Viburnum, shorter than standard Arrowood. I also like Prairie Willow since it allows me to include a Tallemy keystone species in my postage stamp urban lot. It’s great since it tolerates dry conditions… though the deer do graze off of it.

Watching from New York, love your videos. It gets me inspired to start planting! I planted some native hydrangea last year, love them.

What a wonderful and informative presentation. Absolutely loved it, especially when you highlighted what these plants are hosts for. My very favorite part of gardening is all of the creatures. 😊 The steeplebush was a new one for me and my god was it beautiful looking. I have an area on my property that gets really wet, so will be a great addition there.

Very interested in the info shared, but it would be helpful to a wider audience if you included your geographic location and USDA Zone. Your video just happened to turn up on my KZbin feed. I took the time to google your website, and even there I had to really dig to find you’re in NE Illinois. Your contact info doesn’t include a snail-mailing address, which used to be a quick away to discover location. FWIW I’m in 6b in Cincinnati, Ohio.

great information thanks! ☀️🌱💦🌺🍃🐝🦋

Ladies, your enthusiasm is just infectious, as always! Thank you for all your research & sharing this information😊 I can say for my part, I’ve put some of these on my ‘wish list’ 👩🏻‍🌾🌿

What does each color code mean on the map? In particular what is difference between light and dark green. Thank you

I use the sterile hydrangeas just for color but I surround it with native plants!

I've had a terrible problem even finding native shrubs for sale anywhere. I've been trying for years to find a smooth hydrangea; none of the native nurseries ever have it. I was desperate enough to order one from some random person on eBay. It was a piece of a branch too small and poorly packaged to even grow any roots. It died within a week. I was finally able to order one from my wild ones chapter's tree/ shrub sale.

Yay! 7 of these shrubs currently live in my yard! I only wish I had a bigger yard; I've become quite the native plant hoarder.

There is alternative: these shrubs are great but maybe non native all round globe. Is there chance to change them with native local shrubs in the same lines, variaties or sorts? The same type of shrub locally instead these which are invasive for my region!

Hum… My hydrangea ‘Incrediball’ are litteraly covered by bees, bumblebees and wasps. 🤷‍♀

What’s the meaning of the light green vs. the dark green on the map? Thanks!

Cathy, you mentioned how the color and shape of the flower of a cultivar should not be changed. Did you mean color of the flower only, or leaves as well? Thanks!

Thank u so mulch 😁

"It's a host plant" I can see it now... "ah! There's worms eating my plants! Bring out the poison! " 😅 Wrt spotty range, it's probably due to soil type/moisture/depth. I've studied several trees and found their range to match soil moisture maps.

Wonderful presentation thank you.

G. maculatum is beautiful with its spring blooms, but it is a slow colonizer and therefore unsuitable as a ground cover unless you want to be weeding a lot.

The foxes do pretty good work in Lockport Illinois. At least 3-4 times a week I'll see one trotting down the street w/ a rabbit in their mouth while on my early morning dog walk. I had one in my garden this season that my dogs got but otherwise I have had zero damage.

I actually love chokecherries/aronia berries - I always have to compete with the birds in order to get some for myself. No I wouldn't have a bowl of aronia berries alone, but add a few to a bowl of strawberries to enhance the texture, bake them into muffins, mix with yoghurt, stir into applesauce as you're cooking the apples. There are a lot of ways to enjoy them and give yourself a huge boost of antioxidants!

I got excited about supporting native bees and attempted to house them in cardboard tubes. That was not successful for me. Now, I am leaving flower stems for them because lots of them visit my garden. This week I unearthed a yellow jacket nest. They stung me ten times and literally chased me into the garage. Now I see them hovering in the grass nearby as I work in the yard, but they seem undisturbed by my presence. I’m okay with their nest site and give them a wide berth.

Thank you so much for all your content - so informative and your enthusiasm & love of all things native is infectious 😊 This series is very timely, as I’m already thinking next Spring I’d like to remove some non-native, invasive shrubs installed by the previous owners.

Very revealing on elderberry.. I think I had some raw juice and boy , I did not feel well.. I stopped using it..

Are all these shades loving shrubs?

Love these videos

Wish you would show seedlings and young plants as well as adult plants in bloom. Using seed from Prairie Moon is a way to have lots of natives but I do not know what all the "babies" look like and I don't want to pull out what I have grown from seed. Also, they don't all bloom the first year so plants get mixed up.

I’m in zone 6B. Massachusetts. Send me some seeds. I’ll plant anyone you want. Haha.

There is milkweed along some of Ohio roads. I planted 3 types of native milkweed in my yard. Haven't seen a monarch this year. Saw one last year. One yellow swallow tail butterfly this year. Are we just too late? What to do?

You forgot a REALLY good one, which is Allegheny Spurge. Obviously, Japanese Spurge is popular because it's a low, dense, attractive evergreen groundcover that thrives in partial to full shade, deer don't like it much, and it doesn't mind banks, clay soil, roots, etc. Well, Allegheny Spurge is native to the Appalachians, and everything I just said of Japanese Spurge is true of Allegheny Spurge, EXCEPT #1- it's not quite as aggressive (so it's less of a problem to manage its borders), and #2- it's not TOTALLY evergreen...in northern climates, its leaves get sort of brown/shriveled in the winter, though in southern climates like Hardiness Zones 7 through 9, it actually can often remain (almost) evergreen through milder winters. Anyway, it's a great native groundcover that gets overlooked a lot. For some reason, it's hard to find in greenhouses and online. But a few places are starting to carry it now, and it's done great in my front yard, which is mature 50/50 pine/decidious trees of clay, rooty soil with slope and tons of shade, in the mountains of North Georgia. We have tons of deer in my community, and they barely touch the stuff.

Yeah the monarchs are absent. Worried they'll be gone by 2030

Thanks for the presentation. I'm always interested in shade plants. Particularly ground cover. I'm actually in western PA suburbs and deer are a problem because of excessive numbers across the state. However, they are intentionally overpopulated by game commission since deer hunters never satiated unless population is 4 times what the area can sustain. In this area they actually pay the police to shoot the deer. I like deer, but I also like forests and there is severe overpopulation.

I hope you two ladies are having a great summer. ❤

Hi there, I’m newer to the native plant scene. I’m interested in growing Leadplant in my garden but it’s not Native in my region (Georgia) however am zone8. Is this worth planting in my garden or should I focus on another plant that is native to Georgia? Given it is a keystone plant, it has more of an appeal to me and would love any input. Also, do you recommend any online stores to purchase seeds? Thank you, Heather

Love the flowers

I recently discovered this channel. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT ❤️!! from western lake county IL. Thank you!!

Thank you!

The butterfly you asked about looks like one of the fritillaries, maybe the great spangled fritillary.

Thank you, great information.

IN CANADA ONTARIO, WE HAVE TO CUT OUR LAWN!!ILLEGAL TO GROW WILDFLOWERS FRONT OF YOUR HOUSE!!I HAVE GOT A WARNING FROM OTTAWA CITY!!!

The additional information you provided was very helpful. Thank you

I keep waiting to see caterpillars on mine!!!