Second in the ‘Invasive plants you might find at garden centers’ series. Nandina domestica. Native to East Asia, this plant was brought to the US for ornamental purposes. Colorful, evergreen foliage and prolific berries. Spreads aggressively by rhizomes and chokes out native plants. Still widely used in the landscape trade and requested by clients. A lot of folks I talk to don’t know it’s invasive or that the berries are toxic to birds. The variety, Gulfstream, pictured here is cultivated for its sterility, claiming its does not produce berries. This is such a tough call! For gardeners and landscapers (me included) the temptation is to do what makes clients happy and sometimes just saying yes and using the sterile cultivar. But the last couple weeks I’ve been thinking a lot about how we understand something to be beautiful. By using sterile invasives are we promoting the idea that these plants are the only beautiful option? That there is no stand in for Nandina domestica? I don’t feel that way. Hypericum ‘Sunburst’ amazing native with smievergreen fall and winter red/purple hues. Diervilla sessifolia, yellow flowers and fall color. Ilex verticillata great for pollinators and red berries all winter. These plants are gorgeous, but are also beautiful because they create food for insects and birds. Double beauty! Reaching for native plants isn’t always the easy option but opens us up to see our landscapes and relationship to our gardens in a new light. #invasiveplants #garden #ashevillegarden #ashevilleplantpeople #plantnative #wnc #wncmountains #pollinatorgarden #birdhabitat

First in a series I’m calling ‘Invasive Plant Material Your Nursery Will Happily Sell You’. Here is Akebia quinata flower and foliage. A ‘fast growing’ vine that will invade your landscape and choke out other plants. Available in many nurseries and quite a cool flower with a chocolate scent, hence the common name ‘Chocolate Vine’. Steer clear of this one. We have been painting the stumps with Tryclopir after removal. Not sure yet of its effectiveness. The last photo is Akebia attacking a burning bush. Invasives on invasives. #invasiveplants #wnc #plantnatives #asheville #wncmountains #spring #springblooms

I love that the soft and fuzzy hair on a plant is called pubescence. It makes me think about the emergent leaves of an Oakleaf hydrangea as an awkward high school mustache. The fuzz on the seed pods of Celandine Poppy as early armpit hair. There is so much this time of year that I sometimes forget to look at it all and it’s tiny newness. Young beginnings and pubescent fertility. Stopping from the busy run-around yesterday I watched a squirrel cup a tulip in its little hands. I thought it was going to eat the flower head, but instead she stuck her whole nose in side the flower. #asheville #spring #wnc #wncmountains #ashevillegarden #

We are so excited for the native plant conference this year! They haven’t posted the schedule yet, but registration is April 1st! Come if you can and nerd out! It’s always inspiring! Also I cannot remember who I borrowed this flier from. @monarchgardensbenjaminvogt or @preston_montague thank you to whoever made it! Hope to see you all there too!#cullowheenativeplantconference #nativeplants #nativeplantsofnorthamerica #nativeplantsofthesoutheast #asheville #wnc

Daffodil season! I am loving the spring containers at @nestasheville this year. Daffodils are ‘Monal’ and ‘Pride of Lions’ #asheville #daffodils #wnc #spring blooms #ashevillelocal

Male cones on a Slash Pine (Pinus elliottii) in South Carolina. It was fun to be able to see these on all the young trees in the understory. At home, in Asheville I don’t always ‘see’ the pines. I’d forgotten how cones are their ‘flowering’ mechanism and while not considered a flower, this pollen producer is just as beautiful. I meant to take a photos of the almost perfect female parts. The pine cones of a Slash Pine are round, robust and prolific. Does your mom collect pines cones like mine did? I imagine her rummaging around in the palm brush for the best ones. #huntingislandstatepark #slashpine #southcarolina #nativetrees

Do you still have holiday wreaths sitting outside your back door? Don’t throw them out! We will recycle them into new wreaths next year. This was our first season hosting a wreath making fundraiser and hoping to do it again next year. A bunch of rad women came out and everyone’s wreaths were gorgeous! If you want to donate wreaths reach out. I will come pick them up. #asheville #ashevillenc #wncrecycles #ashevillelocal #ashevillenorthcarolina #ashevillesmallbusiness #ashevillechristmas #ashevilleartist

The first time I saw this sculpture at Beaver Lake, it felt like a hallucination. I drive all day for my job and see storm debris everywhere. In some places it’s still piled so high it feels like you’re in a tunnel. It’s exhausting and sometimes feels like we will never be able to come back from Helene. But that day, in the middle of a field was a pile of broken limbs that felt it was full of light. These are sculptures made by Tony Bayles and volunteers. Around the holidays they collected storm debris to create these awesome displays around Asheville. The first one here, at Beaver Lake is Phoenix themed and the second, which is downtown, is a stage. I love the way they invert our collective experience of living in the visible destruction of the WNC forest and inspire us to reimagine the future. There are so many trees lost. It has felt especially heavy to see massive oak trees laid down on the mountain. A really interesting post from @april.euphoria spoke to the quantity of oaks lost in their survey as an arborist. Now homeowners are fearful and understandably removing healthy trees for fear of them being too close to the house. Is that the right tactic? How do we move forward to protect ourselves and our ecosystem? Sitting there by the Phoenix installation, I thought it must be a third way. #asheville #helene #wnc #recovery #natureart #natureartist #hurricanehelene #pheonix #renewal #publicart #ashevillenc #ashevilleartist

Rudbeckia subtomentosa ‘Henry Ellers’ is perpetually a surprise. Also a sweet toad today. #swannanoa

Perks of a long day- Viburnum berries, late summer annuals, shade gardens, striped Oak Worm Moth and a delicious Port wine @tableavl @tablebaravl #asheville #ashevillenc #edibleasheville #beercity #wnc #wncmountains #nativeplantsofnorthamerica #plantaday