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The Plant Native

If native plants can plant themselves, we can easily plant them, too. Let's plant native!

10/28/2026

Let me tell you a horror story called: BURNING BUSH.

If you're on the eastern side of North America right now, you've probably spotted bright, nail-polish-red bushes. They are often clumped in grocery store parking lots and corporate landscaping, or sprinkled in suburban yards. (I had one in my own yard when I moved in.)

WHY IS THIS PLANT "BAD"? Because of its seeds. Burning bushes produce *hundreds of seeds*, each with a 30-80% germination rate. Birds eat the seeds, and then 💩 them out. Those seeds turn into baby burning bushes. When spring rolls around, burning bushes leaf out much earlier than most native plants. Their leaves block light from the forest floor, killing native ephemeral flowers and other native plants.

Do you have one of these? Get out the clippers, saw, and contractor bags, now. Cut it down and bag it up, put it alongside your regular trash (not compost).

And then head over to a native nursery and grab a red chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) which is native to basically all of North America, has great bright red foliage, and gorgeous white flowers in the spring.

Let your neighbors know: this plant is a nightmare!

🍁

10/28/2026

Get out and see some witch hazel flowers! Here's what to look for:

Spooky plant week continues with common witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)! It's blooming right now into November. Get up close to see the tiny, bright yellow flowers and make sure to smell them, too. They smell like a cross between oranges, gingerbread, and a blast of fresh air (IMO). Drop your scent description in the comments!

Another native species, spring witch hazel (Hamamelis vernalis) blooms in January into March. Both species love fun sun to part sun and well drained sites. I highly recommend doing what I did: plant them where you can see them from your kitchen window. You can enjoy them as the garden is winding down, or just before it wakes up again in the spring.

Our native guides digs into both species with LOTS of pictures:
https://theplantnative.com/plant/witchhazel/

10/24/2026

Fall 2026 trend report from the The High Line : ombré, highlighter yellow, and pops of color with red berries.

Every look is a native plant, and every one of them works beautifully in your backyard. Winterberry, black gum, redbud and aromatic aster all deliver twice the goodness: once for you and once for the birds and pollinators when you leave them standing in the fall and winter.

Which look are you adding to your fall garden? Find what’s native near you at the link in bio.

10/22/2026

Real question: why isn’t this in every parking lot?
That pink cloud is a native grass, and it looks like this every October. Purple muhly grass loves hot, sunny spots where the soil drains fast, like gravel edges, dry slopes or that bare boring strip along your driveway. Kudos to for the parking lot and gardening inspo here.

Deer usually leave it alone, and after the first year it’s drought tolerant. Cut it back in late winter, and that’s it. That’s the whole gardening to-do list to get it to look like this.

It’s native from Massachusetts to Florida and west to Texas, so if that’s your area, this is your sign: PLANT SOME. Full profile at the link in bio.

nativegrasses

10/15/2026

What's your favorite "bad" plant name? Here are my entries. Why are we calling it BEARDTONGUE when we could be calling it American snapdragons?

Common names like these can change. Let's see if we can update some of these in our lifetimes. These native plants deserve better copywriting.

Read our full list of terrors:
https://theplantnative.com/guides/terrible-names-beautiful-plants/

10/08/2026

I love native plants so much I went back to college.

I’m working on the Native Perennial Garden Design Certificate at Temple University Ambler — Class is mostly outside, even in the snow. Every week we learn a new group of plants, I make a zillion flashcards, and then there’s an ID test.

It’s hard and I LOVE it.

I’ll share what I learn here in plain language, so you can plant a gorgeous yard without going back to school—unless you want to join me! Shout out to my fellow classmates Kat William Hiland and ri for making it extra fun.

plantnerd

10/07/2026

Skip the Zoom calls! Cancel the meeting! GET OUTSIDE! Don’t miss the pollinators gorging themselves as the last call lights are flickered before winter arrives. It’s prime aster, goldenrod, and snakeroot o’clock for most of the eastern seaboard. Plant some today!

10/03/2026

Blue is the unicorn of native flowers: rare, wild, and worth hunting for.
The real ones (not purple imposters) pair beautifully with common colors that make them pop.

What's your favorite native blue flower?

💙

10/02/2026

Every blueberry you've ever eaten traces back to one 1911 partnership that proved native plants could have it all.
Fruit, wildlife, fall color—zero tradeoffs.

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