Garden ponds are challenging to create and maintain but very rewarding. Any water feature in the garden will help attract wildlife, even a bird bath. Adding native plants to the pond provides habitat for aquatic insects and perches for birds. In my pond I have Lizards tail which has graceful arched white flowers and smells like licorice when you crush the leaves. For inch wide white flowers try, Sagitaria, also know an katness, and the roots can be eaten. My favorite pond plant, Thalia, the wild canna has exciting purple spiral seed heads and huge leaves. Soft rush provides upright structure and can help support other plants. All pond plants can be aggressive and it is best to plant them in containers in the pond to keep them from taking over. If you do plant them directly in the soil they are great for erosion control. I like to keep plants around the pond edge short so I can view the birds bathing in the pond. Wildlife also feels more comfortable if they are not worried about predators lurking in the heavy vegetation nearby. Good plants for the pond edge are mist flower with it’s dense root system to keep dirt out of the pond. Wild strawberry likes dry soil but will do well on the berm and drape it’s tendrils into the pond. Sensitive fern does well around the edge of a shady pond. Birds love a tree, shrub, or other perch nearby where they can preen after a bath. The mosquitoes are always the challenge with water because we want to keep them out. For very small ponds mosquito dunks can solve the problem since they are said to be safe for birds. Larger ponds can use fish or fountains or both. Using fish has the downside of the fish eating everything in the pond including dragonfly larva, tadpoles, and other desirable invertebrates. A fountain requires power that may involve hiring an electrician and digging a trench across the garden. Solar panels can provide enough power for a fountain but can be expensive to buy and may look out of place in a natural garden. The most recent pond addition to my garden is placed right outside my kitchen window to be easily enjoyed during morning coffee and many other times throughout the day. We even have a camera set up at the window to catch any action we miss ourselves. To decide exactly where to place the pond I used a hose to outline where the pond would go and then went into my kitchen to look out the window and see if it was in the right place. Using a hose is a great way to outline any new garden bed or feature before getting out the shovel. I wanted the pond to be centered in the window, be completely visible, look natural, and to hide me from view of pond visitors. It took about 10 trips in and out of the house but I finally was happy. When digging out the hole I used a board across the pond with a level on it to make sure the sides were of even height. Pond pots need ledges to set on so I put ledges at the different heights of my pond plant pots. In the middle of the pond is a deep hole that the pump can sit in. Our pond has a rubber liner because our soil does not hold water naturally. Try setting everything out in the pond before putting down the liner to make sure there is space. During the winter ponds require special maintenance during freezing weather. Ponds with fish must be deep enough that the fish have space below any ice. In the winter the pump needs to be kept clear of ice and make sure there is enough water to keep circulating. Or turn the pump off during the winter and either winterize it or bring it inside so water doesn't freeze and burst the hoses. Winter wildlife really appreciate running water. Birds still need to bath and will crowd the fountain on a warm winter day. A heater can be added to the pond or birdbath during the winter to keep it free of ice. The electrical source for the pond is located just across the path so I just burred the cable in a plastic pipe about an inch under ground and across the path. I put it in the pipe to protect it from my accidentally shoveling it. If you have an electrician put in your pond wiring they will make sure the electrical wiring is deep and safely protected. We estimated how many gallons our pond held and then bought a pump sized for it. We also have a supplemental UV light filter to prevent algae growth. My pond has two places where the water goes into the pond. In the deep in there is a little fountain that shoots up about an inch. The fountain disturbs the water to keep the mosquitoes out. At the shallow end of the pond a hose spills over a rock. The birds love to bath in the shallow water on the rock. This little pond is a very popular place in my garden. A robin and a mocking bird both claim it as their personal bath. Raccoons, woodchucks, and squirrels come for a drink. The mud dauber wasps collect mud at the edges to build their nests. Hundred of tinny tadpoles hide in the submerged pots and frogs sing nearby at night. I really enjoy the extra life this small addition has brought to my garden.

With native plant gardening it is all about right plant, right place, but sometimes there is a difficult place and we don’t know what to plant. Bellow is a list of the most commonly difficult garden problem spaces and some native plants to try for each. I know there are many other plants that could fit into many of these categories but I tried to pick the two best in my experience. If you have any suggestions for additions to the list just comment below. For native alternatives to common invasive species check out this link https://grownative.org/native-plant-info/alternative-species/. To provide an instant screen plant grey dogwood and hazelnut. For evergreen plant eastern red cedar and sedges. To cover the house foundation plant wild hydrangeas and columbine. If you want something that smells really good plant golden currant and phlox. To cover a steep slope plant fragrant sumac or christmas fern. To drape over a wall plant cliff goldenrod and wine cup. For the edge of the gravel driveway plant rose venbena and prairie dropseed. To fill in the muddy spot in the yard plant button bush and mist flower. For a lawn alternative plant sedges or wild strawberry. To repel mosquitoes plant slender mountain mint and bee balm. A quickly spreading shade ground cover plant golden groundsel or wild ginger. For that area between the sidewalk and street plant wild strawberry or pussy toes. For between stepping stones try path rush and pussy toes. For a formal border hedge try shinning blue star or prairie dropseed. For fall color plant fragrant sumac and little bluestem. To add new leaf textures and colors plant rattlesnake master or solomons seal. For winter interest plant ostrich fern or wild hydrangea. To grow in heavy clay soil or sub soil after construction plant blue wild indigo and black eyed susan. For early spring flowers plant bloodroot and bluebells. If you want neighborhood association pleasers plant prairie dropseed and cliff goldenrod. For morning shade and afternoon sun try purple coneflower and golden groundsel. For erosion control plant fox sedge or palm sedge. To grow a vine on a trellis try coral honeysuckle or leather flower clematis. For an edible native plant try passion flower and wild strawberry. For a long blooming flower plant garden phlox or purple coneflower. To grow in a pot try calamint or Missouri evening primrose To attract butterflies plant wild hydragea and aromatic aster. To attract hummingbirds plant columbine and cardinal flower. To attract gold finches plant coreopsis and coneflower. To attract bees plant aromatic aster and wild hybiscus.

If you can only plant one native plant in your yard, plant an Oak. There is a native oak for every soil condition and growth habitat desired. Oak trees are wonderful habitat for wildlife with nesting spots for birds and leafy food for insects. Even heavy caterpillar munching does not phase most oaks and is barely noticeable ascetically. Good choices for Oak for a wetter location are the bur oak and white oak, good choices for a drier location are the Chinquapin oak and the Shumard oak. Any oak will provide habitat and be the foundation of a healthy ecosystem. An oak will need a lot of space to grow to mature size needing about 50 ft around with no obstructions like driveways, buildings, or power lines. If an oak is too large for the space, plant a shrub. Plum, Buttonbush, Buckthorn, Witchhazel, are easy to grow and great for supporting multiple pollinators. If your goal is to provide habitat and beauty but you only have space for a small tree plant an American plum, Prunus americana. Plum can grow to a 35ft tall tree in average garden soil. Plum will tolerate full sun to full shade just as long as it has enough space. The early white flowers bloom in April and are an important source of food for emerging insects. Plum also makes plums in Aug and Sept that are red and edible and will be eaten by the birds and other wildlife. Plum is the second most popular food source for caterpillars after oaks. A plum can be a beautiful focal point for a yard in any season and the wildlife will love it too. Looking for something even smaller? Vernal witch hazel, Hamamelis vernalis, is great for a spot is full sun or partial shade. Witch hazel is a small tree that can grow up to 15 ft tall and wide, it is easy to prune to be more tree or shrub like. It’s moisture tolerance is high so it can live in a low spot in the yard or in average moisture. The important thing about witch hazel is that it is the first plant to bloom each year beginning to bloom in January through March. The fragrant yellow flowers open warm winter days to provide a necessary nectar source for any insects that have emerged early. The flowers have the ability to freeze and them bloom again as the weather fluctuates. Without this important food source many early spring bees would starve to death. If the area you are planting in is a wet low sunny spot, plant a button bush, Cephalanthus occidentalis. Button bush likes full sun to part shade, it grows well on the edge of woods and the edge of ponds. It is a large round plant growing up to 10ft in every direction that branches sometimes go off in interesting directions but it can be pruned to stay nice and round if that is desired. When the button bush flowers it is guaranteed to stop your friends dead in their tracks to ask you what is the cool crazy flower. Pictured above, the blooms are cream white in July and August and look like an exploding firework with a dense round ball at the center and many stamens sicking out. The bees and especially swallowtail butterfly just love this bloom and will spend all day circling around each flower. If the planting area is dry and sunny it is a good spot for Carolina Buckthorn, Rhamnus caroliniana. Buckthorn likes full to part sun and average to low moisture conditions. It becomes a small tree with a very regular round shape usually maxing out at 15 feet tall and wide. Don’t let the name be misleading since the plant doesn’t actually have thorns. The flowers bloom in May through June and are not large or showy but profuse. When a buckthorn is blooming they are easy to notice because of the heavenly smell and the audible buzzing of the millions of pollinators. Throughout the summer buckthorn sports red berries until the birds eat them all and it also has a showy yellow fall color which looks great with the berries. When buying a tree it is ok to buy the small size. If a tree is grown in a pot for 3 years it will not be as happy as the tree that was planted in the ground 3 years ago. Trees need space for their roots and as soon as they start their life in the ground as possible, the healthier they will be in the long run. Remember with trees, it is always about the long run. The same goes with flowers, go ahead and buy the small size. In three years there will be no difference between the plant that was planted as a gallon or as a plug. The only reason to buy larger plants is if it is being planted into an established planting and may be smothered otherwise. Tried and true native flowers for starting your garden are Wild columbine, Lanceleaf coreopsis, purple coneflower, cliff goldenrod, and aromatic aster. Columbine blooms early and provides food for migrating hummingbirds. Coreopsis and coneflower bloom in the spring and through summer and the booms attract pollinators but I love watching the gold finches go crazy over the seed heads all summer long. Goldenrods and asters are fall bloomers and provide that important food source for fall migrants so that they can have the fuel to travel or hibernate. These five species are all comfortable in the average full sun garden and will grow and spread on their own. As the plant reseeds use the babies to start new flower beds or trade plants with your friends to get new species. It is ok to start your garden small, even with only one plant. Each year you can add another plant and your garden will be easy to maintain. The plants I listed above are easy to grow and will not take over. They are all important pieces to a garden that is home to wildlife. Start small and go wild.

Once the native plant garden has been planted, the following year is the challenging task of identifying all of the baby plants coming up in the bed and deciding if they are seedlings of the natives or weeds coming into the garden. Many baby seedlings have seed leaves when they first come up and look nothing like their parents. Often just giving a mystery plant more time to develop will reveal it’s secret identity. There are a few good resources to use for seedling ID. The Seedling ID guide for native prairie plants sold by the Missouri Department of Conservation is a small flip book with photos of common prairie plants in the seedling stage. Grow Native also has a seedling ID list on their website at https://grownative.org/native-plant-info/seedling-identification/ . For weed ID I usually use the University of MO Extension site, https://weedid.missouri.edu/ . The Missouri Native Plant Society facebook page is also a good source for getting plant photo ID. When growing plants from seed it is helpful to look up what the seedlings look like before hand so that they are not accidentally weeded out or weeds allowed to grow under a mistaken identity. Even when germinating seeds in pots sometimes a weed seed will show up and crowd out the native seedling. A few things to look for when identifying a seedling. Feel the stem, square stems are mints, to tell grasses and sedges apart feel for edges on the stem of sedges. Does the foliage have a scent? The first two leaves to emerge are the seed leaves, these leave will not look like the parent so look for leaves above the first set when comparing to neighboring plants. Remember that seeds can flow downhill, so compare the seedling to plants uphill and upwind. Each year seedling ID will become easier as the gardener become more familiar with the native plants in the garden and the invasive weeds to keep out. The sooner a weed can be identified and removed, the easier it is to uproot. In the fall remove seeds from native plants that seed too aggressively in the garden to save work pulling out seedlings later. Removing seeds also removes food for birds so judge what is more important, to lower maintenance or provide food.

I have a neighbor on one side that loves my native garden and is always asking about my flowers and is eager to try any plants I give her. On the other side they are not so thrilled. They are afraid of the bees that visit my flowers and would like me to keep them out of their yard. They see my yard as an unkempt mess that threatens their perfect lawn. I wish that both my neighbors would love my garden as much as I do and see the beauty in it. However, I must put effort into educating and passifying my unhappy neighbor to keep peace in the neighborhood. When starting a native plant garden often the beginning stages can be ugly while beds are prepared and plants establish. Talk to your neighbors about what you’re doing and why. I like to bring them some of my old plant catalogs as well as information I have picked up from Grow Native to leave for them to read. Listen to their concerns and try to compromise, especially on their border. Invite Bring Conservation Home to speak at a neighborhood meeting. BCH has a very informative presentation about why native gardening is good for conservation and this is a good way to get more neighbors into native gardening. Once your native garden is established have a mini garden tour for the neighborhood. Bring your neighbors into the garden so they can see first hand how beautiful it is and why it is important. Put up an information station near the street with native plant info and free seeds. Also, put up a sign that is visible from the street stating that this is a native plant landscape. Pre-made professional signs are available from Wild Ones, Monarch Waystation, and Bring Conservation Home. There are a few design elements that are good for pleasing neighbors. It is important to make your garden look cared for and not like it was just left to grow wild. Wide paths, boarders and fences define beds and give everything an orderly look. Always keep sidewalks clear and don’t let tall plants or shrubs flop into the neighbors driveway. Plant the front yard in a more traditional planting and save the crazy natural plantings for the back yard. Add signs of human use to the garden such as sculptures, benches, and patios with potted plants. Neighbors can have many concerns about a native landscape. People are worried about wild looking areas attracting bees, mosquitoes, snakes, raccoons, mice, etc. I’m happy to invite all these creatures into my yard but I try to reassure the neighbors that they will not bother them. Neighbors also worry about weed seeds and leaves blowing into their yard. Try to keep your seeds and leaves on site where they can enrich the soil. Some people may also be worried about allergens such as rag weed. Educate the neighbor about the difference between rag weed and goldenrod that is not a common allergen. Some times a plant should be removed or cut back before it seeds to keep an allergic neighbor from being miserable. Remember that we are ambassadors for native plant landscaping. Each neighbor that we can get to fall in love with a native garden is a step in the right direction.

Many gardeners start out wanting to garden for wildlife and have a garden where all creatures feel welcome. The first time deer come to a garden is a must see experience as they gracefully walk towards the garden. Then they eat all the flowers and the romance is over! Keeping deer out of the garden can be difficult once they develop a taste for the plants or habitually visit the bird feeders. 10 ft fencing might not even be tall enough to stop a deer. One gardener I know keeps deer out by having two rows of fencing 6 ft apart. The deer do not have a clear landing area after they jump the first fence and can’t jump far enough to clear both fences at once. Another method is to use an electrified wire. Using a thin wire that the deer have trouble seeing but they will still hit with their bodies as they walk towards the garden will spook them. Individual trees can be protected from deer rubbing by placing several metal stakes around the trunk to intercept the horns before they get to the bark. There are also many deer repelling sprays that can be sprayed around the perimeter of the garden or directly on the plants. The problem with many of these sprays is that it also repels people and washes away with the first rain. Hanging bars of Irish spring soap around the garden works for some gardeners. Planting plants that are deer resistant can be a trial and error experience. Individual deer seem to develop a preference for different plants and tastes will also change depending on the season and how hungry the deer are. In general deer do not like strongly scented plants and plants with thorns. Deer have a very sensitive sense of smell and are offended by many odoriferous plants. Try plants such as mints, bee balm, yarrow, lizards tail, hyssop, onions, garlic and other plants that have a scent when the leaves are crushed. Deer also avoid milkweeds, dog banes, and blue stars that make an unpalatable sap. Cactus tend to be avoided by deer as well as plants that are hairy or very course like rattlesnake master, ferns, hibiscus, senna, and verbena. Outsmarting a deer in the garden may be almost impossible. Many times it is best to plant a variety of species, see what the deer leave alone, and use those species as the foundation of the garden. Special plants can be tucked away among plants the deer avoid or brought up close to the house for protection. Sometimes a garden will only need temporary protection until the plants get established by using fencing and sprays for the first year or two. Most native plants will tolerate deer brows, even being eaten down to the ground, as long as the plant has been able to establish a strong root system. Using a variety of deterrents to keep the deer on their toes and feeling unwelcome in the garden is the best long term way to deal with deer.

The common name purple poppy mallow is more widely used but since it is neither a poppy nor a mallow I prefer the name wine cup since it is more descriptive. The deep wine magenta color of the bloom is a nice contrast to the many yellows of early summer. Wine cup has a delicate one inch flower head and blooms May through August. This species prefers full sun and dry to average garden soil. One of the neat things about wine cup are the seeds, be sure to look for them after the bloom. The seeds are arranged in a wheel of little wedges like a cheese cake. When the seeds are brown and fall off the plant easily into your hand they are ready to collect. Wine cup stems are trailing and look great hanging over a rock wall. Wine cup is commonly used as a low ground cover since the stems lay across the ground. The stems do not root so no need to worry about aggressive spreading. Ground cover plantings are not dense enough to choke out weeds and the fragile stems can sometimes be challenging to weed around. In the wild, wine cup uses other neighboring plants to support its floppy stems. Mixing in with a savanna or prairie planting wine cup flowers will pop up here and there between other plants. There are three species of wine cup that you might run into in a native plant landscape. They have slightly different growth habits and bloom times. However, most garden centers will only have one species available to choose from. Callirhoe involucrata, purple poppy-mallow Callirhoe digitata, fringed poppy mallow Callirhoe bushii, Bush's poppy mallow I have a soft spot for Bush's poppy mallow since I did some research on conservation of this threatened plant in college. Whenever using rare plants in your landscape be sure that they come from a reliable source and have not been collected from a wild population. Plants and seeds collected from the wild can threaten wild populations. Digging up wild plants disturbs the soil, harming neighboring plants and adding empty space where weeds can come in and invade. Collecting seeds from the wild can harm a population by decreasing the number of new individuals and removing genetic diversity.

The pipevine swallowtail butterfly, Battus philenor, is a large iridescent blue black butterfly with small tails and orange spots. The caterpillars of this butterfly can be found on the pipevine, Aristolochia, from where it gets it's name. The pipevine is a toxic plant but the pipevine caterpillars benefit from the toxin by ingesting it and storing in in their bodies so they too are toxic throughout their lives. The larval caterpillars can be found on the underside of the leaves and usually hang out in groups for safety. If you poke one, you will notice that they also have yellow horns which will expand out of their head. Our native pipevine, the Dutchman's pipe, Aristolochia tomentosa, is named for the pipe like flowers that appear in May through June. The blooms are small and concealed within the foliage so make sure to inspect your plant carefully. When the flower has been fertilized it expands into a large seed capsule filled with very orderly and tightly packed seeds. The pipevine is a woody vine that can easily overwhelm a trellis if it is not pruned. It also has the bad habit of popping up in other locations like many of our vines. If you have a suitable location this vine is an excellent choice with it's lush growth. Put it somewhere that you visit often so you are sure to poke through the leaves to find the flowers in spring and caterpillars in summer. Bring a caterpillar inside and watch it turn into a butterfly with your children. The swallowtail butterflies will be easy to spot in your garden and you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you supported them throughout their life.

The luna moth (Actias luna) is beautiful green with a four inch wingspan. They are nocturnal and attracted to porch lights. It is wonderful when they land on the window in the evening so we can have a nice look. Adult moths only live about a week and do not eat so they are not attracted by nectar plants into the garden. The moth is only looking for love and a place to lay eggs.  The preferred host plants are trees including walnut, hickory, sumac, persimmon, and sweet gum. When the adult selects a tree they lay around 500 little brown eggs in batches of ten or less on the leaves which hatch into caterpillars. The caterpillars live through five instars that each last about a week. All this time they are munching away on their tree and storing up energy for metamorphosis. When the caterpillar finally forms a cocoon it uses dried leaves and silk and rests on the ground in the leaf litter below the tree. When the weather is favorable the adult moth emerges from the cocoon to find a mate. When you are gardening for the luna moth be sure to plant their favorite host plants. Do not buy plants that are treated with insecticides or use insecticides in your garden. Especially for the luna moth, don't throw away or mulch the leaves under your tree or you may destroy the cocoon. I hope you make space in your garden so you can enjoy this special moth.

Many of you planted milkweed (Asclepias) plants and have noticed their plump crescent shaped pods in your garden. If you would like to increase your milkweed population or grow a few plants to give to friends, this is how to do it; As soon as the pod begins to split is the best time to collect the seeds. If you pick them right when the pod splits but before they fluff out it is easier to separate the seed from the fluff by holding the fluffy part and scraping down with your fingernail to separate the seeds. Do this in a place without a breeze or your seeds will blow away. Inspect your seeds for insects and remove them. For best results give your seeds 3 months of cold moist stratification before sowing. To do this place seeds in a plastic zip-lock bag or plastic container with a tight fitting lid. Label the seeds on the outside of the container with the name and date. Add about equal volume of clean sand, peat moss, or sphagnum. Add water to moisten and then mix contents. Firmly squeeze any excess water from the soil mix. Store the container for three months in your refrigerator before attempting to germinate. Check the seeds occasionally to make sure they are not drying out. You are now ready to germinate your seeds. Prepare your pots with potting mix or clear a plot in your garden. Sprinkle the continents of your refrigerated container along the top of your soil. Try to space your seeds to have a few per inch. Cover very lightly with more soil, just a sprinkle. Clearly label and date the seeds in a way that the writing will not be washed away by water. Keep this area moist until the plants are established.

Don't miss opportunities to collect seeds in your garden. Having some seeds on hand is convenient for establishing new beds or trading seeds with friends. I try to collect a small amount of each garden species each year. Seeds loose their viability over time so it is best to replenish each year. I store my seeds in small brown coin envelopes but regular or homemade envelopes work fine. Be sure to mark the date on the seed packet so old seeds can be disposed of. Some plants are very easy to collect like coreopsis and columbine. For these I hold a clean tub beneath the plant and just lean the seed head over and pat it to let the seeds fall into the tub. Many beetles etc will also fall into the tub but they will leave if the seeds are laid out in the sun for a bit. Fluffy seeds like asters and liatris can have their heads clipped off and put them into a paper bag. Then I close up the bag and give it a good shaking to free the seeds. The seeds will fall to the bottom and can be poured out. Another way to collect seeds is to cut off the entire plant. I keep them loosely in a trashcan until they have dried. I strip off the stems as much as I can and then stomp the whole mess into a mulch. The seeds will be mixed in with lots of debris but can be sown directly all together. Some times the seeds can be screened or winnowed out of the mix. Remember that you don't need to collect every seed. There is no need to fuss around cleaning every little seed off of a plant, leave some for the wildlife. When propagating the seeds I use this propagation guide

Lizard’s tail (Saururus cernuus) Lizard’s tail gets it’s name from the white drooping flower stalk you can find June through September. The flowers attract small insects like bees, flies, and beetles. It’s arrow-shaped leaves grow on emergent stems that can grow to two feet tall. Lizard’s tail colonizes wet soil. This plant likes moist conditions in full to partial sun – pond edges, water gardens, rain gardens. I suggest growing it in a container in your pond to prevent escape.  What makes lizard's tail special to me is the way the plant smells. It has a licorice scent when you break a leaf or disturb the soil, which is a nice break from the anaerobic smells you usually get when messing around with pond plants.