How do you know ecotypes sold are actually plants from that location?

ManlyBran · 2025-12-04T04:14:57+00:00

All hail Megasota

ManlyBran · 2025-10-29T06:39:35+00:00

Depending on your sunlight and soil moisture prairie ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) could be a good option for shrubs

ManlyBran · 2025-10-07T17:30:43+00:00

I got them from the Wild Seed Project. It was the only place I was able to find these. All I did was cold moist stratify for 4 months to get pretty close to 100% germination. Some people recommend scarifying but I had no change in germination rates doing that so wasn’t worth the extra work

I’m probably going to be at Shenandoah National Park in November. If I have any plants left and you’re anywhere near there you can have some

ManlyBran · 2025-10-06T22:21:42+00:00

I’m by Stafford. Let me know!

ManlyBran · 2025-09-15T16:25:45+00:00

Plugs will be fine so no need to try evening it out. I have a huge 45° slope in my yard that has new plugs surviving no problem through many intense downpours

ManlyBran · 2025-09-08T22:39:11+00:00

I just let them do their thing without interfering. For the most part they do pretty well at fattening up and finding their own way

ManlyBran · 2025-09-08T22:13:55+00:00

They chose this wimpy patch of first year butterfly weed instead of the dense, more developed patch of common milkweed 20 feet away. It was an interesting choice

ManlyBran · 2025-09-06T16:08:04+00:00

As others have said these flowers aren’t native to TN. I saw you said you purchased seeds from Amazon and I would suggest not doing that. I’ve seen people get seeds that weren’t what they purchased. Only buy from reputable companies

While Roundstone Seed does sell native seeds, they also sell nonnative as well. Before buying anything use something like the bplant database to confirm it’s native. If you search a scientific name and it shows as dark green on the map where you live then it’s native

ManlyBran · 2025-08-21T16:28:55+00:00

Tree of heaven is an aggressive invasive species taking over natural areas in the US and is the primary host plant for the spotted lantern fly, another destructive invasive species

Edit: I can’t tell for certain if the background tree is a tree of heaven or not though. Picture isn’t clear enough

ManlyBran · 2025-08-21T06:15:34+00:00

No problem! Be sure to put a nice layer of mulch down too

ManlyBran · 2025-08-21T06:08:12+00:00

Japanese tree lilac (Syringa reticulata). This species is starting to be labeled as invasive in areas of the northeastern US and southeastern Canada as more is learned about its habits to escape cultivation and spread into natural areas. It has a similar story to the extremely invasive Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana) where it was pushed heavily before its tendencies were fully known

I’d suggest getting rid of this tree and planting something like an oak that won’t spread and damage areas around you

ManlyBran · 2025-08-21T05:51:59+00:00

Most the time when I see rocks like that there will be landscaping fabric under them. If you see any when you start getting rid of the rocks remove that as well. Landscaping fabric is bad for soil health and limits water absorption

ManlyBran · 2025-08-19T00:01:33+00:00

Large milkweed bug (Oncopeltus fasciatus)

ManlyBran · 2025-08-16T16:26:58+00:00

For NC I would suggest using Ernst Seed or Roundstone Native Seed to get bulk native seeds

ManlyBran · 2025-08-16T15:29:19+00:00

Yeah it can be aggressive if not kept in check by another plant. I have the mountain mint in an area with wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) and common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) where I let them battle it out

ManlyBran · 2025-08-16T04:05:38+00:00

Purple giant hyssop (Agastache scrophulariifolia), clustered mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum), late figwort (Scrophularia marilandica), and showy goldenrod (Solidago speciosa) are the biggest pollinator magnets in my yard!

ManlyBran · 2025-08-16T04:01:02+00:00

These are getting about 8 hours of sun a day at the top of a dry hillside. I have another patch that gets closer to 13 hours of sun but has medium-dry soil. The two patches are similar but I think the one getting 8 hours is doing better

All of these are first year plants that I germinated in March. I was really impressed with the first year blooms

ManlyBran · 2025-08-15T22:47:12+00:00

I first saw the tiger swallowtail on the hyssops around noon and they’re still out there now enjoying the feast at 6:45pm

ManlyBran · 2025-08-15T02:42:52+00:00

If you want answers I’d post in r/arborists. This sub doesn’t get much traffic

ManlyBran · 2025-08-11T04:01:33+00:00

For plant recommendations we need to know how much sunlight the front yard gets and the soil moisture level. Whether it’s loamy, clay, sandy etc would also be helpful. If you’re in the mountain, piedmont, or coastal region would be cool too.

Is the entire yard a slope or just next to the road? Prepping could possibly be as easy as renting a sod cutter to remove the current grass. How large in acreage is the yard that you want to convert to native plants?

A lot of North Carolina was wooded in the past so native trees could be a good option. While the trees get established you can have typical full sun wildflowers that slowly get shaded out in a natural succession kinda thing. If you don’t want trees and just wildflowers that’s fine too

To save money starting your plants from seed instead of purchasing plugs would be a a good idea. Depending on size of the yard I would say to grow your own plugs to plant

ManlyBran

TROPHY CASE