Love Our Land

Bringing Life Back to Our Neighborhoods, One Yard at a Time.

06/10/2026

This , we're featuring Purple Milkweed (Asclepias purpurescans) 😍💚 This lovely native is similar to Common Milkweed but features rich red-purple flowers, standing slightly taller and with stiffer, more compact umbels. It is less aggressive than Common Milkweed and equally appealing to monarch butterflies, however it is challenging to get it to bloom and set seeds beyond its first season due to its sensitivity to environmental conditions.

06/03/2026

Wow, what a beaut! 🤓

Fire pink (Silene viriginica) is a stunner of a late-spring bloomer. You'd think this exotic looking beauty would be hard to find, but it grows throughout our Loveland forests locally! Its striking crimson red flowers attract hummingbirds, while its sticky sepals deter ants from feeding on its nectar. Keep your eyes peeled for this awesome plant over the next few weeks.

05/28/2026

Another exciting recent collaboration is with Hometown Cafe in downtown Loveland! Love Our Land designed and installed the first round of native plants to the area, adding to some pre-existing landscaping.

This brings about the question: do I have to get rid of ALL my existing, non-native plants for a pollinator garden? The answer is NO! While it is beneficial and recommended to remove invasive species, simply adding in some native plant species can be of huge benefit to the local ecosystem - and most of your favorite plants can stay put too.

Stop by and see our progress, and keep in mind - native plants famously grow slowly because they invest heavily in building deep root systems before expanding above ground. This natural timeline, often summarized as "sleep, creep, leap," means you can expect plants to establish in the first year, spread moderately in the second, and grow vigorously by the third!

05/27/2026

Happy ! We were recently asked what natives to plant to fill the gap between the early spring bloomers and the start of summer flowers - and luckily, there are LOTS! Here are just a few examples of some great native plants that will keep your pollinators happy in the late spring/early summer months ☺️

1. Bradbury's Monarda (Monarda bradburiana)
2. Ohio Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis)
3. Indian pink (Spigelia marilandica)
4. Hairy beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus)
5. Blue flag iris (Iris versicolor)
6. Aaron’s rod / Carolina Bush Pea (Thermopsis villosa/caroliniana)
7. Indian physic (Porteranthus stipulatus)
8. Poke milkweed (Asclepias exaltata)
9. Silky dogwood (Cornus amomum)

Most of these plants will be available at fall Love our Land plant sales, or by next spring. Message us for help finding local native plants!

05/26/2026

Wide-footed treehopper (Enchenopa latipes) 💚

Spotted this nymph while cutting back some giant goldenrod (Solidago gigantea) and Canada goldenrod (S. canadensis) and ran full speed inside to grab my camera. Lucky for me this cutie was very cooperative and let me take several pictures.

If you ever find yourself bored, look up pictures of hoppers from around the world. If you think this “rhino horn” is impressive, just wait!!

05/25/2026

While spending time with my wife and puppy at the Matt Haverkamp Foundation Dog Park located at Kiwanis Park, I took this video of some of the many chimney swifts (Chaetura pelagica) flying overhead.

When people ask me to name my favorite bird—a Herculean task—chimney swifts share a spot near the top of my list. These aerial acrobats spend the vast majority of their time in flight. In fact, unlike most birds that can perch on branches and other structures, chimney swifts can’t do so. They sort of tip over and lay on their stomachs. They’re more at home clasping to the sides of vertical structures, like the inside of a hollow tree or, you guessed it, a chimney. This species was once dependent on large hollow trees for nesting. They adhere sticks together and to the side of the nest structure. With the vast deforestation that occurred across their range in eastern North America, they had to shift strategies. The humble chimney became the replacement, and they worked pretty well since their nesting season aligned with the time of year people didn’t have to heat their homes. Eventually, chimneys began to ‘go out of fashion’ and those that remained were capped to exclude wildlife. Unfortunately, this has lead to a decline of chimney swifts by roughly 70 to 75 percent. In 2018, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature changed their conservation status from ‘Near Threatened’ to ‘Vulnerable’ due to their steep decline.

There are things we can do:
1) For those with chimneys, in cap them from spring to fall so that chimney swifts have an opportunity to nest. Also, avoid sweeping your chimney if swifts are present.
2) Avoid using insecticides. These kill the prey of chimney swifts and cause tons of other problems for ecosystems.
3) Look up how to construct a chimney swift tower. These offer other areas for swifts to nest. If you’re interested, send us a message.

05/24/2026

Recently, Love Our Land partnered with Julia McNeal's biology class at West Clermont High School to implement a pollinator garden, replacing an underutilized grass space with native plants! The garden will continue to expand over the next few seasons, and will add value to the raised produce gardens the class has also started. The students are involved with garden preparation and ongoing maintenance. This unique experience highlights the importance of plant choices and native species!

05/23/2026

The City of Loveland’s Tree & Environment Committee is collaborating with Bean Native Nursery on a native plant sale today from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Nisbet Park in Downtown Loveland 💚 Come check out which plants Bean has to offer and learn about the City’s new Green Bounty Program where residents who remove a mature Callery Pear—an extremely invasive nonnative tree—can earn a $60 gift certificate to Bean Native Nursery to purchase a new native tree, shrub, or perennial 🌳🌸🌾🌼💚

05/20/2026

Happy World Bee Day! 🐝 💚

Today, the world recognizes the many services provided by the 20,000 to 30,000 bee species to humanity and the ecosystems we rely on. Here in Ohio, roughly 450 bee species live alongside us in our neighborhoods, gardens, and green spaces. You can do your part to assist our native bees by doing the following:
- Remove nonnative invasive plants and establish native wildflowers, grasses, trees, and shrubs 🌸🌾🌳
- Avoid using pesticides, including insecticides, fungicides, and rodenticides (small rodents create homes for many bees); rather use ecologically friendly options to prevent harming bees and other organisms 🐁
- Purchase native plants from local growers who do not use insecticides and fungicides 🦋🍄
- If you want to help native bees (the ones that are in trouble), don’t install honey bee hives; this can lead to honey bees out competing native bees for resources AND spread diseases to native bees; remember, honey bees are livestock not native to North America; establishing honey bee hives to ‘help bees’ is like introducing chickens to help wild birds 🐓🐝
- Volunteer with organizations who help protect and manage local parks and other green spaces; for example, and us 💚

Here are a few of our native bees visiting native wildflowers:
1. Digger bee (Anthophora abrupta), foxglove beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis)
2. Bufflehead mason bee (Osmia bucephala), Bradbury’s beebalm (Monarda bradburiana)
3. Bellwort mining bee (Andrena uvulariae), large-flowered bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora)
4. Lemon cuckoo bumble bee (Bombus citrinus), elephant’s foot (Elephantopus carolinianus)
5. Eastern carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica), eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis)
6. Broad-footed cellophane bee (Colletes latitarsis), long-leaved groundcherry (Physalis longifolia)

Address

1042 Marbea Drive
Loveland, OH
45140

Telephone

+15132581916

Website

http://www.loveourland.org/

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