Go Beyond Beauty

12/10/2025

Spoiler alert: it includes native plants! Although it doesn't mention getting rid of invasives, we would obviously add that in there too 😃

From your windows to what plants you grow, there are many ways to make your sanctuary a safe place for avian visitors.

11/20/2025

We already know about Japanese barberry and ticks.... but now bush honeysuckles have entered the chat?! Another reason to get rid of them and replace with a native plant :)

Check out this new research:

Despite the ubiquity of invasive organisms and their often deleterious effects on native flora and fauna, the consequences of biological invasions for human health and the ecological mechanisms through which they occur are rarely considered. Here we ...

11/12/2024

Annnnd we're back! We're continuing to highlight ornamental invasive species, some of which are still for sale.
While Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) isn't often found in stores any longer, it was heavily planted in the past, thanks to it's pretty flowers, strong fragrant smells, and showy berries. Unfortunately it, like many vines, is an aggressive grower, and can grow over low growing plants, up trees and structures, and even outcompetes other plants underground for nutrients.
If you like vining honeysuckles, check out our native trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)! They have bright red flowers that attract hummingbirds and bees. Keep in mind that this is different than trumpet vine (Campus radicans), which is native to areas just south of us, and is an incredibly aggressive grower. Whenever looking for vines, check growing descriptions to make sure you have the energy to keep up with whatever species you choose!

11/06/2024

Still have leaves on the ground? That's okay - the bugs will make use of that! Many of our native insects hibernate underneath leaf layers, and are looking for somewhere comfy to spend the winter. Leaving the leaves in your yard can help support our native insect populations! Come spring time, when our temperatures stay pretty consistently above 50 degrees, you can rake those leaves up. Maybe mix them into some veggie or flowerbed dirt, or add them to your compost. Leaves are a natural material that will break down and continue to help support our native ecosystems at every stop of the way.

02/14/2024

Skip the baby's breath this Valentines day - and every day! Not only found in bouquets but baby's breath (among other invasives) are sneakily found in "wildflower" packets and seed paper as well.

Show your love for nature by avoiding ornamental invasives wherever you can! 🩷

12/21/2023

Beauty doesn't necessarily just mean blooms - but you can get BOTH flowers and winter interest with native wildflower seed heads like tall thimblew**d (pictured: left, Anemone virginiana) or wild bergamot (pictured: right, Monarda fistulosa). Not only do they look cool & is less work for you, but leaving stalks helps pollinators overwinter!

Both pictures are from the same garden just a few weeks apart... Here's to hoping for more snow in the mitten & a happy winter solstice to you all! ✨

12/12/2023

Recognize these 5 invasives Missouri is filing to ban? 🫣

Michigan & other midwestern states have the advantage of seeing what plants are a problem down south before climate change may influence their spread north! Read on:

Update on Missouri's Cease the Sale Efforts

On December 1, 2023, Representative Bruce Sassmann (District 061), took action to help protect the state from invasive plants by filing HB 1555 to halt the sale and intentional distribution of five invasive plant species: burning bush (Euonymus alatus), Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana and its cultivars, including Bradford and Chanticleer), climbing euonymus (Euonymus fortunei; also commonly known as wintercreeper); Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica), and sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata).

Once passed, the Missouri Department of Agriculture is expected to be the agency tasked with enforcement of the legislation, issuing violations if any of the five plants listed above are found to be sold or intentionally distributed. Because of the investment that nursery owners and other plant sellers must make before many shrubs and trees are large enough to sell, two species on the list of five—burning bush and Callery pear plants—acquired by a licensed Missouri wholesale or retail plant nursery before January 1, 2025, shall be exempt from enforcement until January 1, 2028.

The legislation also provides for the creation of a Missouri Department of Agriculture “Invasive Plant Watchlist,” comprising more than 70 species, which, if sold, must be labeled as such.

“This legislation does not penalize the presence of the five invasive plants on the landscape,” said Representative Sassmann, who is Chair of the Missouri House Natural Resources Committee, “only the sale and/or intentional distribution of the five species.

Read more at https://moinvasives.org/2023/12/04/missouri-legislation-filed-to-halt-the-sale-of-five-invasive-plants/

11/17/2023

Did you hear the news? The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone map has been updated (with last version out in 2012). Many areas have changed zones - how about yours?
Find out at: https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov

11/15/2023

Spreading the word of this wonderful annual grant opportunity from Wildflower Association of Michigan! 🌱

More info can be found here: https://wildflowersmich.org/wam-grants/

10/31/2023

Every spring & summer, native plants pop up out of the leaves/old stalks in and near woodlands JUST FINE with no intervention! In fact, it provides insulation & w**d control for them all while nurturing over-wintering pollinators & insects.

For non-native plants or grasses... that's possibly another story... Instead of striving for perfection, compromise by letting a portion of your landscape be natural (no cleanup) to provide perennial habitat for invertebrates.