>>Susan, this is an incredible garden, just full of color and shapes and sizes and all of these pollinators, I've seen so many different species of bees and butterflies already and I'm hearing lots of birds.

So can you tell me how did this come to be?

Is this all you?

>>Much of it is me.

We've been here for 10 years, but the garden was put in by the previous owner and it has a formal structure.

There are rock walls that are made from stone here, from from the land here, and it has a formal design with this terrace in the middle and there are paths on both sides so you can walk through the garden.

I left the peonies here, which were the previous owner's favorite.

And then I started planting a lot of native plants because I knew they would attract pollinators and attract birds.

For instance, the purple cone flower, goldfinches eat the seeds in the winter, so I don't cut it down.

I leave everything in the garden stand during the winter and just cut it down in March.

Other interesting plants I have planted is the Agastache at the corners, four corners of this garden for symmetry that gives the garden some structure, but they are full of bees and it smells really good.

Another native I put in was milkweed.

I planted common milkweed, not realizing that it spreads underground by rhizomes.

I put it where I wanted a tall plant and it left there and started showing up in other places.

So if it's where I don't want it, I just yank it out.

But it's a really good plant because it is host to the caterpillar of the monarch butterfly.

So we have had in the past a lot of monarch butterflies here and the caterpillars are quite showy and they do eat holes in the milkweed leaves, but that's part of their lifecycle.

And then we get the beautiful butterflies.

>>And sitting here, I'm just noticing what wonderful shade you have right on the front of the house.

On that structure, what kinds of plants are those?

>>They're two native vines.

The Virginia Creeper, I say we let it grow.

It came by itself and we thought that was a good thing and it's grown up and over and given us shade.

And we've planted trumpet honeysuckle, which is a native species of honeysuckle and that has little red flowers on it and hummingbirds like that.

>>One of the flowers I notice that you have here in the landscape is your coreopsis.

It really adds a, just a gorgeous pop of yellow.

>>Yes, it's a native, but it's also a very popular garden plant.

And that's a cultivar called moonbeam.

I love its fine texture.

I try to contrast fine textures with bold textures.

The milkweed is very bold with huge leaves >>And I see a lot of black-eyed or brown-eyed Susans.

Those look really nice in here.

>>They seed themselves around, they're native, and if if they plant themselves where I like them, I leave them.

If not, I transplant them.

Also, we do have, day lilies aren't native, but they aren't invasive so I don't worry about them.

And this, these yellow ones for instance, are often just full of bees.

>>And I understand one of the things y'all have done historically is to actually have enthusiasts come out and do surveys of your pollinators.

So you actually know what species you have year-to-year and how many of each type you have each year.

>>Yes.

We have someone who's an amateur lepidopterist, which is someone who specializes in moss and butterflies and he looks in the garden as well as in in the fields where we planted native plants.

We've replaced hay fields with native grasses and wild flowers to create habitat for insects, birds, other wildlife.

>>Well it's so inspiring to see a smaller area where you have a native predominance but with some other non-natives that you enjoy.

But it would be great to see the meadows.

Is it okay if we go over and see that with Jim?

>>Sure.

He loves to show it off.

>>I am seeing here one of my favorite native plants, the Monarda or bee balm.

It seems like you've planted a lot of that.

>>We have.

And it is just a fabulous pollinator plant and attracts all kinds of bees and butterflies.

Clear wing moths as well.

And there's a bumble bee that just landed on on a flower head right there.

And we're at the perfect time.

Full flower time for Monarda.

>>And I think it's a lovely contrast to see the Monarda with the yarrow.

Many people might confuse this with Queen Anne's lace, which is a non-native plant, but this is one of our great natives.

>>You're right, very, very easily confused.

Queen Anne's lace has a little bit different shaped flower head than than yarrow does.

And they're in the same family, so they look very similar.

But this is a plant that was already here.

It was in the seed bank when we planted this field in 2017.

Did not have to include it in the seed mix.

It's doing very well.

>>And I'm not seeing them right now, but we have seen several of our state butterfly, the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, I'm looking for them, but they are moving around and really enjoying this habitat that you've created.

>>Yeah.

>>And then you are talking about this one, Marestail?

>>This is Marestail.

This is a species that is an early arrival in a young field and will be the first to establish once you open up a lot of bare ground.

>>That's one I feel like I see spit bugs on a lot.

So you see this awesome, what looks like somebody has been doing a little foam to it and, oh and fleabane.

>>And fleabane as well.

When we first planted this meadow, this field was a swath of white from the bottom to the top and all the way across.

When given a chance to express, it just exploded.

>>But then it looks like you've done a very good job of making it so that many different things are gonna come in succession, so the pollinators have a constant source of nectar and pollen for feeding, plus the host plants that their larva would need to grow on.

>>Yeah, that that's a great point on plant selection, to try to select plants that will bloom throughout the season from April all the way through September and October.

That goldenrod out there, that's early golden rod.

Typically most species of golden rod flower in late August, September timeframe.

This is early golden rod or Solidago juncea.

We also have gray goldenrod in here or Solidago nemoralis and that's kinda a later July or or early August.

And then all this white that's in here too is Parthenium integrifolium or wild quinine.

And it blooms fairly early.

It has a long, beautiful blooming season.

This has been in bloom probably for six weeks, something like that.

>>Wow.

>>And it's got a, got a distance to go and it probably will last even longer if we had a little bit more rain.

>>Well, thank you so much, Jim, for showing us around in this amazing pollinator meadow.

It's really an inspiration in terms of the plants and the number of species that we've seen.

>>You are very welcome, Robyn.

Great to have you here.