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Welcome to the Blue Stem Natives blog, where we share what we’re learning in the nursery, in the landscape, and out in the field. From plant profiles to project updates, our goal is to give you useful, down-to-earth information to support your native-plant journey.
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The Bunny Buffet: How to Garden Without Losing Your Mind
Let’s face it: rabbits are adorable. Those twitchy noses, the cotton ball tails, the ears that say “I’m listening, but I’m still going to eat your echinacea.” If you’ve ever tiptoed outside in spring to admire your perennial garden only to find it neatly trimmed by a mystery landscaper with fur—congrats! You’re gardening with rabbits. Instead of plotting bunny revenge or surrounding your beds with barbed wire, what if we reframed the whole situation? What if your yard could b
Jun 5, 20253 min read


Designing Your Native Plant Landscape 2
A Multi-Part Series for the Home Gardener Step 2- Fix the problems and dream big! Did everyone do their SITE SURVEY last month? I spent hours tracing and making adjustments. My printer conked out so I had to make copies by hand! Ah, well, nothing a glass or two of wine and a good movie in the background can’t help! I want to stress the need to have multiple, nay, multitudes of copies! The idea is to be able to come up with different ways to fix existing problems as well as e
Apr 29, 20253 min read


Nature’s Party Crashers: Identifying & Removing Invasive Species
There is something magical about the Spring, when we have had months of cold, snowy weather, and the predominant color is brown. I love me a good brown, but when those first few peeps of green start pushing up through the leaves that you left (right? we’ve been through this already.) it brings with it that feeling that warmer days are ahead, and the Winter won’t actually last forever. There is one teeny-tiny problem though, and I hate to bring it up. There are a whole bunch o
Apr 2, 20253 min read


Designing Your Native Plant Landscape
A Multi-Part Series for the Home Gardener Step 1- What are you working with? The wintertime is an odd one for garden aficionados. We desperately miss having our hands in the dirt, the fresh smell of plants and manure (ok that may be a stretch), and all of the color that is sorely lacking during the cold months. Once the garden is cleaned up and the temperature drives us inside, we often find ourselves with little else to do besides thumbing through the multitudes of seed cata
Apr 2, 20253 min read


Things to do when things are…not normal.
When the world feels like it is spinning out of control, we can start from within our own spaces to cultivate change, lead with compassion, and create the kind of world we want to see—one action, and one act of kindness at a time. Here are some “action” ideas for 2025: Plant native plants Did you guess that would be the first tip?! Ok you know by now we aren't JUST trying to sell plants, native plants are sustainable and support our wildlife. It's one of the best environmenta
Mar 7, 20256 min read


Celebrating Black Excellence in Horticulture: Past and Present Influencers
Let’s be honest—when most people think about horticulture, they picture lush gardens, sustainable farming, or maybe a few well-placed houseplants. But how often do we think about the Black pioneers and trailblazers who’ve shaped this field? That’s why celebrating Black History Month in horticulture is so important. Black people have been cultivating the land, preserving agricultural traditions, and innovating in ways that impact how we grow food and care for our environment
Feb 3, 20254 min read
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