Melissa Casti

Nessus Sphinx moth visiting Phlox divaricata in my yard. So cool.

Spring is coming! Spring Beauty starting to bloom on the left. Golden Groundsel (Packera obovata) getting ready to bloom on the right. Lots of green in the garden. Yay!

Wrapping paper is trash. Plastic tape will never biodegrade. Try a sustainable alternative this year like reusable colored boxes, reusable cloth bags, brown paper with natural twine or masking tape, wrapping with a tea towel that becomes a second gift, or no wrapping at all.

Baby plants do do do do do do, baby plants! Got these 96 in the ground today. I’ve planted over 400 in the last few weeks. I think I have 80 left. #plantnative

Dug out this volunteer chinkapin oak and potted it up to be transplanted in my aunt’s yard. I hope it makes it.

American Beautyberry 💜

Fuzzies in the garden. If you plant it, they will come. #Plantnative

Native asters and goldenrod. Fall perfection.

September garden beauty. Check out the FIVE caterpillars on the one tiny Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea) plant! Also featuring blue mist flower, American Beautyberry, and aromatic aster. #plantnative

Eastern Prickly Pear with ripe tunas (the red fruits)! This is the first year that my cactus fruited. I will harvest and eat the tunas soon.

Late summer garden beauty. Boneset, White Admiral butterfly, Blue Sage, and Texas Green Eyes.

Today’s garden beauty. Compass plant, rattlesnake master, purple coneflower, and butterfly milkweed. #plantnative

Today’s garden blooms. #whatyouplantmatters #plantnative

Prairie Beardtongue getting ready to bloom. #whatyouplantmatters #plantnative

Today’s garden beauty. NE Kansas. #whatyouplantmatters #plantnative Monarda bradburiana and spiderwort (Ohio maybe?)

Today’s garden beauty. Aesculus pavia (red buckeye). #plantnative

Plants found in Junction City, KS.

Today’s garden beauty. Dwarf Crested Iris. #plantnative

I planted this little dogwood tree in the summer of 2022. Now in spring 2025, it bloomed for the first time. Did you know that the flower isn’t made of petals but of bracts?

Today’s garden beauty. My woodland garden. Spring Beauty, Rue anemone, Packera obovata, and wild geranium.

Today’s garden beauty. Jacob’s Ladder, Golden Groundsel, Wild Geranium, and Wild Sweet William (all natives to NE Kansas).

Virginia bluebells

Spring garden beauty: pussytoes, cherry blossoms, and Celandine poppies.