Southernwood Gardens

07/04/2025

08/02/2024

Colors are changing in this first week of August. The butterflies are still busy.

07/25/2024

More yellow in the prairies this week but the liatris and monarda are still the draw for the Tiger Swallowtail and the Black Swallowtail butterflies. Morning, afternoon and evenings the prairies are filled with them. The only thing missing is the monarch butterfly which has been a rare sight for us this season.

07/19/2024

Colors are always changing in the prairie at this time of the summer. Yellow will be dominant soon. Liatris seems to be the plant for Tiger swallowtails right now. We have an incredible number of very happy butterflies enjoying all of the liatris in bloom.

05/17/2024

Walking along Rhine Road in Union County we found this Asclepias exalta blooming. Another name for it is Poke milkweed.

05/14/2024

Some Plants blooming in the garden today. Lots of changes happening and if you blink, you might miss them!

04/05/2024

We looked out a window this morning and got to watch a pileated woodpecker do her thing on a tree stump. She spent about 15 minutes banging away looking for grubs. What a treat! We also enjoy downy woodpeckers, hairy woodpeckers, red-bellied and red-headed woodpeckers using our bird feeder, but this was a real treat this morning! What a way to start the day.

03/17/2024

Spring flowers are up and blooming now. Check out your native plant beds and see what else is coming up.

05/07/2023

Castillega, commonly known as Indian Paintbrush or Prairie Fire is amazing this year. We were thrilled a few years ago when we started seeing it in our prairie and it truly has spread like Prairie Fire this spring. We are seeing it in our other prairies as well as the original one and it is just stunning! Prairies are full of surprises!

04/21/2023

Spring flowers in Southern Illinois these days. Now is the time to get out and look around.