Sara's Select Seeds

02/16/2025

Coming soon to a garden near you!! 💙 Virginia bluebells

12/15/2024

🎄🎄🎄

While most garden nurseries have shuttered for the season, there's one in the Chicago area in full bloom with every Christmas item under the sun.

12/13/2024

Sara's Select Seeds will have these natives available in 2025!!

Have you heard of Oxeye (Heliopsis helianthoides)?

This stunning native plant is a garden superstar! It brings sunshine to your garden with its bright yellow, daisy-like blooms from summer to early autumn. 🌞 Thriving in sunny to partly sunny spots, Oxeye adapts to various soil types—even rocky ones!

But it’s not just about beauty! Oxeye provides essential nectar for bees, butterflies, and wasps 🐝🦋, while its seeds are a tasty treat for songbirds 🎶.

Do you have an Oxeye to your garden? Share some photos below!

10/21/2024

Thank you to everyone, new friends & old friends, who took time out to wish me a happy birthday 🎂 !! 💕💕
It's all of YOU who have helped to make me, ME!! This past year has been new & full of challenges, but starting my own businesses and learning to live my life to the fullest instead of just punching a clock every day - has been & will continue to be GREAT!!! 😁😁
Love you & grateful to have you all in my life!!! 💙💙😊😊

😉😉

09/05/2024

“9 Great Native Shrubs for Small Spaces” Webinar Out Now!

Watch here –> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8NvHLWdli8

Looking to add some beautiful, low-maintenance native shrubs to your garden but short on space? In this video, we explore nine fantastic native shrubs that are perfect for small gardens and tight spaces. These shrubs not only bring color and texture to your landscape but also support local wildlife and pollinators.

Featured Shrubs:
Smooth Hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) - Known for its lush, large blooms that brighten up any garden.
Leadplant (Amorpha canescens) - A hardy shrub with stunning purple flowers and silvery foliage.
Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) - A multi-season beauty offering spring flowers, summer berries, and vibrant fall color.
Dwarf Bush Honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera) - A tough, low-growing shrub with yellow flowers that attract pollinators.
Maple-leaved Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium) - This shrub adds a touch of elegance with its maple-like leaves and subtle fall hues.
New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus) - A compact shrub with fragrant white flowers that are a favorite of butterflies.
Shrubby Cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa) - A long-blooming shrub that brings sunny yellow flowers to your garden all season long.
Shrubby St John's Wort (Hypericum prolificum) - Adds bright yellow flowers in summer and attractive foliage throughout the year.
Steeplebush (Spiraea tomentosa) - A beautiful addition to any small garden with its striking pink flower spikes.

Join us as we take a closer look at these amazing shrubs, perfect for creating a stunning, wildlife-friendly garden, even in the smallest of spaces!

🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more native plant gardening tips and inspiration!

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[Image description: Background is a photograph of a thriving bush, speckled throughout with yellow flowers. The Sag Moraine Native Plant Community logo is in the top left corner. Across the middle of the image is a text box that says, “Free Webinar |NINE Great Native Shrubs for small spaces!”]

09/05/2024

🦋🦋🦋

Monarchs are starting to form roosts as they migrate south. Click here to read more: http://butterfly-lady.com/follow-the-monarch-migration/

09/05/2024

It's crunch time y'all. All subscription money goes towards seeds and bulbs. I have orders starting to come out this week so that I can make next year even better and build on this foundation. If your interested subscriptions are open.

08/05/2024

Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes promotes environmentally sound landscaping practices to preserve biodiversity through the preservation, restoration and establishment of native plant communities.

04/22/2024

Wanted to thank everyone that came out to Earth Day on Saturday & stopped by my booth! I really appreciate your support!!!

04/01/2024

Here's some wise advice from the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation about when (not) to start spring garden clean-up. (Edited for length)

How to determine when spring cleaning won't bug your pollinators

By Justin Wheeler

Resist the temptation of spring fever! Each spring we beg gardeners and homeowners to press pause and find other ways to occupy their weekends. Here are some benchmarks to know when it's safe to start spring clean-up in your yard.

1. Have I put away the snow shovel, mittens, and winter coats?

If you haven’t tempted fate yet by relegating the snow shovel to the back of the garage, and if you’re still wearing wool socks and long underwear – it’s too early.

2. Would I plant tomatoes now?

Any gardener will tell you it’s not a good idea to plant your tomatoes outdoors until evening temperatures are reliably in the 50s. If it’s time to plant tomatoes in your area, chances are conditions are right for pollinators to be out and about.



3. Is the lawn growing tall?

Cool-season lawns begin growing when soil temperatures reach 50 degrees. In all but the warmest climates, if grass is growing enough to justify regular mowing, it’s probably a safe bet that most pollinators have emerged.

4. Have I paid my taxes?

In northern states mid-late April should be the earliest you consider cutting back perennials and clearing garden debris. Keep in mind that some bees don’t emerge until late May.



5. Are apples and pears finished blooming?

Apricot, peach, plum, and cherry trees are the earliest to bloom, usually between mid-April and mid-May, coinciding with the emergence of many ground-nesting bees. If you can wait until apple trees are no longer in bloom, then you will protect a strong majority of native bees from losing overwintering resources.

*Timing is generalized for the eastern U.S. and will vary according to your latitude and microclimate.

Photo: Leaves of sundial lupine (Lupinus perennis ssp. perennis), a host plant for many butterfly species, including the endangered Karner blue; Liza Green © Native Plant Trust

03/27/2024

So true 💙💙

03/17/2024