Landscaping With Native Plants

Landscaping With Native Plants I prepare plant designs for gardeners in Southwestern Montana using native plants.

Landscaping using predominantly native plants is one of the very best ways an individual can significantly help restore our environment. My designs incorporate plants that grow in Montana as well as southern Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba; western North and South Dakota, and Nebraska; and eastern Wyoming and Colorado. My designs are based on the ecology of each area and take full advantage of nat

ive plant landscaping -- saving water and saving money on plants since perennial native plants don't have to be replaced every year; supporting native wildlife such as birds and butterflies; and requiring much less maintenance.

Over the course of the last few days, the p***ytoes came out to play. Like with a lot of native plants, they spent a lot...
05/29/2026

Over the course of the last few days, the p***ytoes came out to play.

Like with a lot of native plants, they spent a lot of their first year "getting their roots down" and the second year, adding some foliage. The last two years, they have been putting up a lot of little p***y toed blooms, taking a nice big spring stretch (and shedding late spring snow) and spreading out nicely around their beds.

Our yucca thrive in hot area of the front yard adjacent to the street and sidewalk. They provide a lot of sculptural "v...
05/25/2026

Our yucca thrive in hot area of the front yard adjacent to the street and sidewalk. They provide a lot of sculptural "visual interest" to our landscape before the flax and pasque kick in during the spring.

Bumblebee in our flourishing lupine. It's the end of May, and the lupine provides some great early season food for bees...
05/25/2026

Bumblebee in our flourishing lupine. It's the end of May, and the lupine provides some great early season food for bees.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go. Aphids in the lupine blooms, hi ho, hi ho.
05/25/2026

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go. Aphids in the lupine blooms, hi ho, hi ho.

We see the lupine are blooming at the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge, where we loved seeing them "in the wild." Ou...
05/24/2026

We see the lupine are blooming at the Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge, where we loved seeing them "in the wild."

Our lupine has finally shrugged off the Montana spring snow and started to bloom. Might have to open the pic to see it all.

Lupine is the larval host plant for several butterfly species, most notably the federally endangered Karner Blue Butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis), which relies entirely on wild lupine (Lupinus perennis).

Other prominent butterflies that use lupine as a host include:Frosted Elfin (Incisalia iris), Persius Duskywing (Erynnis persius), Wild Indigo Duskywing (Erynnis baptisiae), Acmon Blue (Plebejus acmon), and Western Tailed Blue (Cupido amyntula). Feed on, butterflies!

Among our "early bloomers" the prairie smoke is one of my favorites. Its buds attract bees early in the season, and the...
05/24/2026

Among our "early bloomers" the prairie smoke is one of my favorites. Its buds attract bees early in the season, and then the seed heads are so lovely, swaying in the wind like smoke drifting across the prairie.

Spruce shrug off late spring Montana snow and keep on ticking. Selecting plants that can tolerate a wide range of tempe...
05/17/2026

Spruce shrug off late spring Montana snow and keep on ticking. Selecting plants that can tolerate a wide range of temperatures is becoming even more important.

One of the many reasons we like native plants. It's mid-May, Montana, and we got a dump of wet snow overnight. Our bi...
05/17/2026

One of the many reasons we like native plants. It's mid-May, Montana, and we got a dump of wet snow overnight. Our bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva) responded to below-freezing temps and two inches of wet snow by putting out two new blooms.🙂

Our cherry bush is not native -- we inherited it. Actually, the robins, who love, love the cherries, probably "seeded" ...
05/15/2026

Our cherry bush is not native -- we inherited it. Actually, the robins, who love, love the cherries, probably "seeded" it from a cherry tree, also inherited, in the back yard. But it blossoms quite early, and is clearly a favorite of the early emerging bumblebees when other pickings are a bit slim.

One way to tell what will work in your native plant landscaping is to "look to the hills" -- look for plants already ada...
05/14/2026

One way to tell what will work in your native plant landscaping is to "look to the hills" -- look for plants already adapted to your area. The prairie smoke on the left were next to a park trail at the edge of town. The prairie smoke on the right are in our front driveway bed -- similar sun exposure, similar soil, similar temperature.

We started with three puppy alpine current bushes in 2 gallon pots and two other wild currents, (nice native substitute...
05/10/2026

We started with three puppy alpine current bushes in 2 gallon pots and two other wild currents, (nice native substitutes for Forsythia) now they fill an entire corner bed near our patio with their lovely yellow blooms. The birds love the berries in the fall.

Address

Bozeman, MT
59718

Opening Hours

Monday 12am - 11:45pm
Tuesday 12am - 11:45pm
Wednesday 12am - 11:45pm
Thursday 12am - 11:45pm
Friday 12am - 11:45pm
Saturday 12am - 11:45pm
Sunday 12am - 11:45pm

Telephone

+16054301201

Website

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