Eli's Native Plants
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elisnativeplants.bsky.social
Eli's Native Plants
@elisnativeplants.bsky.social
640 followers 710 following 610 posts
Trying to stop the 6th global extinction event. Encouraging others to garden for wildlife and for themselves, to identify plants, and forage, and improve their connection to the wild world.
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elisnativeplants.bsky.social
November 6, 2025 at 10:30 PM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
Witchhazel is blooming! Hamamelis virginiana is easy to miss. Look up and you might look right past these arching understory trees, but look closely and you may be rewarded with our latest bloom of the fall.

#nativeplants #forests #newengland #ecoregion59 #bloomscrolling #flowers #trees
A yellow bloom on a Witchhazel twig, with long, thin, crumpled petals Looking up through leafless attaching Witchhazel trees at a large oak in the overstory
November 5, 2025 at 5:03 PM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
Oaks are in full fall regalia, here in Acton, MA. They took their time, then changed fast over this rainy Tuesday-Wednesday. They are just in time to join the maples and birches before the maples go bare. Look at the colors on these three saplings!

#quercus #nativeplants #ecoregion59 #fall
Starting from the left, the pale-leaved oak is a Swamp White Oak, (Quercus rubra). Front and center is a Northern Red Oak (Quercus bicolor), with mottled red-yellow leaves. Behind the Red Oak, to the right, with deep red leaves is a Black Oak (Quercus velutina).
October 23, 2025 at 2:35 PM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
I can hardly bring myself to pick and dry these lovely flowers. These are the more common northern wild-type: Crimson-eyed Rosemallow. It takes weeks of blooming before I can bring myself to start picking and drying flowers.
Close-up on a Hibiscus moscheutos flower, with other flowers and buds above and below. My hand for scale -- these are the largest flowers native to my area. The grass at the bottom of the image is Nimblewill (Muhlenbergia schreberi). Sadly, if you search the Internet for this lovely beneficial native grass, you'll get a list of ways to kill it instead of a list of the cute little Skipper butterflies it hosts, or a list of the ecosystem services it provides.
October 22, 2025 at 11:08 AM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
First frost here in Middlesex Cty, MA. This is probably the end of the Touch-me-nots and Tomatoes. The Calendula may pull through. Our lovely sugar maple will probably drop its bright orange leaves quickly now.

#nativeplants #fall #firstfrost #ecoregiin59 #frost
Wild Strawberries (Fragaria virginiana), still green, showing off their frost rimed hairs Touch-me-nots (Impatiens capensis) with leaves curled and hardened with a thick frost. The little orange flowers are frosted too. Raised beds with Calendula (C. officinalis), Tomatoes and Woolly Beans (Strophostyles helvola). The Calendula has scrunched up its yellow-orange flowers and seems to have resisted frosting over like the other plants Our sugar maple, bright orange, standing at the bottom of our property (the low point of the SW slope, by the road), and holding onto the majority of its leaves, though it dropped a third after the rain on Tuesday.
October 10, 2025 at 11:49 AM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
It's Aster season! American asters (genus Symphyotrichum) are diverse and ubiquitous. Take a closer look and I bet you'll find some new-to-you species you've been walking by. My favorite Disney quote: "Look harder" -Rafiki

#nativeplants #bloomscrolling #fallflowers #ecoregion59
Aromatic asters (S. oblongifolium) look like New England Aster from afar, but have less pink in the blooms (they are lavender), and smell like balsam when you crush the foliage. They have oblong leaves, as suggested by the Latin name, and the foliage makes patterns that are very distinct from other asters. Frost Aster (S. pilosum) have tiny hairs all over then, that makes the foliage look frosted. They are prolific bloomers that handle dry sites in old fields very well. Ours are dripping with bees, bumble, honey, and Halictid Heart-leaved Aster (S. cordifolium) line woods edges, look skinny and small throughout spring and summer, then fill out to bloom profusely in the fall. These plants by the woods in our habitat are shimmering with bees and wasps, with half the flowers shaking from a recent landing or departure
October 8, 2025 at 1:07 PM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
Some Purplestem Asters volunteered? I probably dropped seed uphill, and they wound up right by the road. I'll move them somewhere with moist soil where they won't block the view of incoming traffic, but I couldn't bring myself to move them in the growing season.

#nativeplants #ecoregion59
Purplestem Aster (Symphyotrichum punicium) flowers with lavender petals (ray florets) and disc florets that are bright yellow when unpollinated and rusty red when pollinated. Purplestem Aster fliwering in front of the retaining wall 4' from the curb in our front yard.
October 3, 2025 at 12:17 AM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
What could be more wonderful than a tiny capsule that is ready to create life if left in the right place? I love seeds. Here are some that I'm particularly excited about. My favorite right now is American Hog-peanut, partially because I love a native legume.

#nativeplants #ecoregion59 #seedsaving
A wooden bowl with a tree print and an assortment of native seeds. Starting with the top and going sunwise, there are Wild Cucumbers (Echinocystis lobata), American Hog-peanut (Amphicarpaea bracteata), Partridge Peas (Chaemaecrista fasciculata), Witchhazel (Hamamelis virginiana), American Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), and Wooly Beans (Strophostyles helvola). A close up of American Hog-peanut seeds and pods. Each pod has 3 seeds. American Hog-peanut in the wild: a thin, twining vine with sets of 3 leaves. It grows it wet areas and climbs all over everything, but usually isn't dense enough to choke anything else out where I find it.
September 27, 2025 at 8:57 PM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
He lined his racist rants with just enough deflection that you could pretend to e.g. only be objecting to DEI when you repeat his racist quotes about pilots. But we all see through your weak misdirection, racist. And he spewed racist, bigoted garbage constantly, so the lies won't work.
September 26, 2025 at 3:25 AM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
Sharp-toothed Nodding-aster (Oclemena acuminata), can be one whorl of leaves, and an inflorescence. Images and descriptions typically show it taller, with leaves spread along a stem.

gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/ocle...

#nativeplants #ecoregion59.
A Sharp-toothed Nodding-aster with a single whorl of lanceolate, toothy leaves and a spray of 7 compound flowers with a pink center and white ray florets around the edge Two Sharp-toothed Nodding-asters with single whorls of leaves below their inflorescences.
September 21, 2025 at 3:12 AM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
Yarrow is a great filler for a garden bed, a native host and nectar plant. But did you know that many Roman soldiers carried it to stop their bleeding? Instant stopped a welling cut on my finger just now. It is antibacterial and speeds wound healing.

#yarrow #herbalism #nativeplants #gardening
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) powder and a just-stopped cut on my index finger Yarrow with Hibiscus shoots and Nimblewill near the end of spring. Yarrow blooms are white and fresh Hibiscus in full bloom in August, Yarrow leafing out more as the blooms fade Yarrow spilling out over the patch, and the Hibiscus putting out its last blooms of the year, in mid September. Also, Ezra, our Ausidoodle
September 17, 2025 at 12:03 AM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
Put your Pawpaws on the North side of your garden beds, with taller plants. Young pawpaws need shade. A fully-grown pawpaw produces best in full sun. This accomplishes both, and lets them grow without relocation and damage to their big taproot.

#nativeplants #foodforest #ecoregion59
A little pawpaw (Asimina triloba) tree with large lanceolate leaves, at the North end of a bed of yarrow and native Hibiscus. A Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) on the North side of some taller Cardinal Flowers (Lobelia cardinalis), Grass-leaved Goldenrod (Eurybia divericata), and Blunt Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum muticum), surrounded by a groundcover of Wild Strawberries (Fragaria virginiana) A little Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) surrounded by tall Rough-leaved Goldenrod (Solidago rugosa) and a shorter, dense patch of Licorice Goldenrod (Solidago odora)
September 15, 2025 at 12:40 PM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
Goldenrods are powerhouse plants. First, edible shoots for humans and deer in the spring. Next, a host for more species of caterpillar than any other North American genus of herbs. Then, as an incredible pollinator plant, as you see here. Finally for the finches who feast on seeds.

#nativeplants
September 11, 2025 at 10:12 PM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
Angel-winged Katydid (genus Microcentrum, sp?) on our Common Evening Primrose. I was thrilled and curious, and the poor thing tolerated my many photographs, then flew over and landed on my shirt. Whoops!

#nativeplants #insects #ecoregion59
A close up of a Katydid with large leaf-like wings, on a leaf.
September 10, 2025 at 9:58 PM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
This Calico Paint Caterpillar would like to remind you that Solidago (goldenrods) are powerhouse herbs for lepidopterans, hosting more butterfly and moth caterpillars than any other. The bumblebees, Halictid bees and an array of wasps visit every day for nectar now. Birds will feast on seeds soon.
Calico Paint Caterpillar, larva of the Brown Hooded Owlet, Cucullia convexipennis, eating Solidago rugosa buds, fall 2024 Solidago odora, Licorice Goldenrod, blooming in profusion at between 2 and 3 feet tall, supported from flopping by baking twine Solidago odora flowers
September 7, 2025 at 12:12 PM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
Closed Bottle Gentians (Gentiana clausa) have slits at the top. Only bumblebees are strong enough to break in to get the good stuff.

Please don't pick/dig them. This population in a popular park is down to one last individual, hiding under the alders.

#nativeplants #conservation #ecoregion59
A single stem of Gentiana clausa, with three flowers in a row. The flower are bud-shaped and closed at the top, though there are slits between the petals meet. Alder branches reach out toward a pond in the background. Clusters of alder trunks with a few young oaks by the edge of a pond
September 2, 2025 at 4:42 PM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
Our Eccinacea is still lovely, and starting to fade. The Joe Pye is mid-bloom. The Sunchokes are just starting and are promising a riotous bloom this year. While they are native-adjacent and host plants, Eccinacea and Sunchokes are not New England natives.

#nativeplants #ecogarden #bloomscrolling
Pink-purple Eccinacea purpurea flowers up front, with a fluff of pink Eutrochium fistulosum flowers between them and the tall Helianthus tuberosus. There is a little Pycnanthemum muticum in the bottom left.
August 29, 2025 at 1:35 PM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
Common Evening Primrose and the Primrose Moth. We have this herb (Oenothera biennis) in abundance. The hummingbirds, bumblebees, and Japanese Beetles are wild about it. Goldfinches hunt beetles on the sturdy stems, then feast on seeds into the winter.

#nativeplants #ecoregion59 #bloomscrolling
August 27, 2025 at 4:44 PM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
Hibiscus moscheutos, our local ecotype in MA, is my favorite species I have grown in our wildlife habitat. A superlative host, with its own specialist beetles, lepidopterans, and even a bee. We were lucky enough to host Hibiscus Sawflies earlier in the season.

#nativeplants #ecoregion59 #habitat
A cluster of Hibiscus flowers, white with a crimson eye, and the morning sun shining through them. You can see the shadow of another flower behind the flower on top. Nimblewill and Yarrow surround the Hibiscus with some Touch-me-nots peeking in at the bottom right. A woodchips path through a seldom-mown lawn winds up a slope behind the garden. My hand, dwarfed by a hibiscus flower Sawfly damage on the lower leaves, from June. The Goldfinches found the sawflies when they started to make holes in the upper leaves, as they did last year. If you have sawflies defoliating a plant, try putting a bird bath next to it. We are lucky to have a conservation area nearby, so we need do nothing but grow native plants, and the animals come to balance our little ecosystem.
August 26, 2025 at 11:21 PM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
Seeds from around three gallons of each berry: Black Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis), Fox Grapes (Vitus labrusca <2 gallons>) and Aronia Berries (Aronia melanocarpa). I was surprised at how many seeds Elderberries have, and how few Aronia have.

#nativeplants #seedsaving #ecoregion59
Three oblong wooden bowls of drying seeds. The small sharp Elderberry seeds in the biggest bowl, and the smooth Aronia seeds in the smallest bowl are the size of sesame seeds, and the grape seeds are almost as large as alpine blueberries. The small wooden bowl of red-purple Aronia seeds The medium bowl of fat grape seeds The big bowl of tiny, sharp, pale Elderberry seeds
August 19, 2025 at 1:59 PM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
Vitis labrusca, Fox Grapes, are the wild species we bred to make the Concord grape. There are big, juicy wild ones in Acton, MA, two towns over from Concord. Concord grapes are the second best grape for making jelly, after their sour wild relatives.

#nativeplants #wildfood #foraging #ecoregion59
9 8oz jars of Aronia/Grape (mostly grape) jelly, with a wooden bowl of grape seeds. A big (2 gallons) bowl of Fox Grapes on the bottom, with some feral apples and elderberries up top
August 19, 2025 at 2:39 AM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
Got a garden bed that won't produce? This plot produced a few sad tomatoes and some culinary herbs last year, but I planted it over with annual nitrogen-fixing natives. Woolly Beans for me, Partridge Peas for the bees, and Milkweed (perennial) for all.

#nativeplants #ecoregion59 #ecogarden
Partridge Peas (Chamaecrista fasciculata) with compound leaves and yellow flowers over a tangle of Woolly Bean (Strophostyles helvola) vines Partridge Peas (Chamaecrista fasciculata) with compound leaves and yellow flowers being subsumed by a tangle of Woolly Bean (Strophostyles helvola) vines. Common Milkweed covered in seed pods, and a Woolly Bean vine climbing them
August 15, 2025 at 12:43 PM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
Sumac seeds and sumac powder for replacing invasive species and making zataar thyme and sumacaid. These are from Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typha), which is getting to be overripe for processing (in MA). It's Smooth Sumac (R. glabra) season now!

#nativeplants #ecoregion59 #foraging #Rhus #Sumac #wildfood
Two jars. The brownish one on the left is Staghorn Sumac umac seed. The one on the right it sumac powder.
August 14, 2025 at 2:34 PM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
In full swing now
A wild-type Hibiscus moscheutos hedge with crimson-eyed flowers. This is on our steeply sloping driveway, and Elderberry is visible behind (uphill from) the Hibiscus. My wife's head is a little smaller than this white flower on a Hibiscus by our house. The plant with pink flowers has a closed bloom, and lacks a fresh one.
August 13, 2025 at 10:12 AM
elisnativeplants.bsky.social
Did you know that Field Thistles (Cirsium discolor) are a great place to take a nap? Any Eastern Bumblebee would tell you so.

#nativeplants #insects #thistles #bumblebee #ecoregion59
A bee curled up in the center of a thistle, which of a purple floof of disc florets above spined, scale-like bracts and spine-tipped leaves. Closeup of a sleeping bumblebee on an opening thistle flower
August 11, 2025 at 2:33 AM