Greetings,

We wish you a happy Thanksgiving this week and thank you for being part of our Growit Buildit community. We continue to be inspired to share our love and experience with growing native plants. We love hearing you share your journey with native plant gardening, as well!

Today, I'm taking a moment to reflect on some of the flowers in our gardens that have brought me the most joy this past year and am going to share just a few of those here today.

I invite you to share your favorites in the comments on today's post on our Facebook & Instagram pages. Let's take a moment to reflect on our efforts & joys as we have worked to bring more natives into each of our landscapes!

Tara's Favorites from this past season:

1. Lanceleaf Coreopsis Guide - We have lanceleaf coreopsis in the flowerbed in front of our front porch and right off our back deck. I never get tired of enjoying the finches coming to them for seed. Sometimes I may miss the finch, but the bouncing bloom gives it away and makes me smile. Not to mention, these plentiful, long lasting, bright yellow blooms just say happiness & sunshine to me. Watch the video here.
2. Spicebush Guide - We have a nice spicebush off our back deck. It has grown into a lovely shape off the rear corner of our home that is esthetically pleasing. It provides privacy and greenery for us in that space. But, what I enjoy about this one is stopping to look over it for all the cut leaves that I can find that are folded over, knowing they are hosting a spicebush caterpillar. And then as Fall comes, I get to enjoy the beautiful gold color the leaves turn as the season winds down. Even in winter, we get to enjoy all the birds coming and going from it as they head to enjoy our bird feeders. Watch the video here.
3. Butterfly Weed Guide - Predictable? Maybe, but this past summer, I had such a neat experience enjoying a new patch of butterfly weed in a new flowerbed Joe added this past year. I had been monitoring the flowers for monarch caterpillars and was excited keeping an eye on a bunch of them as they grew and grew. I had great luck one day when I just so happened to see one on the driveway (right next to where the butterfly weed is). It was heading across the driveway, so I decided to start watching...and I watched...and watched. I got to see it get all the way across, travel through some grass, then into the flowerbed on that side of the driveway. I kept watching as it went up a stalk of rattlesnake master. I was able to return over the next days to see it was still there and observe it create it's chrysalis. Unfortunately, this one did not emerge, which was certainly disappointing. But, it is still such a great memory that I was grateful to get to follow with our kids. Watch the video here.

As you can see, my choices seem to share a theme...they all revolve around enjoying the wildlife that having these native plants brings to our environment. It is such a gift! Some people focus on cutting flowers to make bouquets for in their home, but to me the real beauty and joy comes not just from the pretty flowers, but from the gift of seeing them fulfill their purpose...as food, shelter, and hosts to wildlife.

Thank you for allowing me to reflect and share. I'd love for you to share some of your thankful reflections over on our Growit Buildit Facebook post & Growit Buildit Instagram post today. I'm sure we will all find more inspiration from each other reflecting on some of our favorite experiences with our native plants this past season.

PATREON DISCOUNT CODE: We thank you for investing in our work and future projects. Now through Sunday, we are offering 25% OFF your first month as a member on our Growit Buildit Patreon. This is a way to support our work, give some input, and join us in some behind the scenes as we are working. Use code: GB25OFF when you sign up. We thank you for your support!

Happy Thanksgiving from Joe & I at Growit Buildit! We are grateful to have you along this journey with us!

Sincerely,

Tara