The wait is over! Better Nature Design is now accepting clients! My name is Colin Rye, and I am a licensed Landscape Designer based in Coastal Alabama. Better Nature grew out of the idea that we can do better when it comes to landscaping— both for us and for nonhuman nature. My passion is for ecological landscape design, using native and otherwise useful plants— those that feed and nurture local ecosystems. I take great care to never use invasive species or those that show invasive tendencies. If you are interested in helping restore our local ecology and create more resilient gardens, we might be the right fit for you! To learn more and get started, visit betternaturedesign.com.

Yucca rostrata ‘Sapphire Skies’ recently planted in memoriam of a family member, honoring their roots in Mexico and Texas and hearkening back to an old Southern tradition of yuccas being used as grave markers. Yucca rostrata is a cold-hardy trunk-forming species lacking sharp leaf tips, and ‘Sapphire Skies’ has a great blue tint. It’s planted here in what is essentially all sand, which will give it the sharp drainage it wants. I look forward to watching it grow and bloom with time.

It’s a challenging time right now, and that can make it difficult to appreciate the beauty of plants and gardens. That being said, I believe there is something to gardens being refuges of solace. We need to rest, to reset our nervous systems, to put down the barrage of bad news for a moment and feel the sun on our skin and hear the insects and birds. Of course, ecological gardens also help keep the nonhuman world alive around us—something that grows in importance each day as we pump greenhouse gases into our atmosphere and raze ecosystems for human development. Featured here are Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower) cultivars, Eryngium yuccifolium (rattlesnake master), and a few cultivars of native grasses (little bluestem and switchgrass).

Before and after for a client who needed to reset some beds with a focus on low maintenance plantings. The first two posted pictures are from May, and the last two are from the first site visit in September. The main installation happened in November, so this is only after six months. The theme for this area is open woodland, primarily spring interest groundcover. The majority of the planting is Iris cristata (dwarf crested iris), with a border of Sedum ternatum ‘Larinem Park’ (woodland stonecrop). In one section I intermingled Tiarella cordifolia ‘Running Tapestry’ (foamflower) with the Iris to to try to cover the ground better year-round and combat heavier weed pressure—you couldn’t even see the Fatsia that was already there. If they coexist well I might add more Tiarella to the larger area—and this variety spreads so quickly it wouldn’t take many plants! We’re still tweaking this and other areas, but I wanted to give a quick look at how much a reset can do to tidy up a space and how much can be accomplished in only six months.

Happy World Bee Day! While honey bees play an important role in agriculture, they are not native to North America. We do have around 4,000 species of native bees that need our help though. Native bees have evolved with native plants, so much so that they often pollinate native plants better than nonnative honey bees. Certain species, such as blueberry bees and squash bees, are especially important for native crops. In addition, many species are specialists that depend on one or a few native flowers for their survival, such as the denticulate long-horned bee, which is an ironweed (Vernonia) specialist. Bee balm (Monarda) and goldenrod (Solidago), both pictured, are great native plants that support our native bees. Ways you can help native bees include, but are not limited to, planting natives (of course), avoiding harmful pesticides, and leaving or creating habitat (such as bare ground and hollow stems for them to nest in). #worldbeeday #worldbeeday🐝

Happy winter solstice. May you find rest as we look forward to spring’s re-emergence. Phlox subulata ‘Fort Hill’ (Fort Hill moss phlox). 2.16.24.