Latest news with #nurseries
CTV News
3 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Annuals are the forgotten native plants. Here are 7 worth adding to the garden
As home gardeners become more educated about the benefits of native plants (supporting native insects, birds and wildlife, and the environment as a whole), the focus has mainly been on trees, shrubs and perennials. Native annuals have somehow gotten lost in the shuffle, likely because most of them aren't readily available at the garden center. And most of the annuals (and tender perennials treated as annuals) that ARE sold in local nurseries are introduced species from faraway places. As such, they don't provide much benefit to the local ecosystem. Native insects have evolved along with native plants, so they recognize them as food. Filling a garden with exotic plants essentially creates a food desert, which can have dire consequences that range from fewer insect pollinators and birds to diminishing food crops and, eventually, livestock. We know that using native plants of all types can help prevent a plethora of environmental problems. They're also easier to care for because they're naturally adapted to local conditions and are generally drought-tolerant. Unfortunately, most home gardeners don't know about or have access to native annuals. I hope that changes. The Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center, based in Austin, Texas, has a wonderful online plant database that allows users to search native plants by state, lifecycle, bloom time and other criteria. (It's at Consider asking your local nursery to stock them. Here are some favorite native annuals. 7 Native annuals worth adding to the garden Partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata), which is native from Massachusetts south to northern Florida and west to Minnesota, eastern Nebraska, Oklahoma and eastern Texas, is sadly underused. The lovely 1-to-3-foot-tall plant, which produces clusters of 1-inch-wide yellow flowers on tall, slender stems, thrives in both sun and part shade. A member of the legume family, it also releases nitrogen into the soil, which provides a natural and free fertilizer for itself and the other plants in the bed. American basket flower (Plectocephalus americanus) has a native range that spans west from Missouri to Kansas, then south to Louisiana, Texas and into Mexico. The plant, which boasts 4-inch, honey-scented, lavender-to-pinkish-purple flowers with creamy centers, thrives in full sun to part shade. Forked Bluecurls (Trichostema dichotomum) are delicate flowers that remind me a bit of Dutch irises. Growing to just over 2 feet tall, the late-summer bloomer is native to Michigan, Missouri and Texas east to the Atlantic coast, from Maine to Florida. A better-known U.S. native is the California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica), which, as its name implies, is native to California and Baja California. It grows up to 2 feet tall, sending up thin stems that each hold a single yellow-orange flower. Many sunflowers are North American natives, and some of those are perennials. But the Helianthus annus species, known as common or annual sunflower, is a native annual. Originating in Manitoba, Canada, and Minnesota, south to Texas and west from Oregon to Baja California, Mexico, the multi-branched, bushy plant becomes covered in yellow flowers with maroon centers in summer. Indian blanket flower (Gaillardia pulchella) is another U.S. native annual that I've seen at the nursery. They're not native to my home state of New York, however, but rather native from western South Dakota to Kansas and Louisiana and west to Colorado and Arizona. The 2-foot-tall plants put forth daisy-like, red-petaled flowers with yellow tips. Impatiens capensis (Orange jewelweed) should not be confused with the widely available Impatiens walleriana, which comes to us from eastern Africa, or Impatiens hawkeri (New Guinea Impatiens), which is native to the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. Instead, this North American beauty has a native range that covers Saskatchewan to Newfoundland, Canada, then extends south to Georgia, west to Oklahoma and northward to Missouri. Great for shady spots, its speckled orange flowers are a favorite of hummingbirds, bees and butterflies. Jessica Damiano, The Associated Press
The Independent
3 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Annuals are the forgotten native plants. Here are 7 worth adding to the garden
As home gardeners become more educated about the benefits of native plants (supporting native insects, birds and wildlife, and the environment as a whole), the focus has mainly been on trees, shrubs and perennials. Native annuals have somehow gotten lost in the shuffle, likely because most of them aren't readily available at the garden center. And most of the annuals (and tender perennials treated as annuals) that ARE sold in local nurseries are introduced species from faraway places. As such, they don't provide much benefit to the local ecosystem. Native insects have evolved along with native plants, so they recognize them as food. Filling a garden with exotic plants essentially creates a food desert, which can have dire consequences that range from fewer insect pollinators and birds to diminishing food crops and, eventually, livestock. We know that using native plants of all types can help prevent a plethora of environmental problems. They're also easier to care for because they're naturally adapted to local conditions and are generally drought-tolerant. Unfortunately, most home gardeners don't know about or have access to native annuals. I hope that changes. The Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center, based in Austin, Texas, has a wonderful online plant database that allows users to search native plants by state, lifecycle, bloom time and other criteria. (It's at Consider asking your local nursery to stock them. Here are some favorite native annuals. 7 Native annuals worth adding to the garden Partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata), which is native from Massachusetts south to northern Florida and west to Minnesota, eastern Nebraska, Oklahoma and eastern Texas, is sadly underused. The lovely 1-to-3-foot-tall plant, which produces clusters of 1-inch-wide yellow flowers on tall, slender stems, thrives in both sun and part shade. A member of the legume family, it also releases nitrogen into the soil, which provides a natural and free fertilizer for itself and the other plants in the bed. American basket flower (Plectocephalus americanus) has a native range that spans west from Missouri to Kansas, then south to Louisiana, Texas and into Mexico. The plant, which boasts 4-inch, honey-scented, lavender-to-pinkish-purple flowers with creamy centers, thrives in full sun to part shade. Forked Bluecurls (Trichostema dichotomum) are delicate flowers that remind me a bit of Dutch irises. Growing to just over 2 feet tall, the late-summer bloomer is native to Michigan, Missouri and Texas east to the Atlantic coast, from Maine to Florida. A better-known U.S. native is the California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica), which, as its name implies, is native to California and Baja California. It grows up to 2 feet tall, sending up thin stems that each hold a single yellow-orange flower. Many sunflowers are North American natives, and some of those are perennials. But the Helianthus annus species, known as common or annual sunflower, is a native annual. Originating in Manitoba, Canada, and Minnesota, south to Texas and west from Oregon to Baja California, Mexico, the multi-branched, bushy plant becomes covered in yellow flowers with maroon centers in summer. Indian blanket flower (Gaillardia pulchella) is another U.S. native annual that I've seen at the nursery. They're not native to my home state of New York, however, but rather native from western South Dakota to Kansas and Louisiana and west to Colorado and Arizona. The 2-foot-tall plants put forth daisy-like, red-petaled flowers with yellow tips. Impatiens capensis (Orange jewelweed) should not be confused with the widely available Impatiens walleriana, which comes to us from eastern Africa, or Impatiens hawkeri (New Guinea Impatiens), which is native to the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. Instead, this North American beauty has a native range that covers Saskatchewan to Newfoundland, Canada, then extends south to Georgia, west to Oklahoma and northward to Missouri. Great for shady spots, its speckled orange flowers are a favorite of hummingbirds, bees and butterflies. ___ Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice. ___
Associated Press
3 days ago
- Science
- Associated Press
Annuals are the forgotten native plants. Here are 7 worth adding to the garden
As home gardeners become more educated about the benefits of native plants (supporting native insects, birds and wildlife, and the environment as a whole), the focus has mainly been on trees, shrubs and perennials. Native annuals have somehow gotten lost in the shuffle, likely because most of them aren't readily available at the garden center. And most of the annuals (and tender perennials treated as annuals) that ARE sold in local nurseries are introduced species from faraway places. As such, they don't provide much benefit to the local ecosystem. Native insects have evolved along with native plants, so they recognize them as food. Filling a garden with exotic plants essentially creates a food desert, which can have dire consequences that range from fewer insect pollinators and birds to diminishing food crops and, eventually, livestock. We know that using native plants of all types can help prevent a plethora of environmental problems. They're also easier to care for because they're naturally adapted to local conditions and are generally drought-tolerant. Unfortunately, most home gardeners don't know about or have access to native annuals. I hope that changes. The Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center, based in Austin, Texas, has a wonderful online plant database that allows users to search native plants by state, lifecycle, bloom time and other criteria. (It's at Consider asking your local nursery to stock them. Here are some favorite native annuals. 7 Native annuals worth adding to the gardenPartridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata), which is native from Massachusetts south to northern Florida and west to Minnesota, eastern Nebraska, Oklahoma and eastern Texas, is sadly underused. The lovely 1-to-3-foot-tall plant, which produces clusters of 1-inch-wide yellow flowers on tall, slender stems, thrives in both sun and part shade. A member of the legume family, it also releases nitrogen into the soil, which provides a natural and free fertilizer for itself and the other plants in the bed. American basket flower (Plectocephalus americanus) has a native range that spans west from Missouri to Kansas, then south to Louisiana, Texas and into Mexico. The plant, which boasts 4-inch, honey-scented, lavender-to-pinkish-purple flowers with creamy centers, thrives in full sun to part shade. Forked Bluecurls (Trichostema dichotomum) are delicate flowers that remind me a bit of Dutch irises. Growing to just over 2 feet tall, the late-summer bloomer is native to Michigan, Missouri and Texas east to the Atlantic coast, from Maine to Florida. A better-known U.S. native is the California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica), which, as its name implies, is native to California and Baja California. It grows up to 2 feet tall, sending up thin stems that each hold a single yellow-orange flower. Many sunflowers are North American natives, and some of those are perennials. But the Helianthus annus species, known as common or annual sunflower, is a native annual. Originating in Manitoba, Canada, and Minnesota, south to Texas and west from Oregon to Baja California, Mexico, the multi-branched, bushy plant becomes covered in yellow flowers with maroon centers in summer. Indian blanket flower (Gaillardia pulchella) is another U.S. native annual that I've seen at the nursery. They're not native to my home state of New York, however, but rather native from western South Dakota to Kansas and Louisiana and west to Colorado and Arizona. The 2-foot-tall plants put forth daisy-like, red-petaled flowers with yellow tips. Impatiens capensis (Orange jewelweed) should not be confused with the widely available Impatiens walleriana, which comes to us from eastern Africa, or Impatiens hawkeri (New Guinea Impatiens), which is native to the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. Instead, this North American beauty has a native range that covers Saskatchewan to Newfoundland, Canada, then extends south to Georgia, west to Oklahoma and northward to Missouri. Great for shady spots, its speckled orange flowers are a favorite of hummingbirds, bees and butterflies. ___ Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice. ___ For more AP gardening stories, go to
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Nurseries in England bring in Covid-style protocols as measles cases rise
Parents and experts have voiced alarm over rising measles cases, with nurseries bringing in Covid-style isolation protocols to clamp down on outbreaks. There have been more than 500 confirmed cases in England in 2025, the majority in young children. A child died at Alder Hey hospital in Liverpool on Sunday after contracting the infectious disease. With cases increasing and vaccine uptake in some parts of the country worryingly low, nurseries are bringing back infection control measures last used during the pandemic to keep children safe and ease parents' fears. Adam Rowles' two-year-old daughter attends a nursery in south-east London that recently had four cases of measles. Although his daughter is fully vaccinated, his six-month-old son is due to start attending the nursery before his first birthday, when he would be eligible for his first measles jab. Rowles said: 'It's alarming, isn't it? Because it's something that you think has been eradicated, and we don't have to worry about any more, but then all of a sudden here we are. It's just baffling.' He has asked about postponing his son's nursery place until he is vaccinated but was told that would cost him his place. The nursery said it had implemented strict protocols, such as dividing up walking and nonwalking babies to reduce the spread of infection and had brought back 'Covid levels of cleaning'. 'We felt slightly more at ease, but still not fully at ease,' said Rowles. 'It made what seemed really bad and quite scary, still scary but less so. We're basically just going to have to hope for the best for five months. And we have grandparents on hand to help if we have to take him out of there, if it comes to that.' Melanie Pilcher of the Early Years Alliance, which represents providers, said nurseries were equipped to deal with outbreaks after the Covid pandemic and were starting to bring back similar infection control procedures. 'They're using all those good hygiene practices, staff have got PPE, they've got aprons, gloves, some settings still keep masks,' she said. 'They're doing everything they can, while obviously not scaring the children either. 'Thanks to Covid, we got very savvy at knowing what we needed to do in the case of a very serious illness occurring like this. It is a very real and present danger.' Pilcher said many nurseries were asking whether they could turn away unvaccinated children: 'They can't, and it wouldn't be right to turn children away because it is a parental choice at the end of the day, and we have to respect that.' Experts said measles vaccine uptake had decreased in part because of misinformation online, missed appointments in the pandemic and limited access to GP appointments Helen Bedford, a professor of children's health at UCL, said inequality driven by poverty was the key underlying issue. 'People talk about vaccine hesitancy and true, people do have questions, they have concerns. But the biggest problem really is about access. Under-immunisation goes hand in hand with poverty,' she said. Parents being unable to take time off work to get their child to a vaccination appointment, or unable to afford the transport to get there, were regularly cited as reasons why children had not had both doses of the measles, mumps and rubella jab. Prof Matt Ashton, the director of public health for Liverpool, where measles vaccine uptake is 73% compared with 84% across England, said: 'Measles is a disease people are used to not seeing. And people have complex, difficult lives, aligned to poverty and deprivation. 'They are time-poor, often working really hard just to put food on the table. So that means they don't prioritise a health intervention for a disease they don't think is an issue.' The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know. If you have something to share on this subject you can contact us confidentially using the following methods. Secure Messaging in the Guardian app The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said. If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select 'Secure Messaging'. SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post See our guide at for alternative methods and the pros and cons of each. Dr Chris Bird, a paediatric emergency medicine consultant at Birmingham children's hospital, has treated a number of measles patients, particularly during an outbreak of about 450 cases last year. 'That's a huge number, and a lot of my colleagues had never seen measles before. We had almost elimination status in the UK just before Covid,' he said. 'It's also quite difficult to spot because the symptoms are very non-specific until the rash appears at day four. 'Measles is 10 times more infectious than flu or Covid, so you only have to have a child sitting in a busy waiting room for 15 minutes and then you've got a potential spread.' He said he was increasingly speaking to families who had not had their children vaccinated, often for 'personal reasons'. Dr Qasim Malik, a paediatric registrar and member of the British Islamic Medical Association (Bima), said a more targeted approach toward different communities was needed to boost vaccine uptake. 'We're often talking about people who probably have been traditionally excluded from accessing healthcare,' he said. 'For instance, the marginalisation of asylum seekers and refugees means they're more reluctant to seek out healthcare for their children. 'At Bima, we use inclusive language sensitive to the Muslim community, such as considering if there is gelatine in the vaccine, for instance, whether that is affecting uptake and what alternatives are available. We need less demonisation and a kinder approach when looking at these issues by building relationships and looking at vaccine hesitancy alongside other issues such as lack of access to food and adequate housing.'
The Guardian
7 days ago
- Health
- The Guardian
Nurseries in England bring in Covid-style protocols as measles cases rise
Parents and experts have voiced alarm over rising measles cases, with nurseries bringing in Covid-style isolation protocols to clamp down on outbreaks. There have been more than 500 confirmed cases in England in 2025, the majority in young children. A child died at Alder Hey hospital in Liverpool on Sunday after contracting the infectious disease. With cases increasing and vaccine uptake in some parts of the country worryingly low, nurseries are bringing back infection control measures last used during the pandemic to keep children safe and ease parents' fears. Adam Rowles' two-year-old daughter attends a nursery in south-east London that recently had four cases of measles. Although his daughter is fully vaccinated, his six-month-old son is due to start attending the nursery before his first birthday, when he would be eligible for his first measles jab. Rowles said: 'It's alarming, isn't it? Because it's something that you think has been eradicated, and we don't have to worry about any more, but then all of a sudden here we are. It's just baffling.' He has asked about postponing his son's nursery place until he is vaccinated but was told that would cost him his place. The nursery said it had implemented strict protocols, such as dividing up walking and nonwalking babies to reduce the spread of infection and had brought back 'Covid levels of cleaning'. 'We felt slightly more at ease, but still not fully at ease,' said Rowles. 'It made what seemed really bad and quite scary, still scary but less so. We're basically just going to have to hope for the best for five months. And we have grandparents on hand to help if we have to take him out of there, if it comes to that.' Melanie Pilcher of the Early Years Alliance, which represents providers, said nurseries were equipped to deal with outbreaks after the Covid pandemic and were starting to bring back similar infection control procedures. 'They're using all those good hygiene practices, staff have got PPE, they've got aprons, gloves, some settings still keep masks,' she said. 'They're doing everything they can, while obviously not scaring the children either. 'Thanks to Covid, we got very savvy at knowing what we needed to do in the case of a very serious illness occurring like this. It is a very real and present danger.' Pilcher said many nurseries were asking whether they could turn away unvaccinated children: 'They can't, and it wouldn't be right to turn children away because it is a parental choice at the end of the day, and we have to respect that.' Experts said measles vaccine uptake had decreased in part because of misinformation online, missed appointments in the pandemic and limited access to GP appointments Helen Bedford, a professor of children's health at UCL, said inequality driven by poverty was the key underlying issue. 'People talk about vaccine hesitancy and true, people do have questions, they have concerns. But the biggest problem really is about access. Under-immunisation goes hand in hand with poverty,' she said. Parents being unable to take time off work to get their child to a vaccination appointment, or unable to afford the transport to get there, were regularly cited as reasons why children had not had both doses of the measles, mumps and rubella jab. Prof Matt Ashton, the director of public health for Liverpool, where measles vaccine uptake is 73% compared with 84% across England, said: 'Measles is a disease people are used to not seeing. And people have complex, difficult lives, aligned to poverty and deprivation. 'They are time-poor, often working really hard just to put food on the table. So that means they don't prioritise a health intervention for a disease they don't think is an issue.' Dr Chris Bird, a paediatric emergency medicine consultant at Birmingham children's hospital, has treated a number of measles patients, particularly during an outbreak of about 450 cases last year. 'That's a huge number, and a lot of my colleagues had never seen measles before. We had almost eradication status in the UK just before Covid,' he said. 'It's also quite difficult to spot because the symptoms are very non-specific until the rash appears at day four. 'Measles is 10 times more infectious than flu or Covid, so you only have to have a child sitting in a busy waiting room for 15 minutes and then you've got a potential spread.' He said he was increasingly speaking to families who had not had their children vaccinated, often for 'personal reasons'. Dr Qasim Malik, a paediatric registrar and member of the British Islamic Medical Association (Bima), said a more targeted approach toward different communities was needed to boost vaccine uptake. 'We're often talking about people who probably have been traditionally excluded from accessing healthcare,' he said. 'For instance, the marginalisation of asylum seekers and refugees means they're more reluctant to seek out healthcare for their children. 'At Bima, we use inclusive language sensitive to the Muslim community, such as considering if there is gelatine in the vaccine, for instance, whether that is affecting uptake and what alternatives are available. We need less demonisation and a kinder approach when looking at these issues.'
