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Mrs. Andrea Keller

Gardening, Natives · August 25, 2024

Garden Update

Nearly Native Pond

Gardening, Natives · July 23, 2024

Nearly Native Pond

Nearly Native Update

Gardening, Natives · July 21, 2024

Nearly Native Update

mrs.andreakeller

Indiana gardener | Native nerd | Monarch momma | Lepidoptera lover | Photographer | Yogi

Each time I see these containers I’m reminded… I’

Each time I see these containers I’m reminded…

I’m passionate about native plants because of the ecological benefits but also because I used to be that girl filling up the back of my car or entire truck bed, spending thousands, with flowers.

Flowers that I thought would help. That I thought would actually live and look good and bring butterflies. There was a butterfly on the tag so it was supposed to right?!🤪🫣But year after year they died. 🪦 (Proven Winners my ass😒)

I started only buying for zones much lower than ours thinking they would survive the cold. I bought dedicated sprinklers, water lines, timers and more to make sure they had water. And they died. 🪦 Everything turned into hostas and catmints and weeds because they survived. I broke my back replanting and laying fresh mulch year after year. But I ran out of money, patience, and hope.

I started tearing out beds and putting grass back. It was too much and I couldn’t figure it out. I spent a decade trying to achieve what I got out of one growing season with native flowers. (And now I can’t shut up about it)

**Another main reason I’m passionate about the Beyond Lawns program: I don’t want anyone to feel like how I felt. Native Nerds are here to help and come along beside you**

Yes, Native plants are smaller. You need more of them. They can add up in cost but they aren’t bad price wise in my opinion compared to what you have to pay now at most box garden centers. You can start small and your plants will give you free seeds to keep going.

But they live. No, they THRIVE. And now I have gobs and gobs of butterflies, dragonflies, fewer mosquitoes, fewer garden pests for my vegetables. I barely water them now that they’ve exploded from their tiny plug status. They are gorgeous. My maintenance is minimal. Full transparency: I used landscape fabric. (Trust me, another mistake I spent hundreds on that I’m sure I didn’t need too) I’m not in a new area and will get a better sense on weeding when I do that.

The time and money (and my back) I have saved from not maintaining a traditional landscape with fresh mulch plus helping restore our insect populations is so worth it 🫶🏻

We’re nearing the end of winter sowing at home. Do

We’re nearing the end of winter sowing at home. Down to a week or two left for what I’m comfortable doing. Last year we didn’t start until March 1 🫣 so I’m gonna push it because why not😂💁🏼‍♀️

There’s still time if you want to give it a go!

I can’t tell you how thankful I am for @therivercoffeehouse and everyone (from my new friends at the library, our preschool, neighbors, high school friends, past work colleagues, etc) that have collected for me. And for @wildonessouthbend @zimmer_biomet @allenpylant @chapmanlakenursery and @goodneighborsweets for seeds🫶🏻

Inside the shed a lot is happening too 😍 I got a little impatient and ordered two more heat mats so I can start peppers for the garden projects. Justin is already mentally prepared for more racks and lights if needed. I’m hoping we can finish the hoop house soon to help with some spacing. Lots of seeds I still haven’t gotten to cleaning either 🤪 and lastly I can not freaking wait for this dead grass out front to be alive with blooms and butterflies 😍

If you missed it last night a copy of our slides h

If you missed it last night a copy of our slides have been posted on the @nativenerdskosc Facebook page!

Today was one of the best days 🥹 We kicked off @t

Today was one of the best days 🥹

We kicked off @thewatershedfoundation’s Beyond Lawns new seedling program 🌱 (and @nativenerdskosc ) with over 80 people in attendance! We were sold out within a few weeks of promoting it and that makes me SO happy to know there are so many people with an interest in this.

I know at times my voice shook but it was so good and honestly plant people are the happiest, nicest people so it was all fine. We all kind of stepped into a space of discomfort to present and I hope it came across well for everyone. And hopefully not from a place of ego but inspiration, it’s hard for me to convey that I think. Also IG’s suggested song rec is so spot on to the doubt I’ve been feeling about everything lately. ❤️‍🩹

I really wish I could have stayed and talked with people more. I saw friends, family, and neighbors out in the crowd and really felt that🫶🏻 Thank you to everyone that came, helped clean up, asked questions, friends in the audience that helped field questions, and those that brought me milk jugs🫶🏻 I’m so thankful and excited for what’s to come.

If you missed it and want to still get a copy of the slides please let me know. They are getting emailed out soon 💚🌱

This year I’ve set out to grow more than I’ve ever

This year I’ve set out to grow more than I’ve ever grown before. 🌱🌱🌱 It’s exciting and terrifying. For my yard, for @thewatershedfoundation’s Beyond Lawns program, for @communityhealinggardenwarsaw and for other community garden projects 🫶🏻

I’ve been thinking a lot on that lately too. I don’t have a solid why around it. Other than I can do it. And that each of us can make a difference no matter how small. This is just how I choose to do it. Ultimately, I want to remove barriers for people. Education and financial primarily, surrounding plants and gardening.

I don’t think I ever really shared, but I almost gave up gardening a few years ago. I was defeated. I felt like I was wasting money, screwing things up, making more work for myself (and Justin) that wasn’t paying off and that was taking precious time away from my kids. 💔

At the last minute I said I will give it one more shot. I got focused, gave the garden and myself more time to learn and try things I hadn’t done before…

That summer was the best and most productive garden I had ever had. That was 2023. The same time that I started down the path of Native Plants. It wasn’t that long ago. I vowed then to share everything that I learned. ❤️‍🩹

More on that soon 🫶🏻

I sowed these seeds on Sunday and they’re already popping up which has me over the moon today 🌱🤗

Also recap from life:

We’ve started on rebuilding the greenhouse. I’m hoping to move my native plants started in the shed out there sometime in March to make more room for all of the veggie starts. We didn’t start building it until 3/9 last year and I couldn’t use it until 4/27 so I’m really excited to learn about that process this season from an earlier start time. I’m finally getting things actually organized and labeled. We also started silk screening shirts for Native Nerds. I don’t yet know what this is going to look like yet but working on getting that figured out. Not pictured are the hundreds of milk jugs in my front yard waiting to awaken.

If you are interested in helping up-pot plants at my place this spring or helping with the big community garden please send me a message. (No experience required/all black thumbs welcome)

It’s almost time 💗

It’s almost time 💗

Growing sooo much Liatris this year 💜💜

Growing sooo much Liatris this year 💜💜

If you need a break from the world right now, come

If you need a break from the world right now, come sit on the bench with me and watch the bees and listen to the birds ❤️‍🩹

Now for properties of any size! If you’ve got a sm

Now for properties of any size! If you’ve got a small spot you’d like to add a butterfly garden or a huge area you’d like to convert to prairie @thewatershedfoundation and @nativenerdskosc has you covered 💙

How @nativenerdskosc came to be 🫶🏻 check out this

How @nativenerdskosc came to be 🫶🏻 check out this blog and register for our upcoming workshop on 2/19

If you’ve ever been curious on adding native plant

If you’ve ever been curious on adding native plants to your property this is the place to be!

➡️Register for the Beyond Lawn Workshop at https://tinyurl.com/bddy2n8d or head over to @thewatershedfoundation

Special thanks to TWF for this AMAZING program and sponsors: KREMC, Village & Wilderness, KSWCD

I’ve had an idea for a while now and finally got a

I’ve had an idea for a while now and finally got around to testing it out. Labeling is hands down my biggest challenge so I wanted to work on some solutions.

I do like to force my brain to really recognize what I’m growing by not labeling though ha. It’s probably not the most practical thing either but I do like it. Thankfully I’ve got some great guys that love me that made my first mold and laser template. Now to learn how to use the CNC and the laser for my other ideas…😅🤪

I’m not rolling it out yet but I made an Etsy shop for some of the native plant/butterfly things I want to try and do. Also my new seed envelopes came in (literally SO excited to do these) and starting to prep for winter sowing by getting frozen bags of soil to thaw out 🥶 Still collecting milk jugs if you’ve got any 😍

I’m looking to grow the most I’ve ever grown this

I’m looking to grow the most I’ve ever grown this winter season and I could use your help.

Next year I’ve got several native plant projects in the works and I’m afraid I don’t have enough milk jugs. I’m talking my yard, the community garden, schools, and friends like you that want to add habitat to your property. I’ve been busy the past couple of months collecting tons of seeds and prefer to use the jugs to start them in. They only last so many seasons before they become brittle and break down. Photos are of past years where neighbors and friends saved for me.

🥛milk jugs or water gallon jugs that are somewhat see thru that are rinsed out and not smashed down. 🫶🏻🌱

I’m still working on collecting sites but will come to you or can take them at Osborn in downtown Warsaw.

2023 to 2025 💚🌱🐝 2024 plants went in the ground. F

2023 to 2025 💚🌱🐝 2024 plants went in the ground. For native plants the expression goes, “sleep, creep, then leap”. It’s hard to think that it will be even better next year. Meanwhile the thousands of plugs we got planted this year will start to fill in. We still have some spots to fill in, and to construct the pond of course, but this will be easier now that I have a handle on growing, my own supply of seeds, and the hoop house built. In that spirit, we’ve been eyeing other areas of the yard that we’d like to convert; just in a different method this go around.

My favorite homeschool group came to the garden th

My favorite homeschool group came to the garden this morning.🫶🏼 And we covered a ton! They’ve heard about the monarch lifecycle, migration, and host plants before so I decided to switch up our lesson.

Before we could even get started these kids knew to come hunt in the milkweed plants and found several monarch caterpillars and a chrysalis.

Today we read one of my favorite children’s books “A garden to save the birds” (which goes into how you can talk to your neighbors and work together to help create habitat, what’s happening to the birds, their migration, why we need native plants, and more) and talked about how most birds can only feed their babies moth and butterfly caterpillars (and other insects), not seeds. And how leaving the leaves under our trees or raked into our flower beds creates the habitat needed for most moth caterpillars to drop to the ground to pupate.

We examined a dead Polyphemus moth and talked about how it needs the leaves to spin a silk cocoon to overwinter. And its spots on its wings look like eyes to scare away predators. How song birds and caterpillars get their color from carotenoids and about catching fireflies and their lifecycle. Did you know that they are only above ground for 10 days or so, and that they live in ground for about 2 years? I love seeing these kiddos come find caterpillars, run around in butterfly wings, pick flowers and produce from the garden and just explore. 🐝🦋🐛🍂🪺🌼

Got the big camera in the garden last night 📷

Got the big camera in the garden last night 📷

The front flower bed hit its 2 year mark a couple

The front flower bed hit its 2 year mark a couple of weeks ago. So we took some updated drone shots. I really enjoy seeing the progress and all of the unplanned changes that worked out 😅 We’re still not finished up here. Two more beds to finish planting and the pond install. I wish I would have gotten photos from when it was at its peak summer blooms, because everything hits different when monarda is blooming, but next year… I also really really REALLY love the greenhouse. I’m super pumped to fill that with (hopefully 6,000+) native starts next year! There’s some big plans in the works and it needs its own separate post. So more soon 🫶🏼

Everything about yesterday was perfect🫶🏼 I wish I

Everything about yesterday was perfect🫶🏼 I wish I had taken more photos (next year, next year ha!) but really loved talking to people about native plants, restoring habitat on their property, joining Native Nerds, and all things butterflies. Thankful for all the friends and family that came out to see it. And for all my new butterfly friends. We had almost 400 people at the event!

Got to hang out with some amazing butterfly friend

Got to hang out with some amazing butterfly friends last night and help set up for the upcoming BUTTERFLY EXTRAVAGANZA!

You don’t want to miss this event (It’s TOMORROW—EEK!). Just walking around last night there were soooo many monarchs flying around everyone. It was magical. @cindygack hosts this event each year and it’s one of my favs.

See butterflies flying over and around you, see caterpillars in almost every stage of development, get temporary butterfly tattoos, kids activities, tour the garden, get FREE native plants!, eat butterfly cookies, eat tacos, and learn from information booths like @thelillycenter and me - where I’ll be talking about how I went from rearing butterflies to restoring habitat and provide you with all the resources I’ve found along the way, along with a new group we’re putting together called Native Nerds and how we can help you create habitat!

TOMORROW (Saturday, Aug 9th) from 3-6pm at Fluttery Garden (7295 W Bensart Dr. Claypool, IN 46510)

Yesterday was one of the best days. We’ve had the

Yesterday was one of the best days. We’ve had the most butterfly and insect activity in our yard to date. And videos don’t do it justice at all. The zinnias literally looked like an AI image of every type of butterfly (because we actually had multiples of each kind). Another monarch had emerged from a chrysalis near where we were planting so helped her find a spot to pump her wings. Watched and learned about the mating ritual between spicebush swallowtails (my absolute fav). Planted several hundred more native plants out front - more still to go - as we reflected on the growth from everything and the 2 year anniversary of planning these beds. And finished the day barefoot, with some of the best people, in the creek. Just feeling so incredibly thankful 🫶🏼

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