Two years ago, our garden was a novice native plant haven, but this year we've embraced less maintenance and a more creative approach: chaos gardening! My love for flowers and supporting pollinators has inspired five distinct mini habitats:

1. The Purposeful Puddle: Our 5x30 ft Rain Garden
This rain garden, thanks to Rutgers design, includes my favorite hummingbird plant, Cardinal Flower! A rain garden grabs rainwater from our roof, feeds my own colorful mix of flowers (red, yellow, blue!), creates a mini-wetland, and even saves 400 square feet of rainwater from the town's drainage. Pretty neat!

2. Sky-High Buzz: The Sunflower Sanctuary
Prepare to look upwards in July/Aug! This dedicated space will showcase the towering majesty of sunflowers. These blooms are a crucial resource for our local bee population, and as a cheerful nod to our New Jersey state bird as the American Goldfinch loves their seeds! Sunflowers have been a part of our yard each year, popping up at different spots.

3. Corner of Controlled Chaos: A Blooming Medley
In the front corner, we tucked in eight native plant starter kits from Rutgers last fall. Now they're happily mixing with cheerful zinnias, charming nasturtiums, and even strawberry groundcover – a little bit of nature's lovely chaos! Two shrubs will grow fast to give winter birds and critters a cozy cover and extra food.

4. A Wild Experiment: The Northeast Wildflower Patch
This front area was sown in April with two wildflower seed mixes specifically formulated for the Northeast. We’re eagerly awaiting the short- and long-term blooms, (hoping the birds have not eaten their share of seeds before germination). Expecting a mini meadow of wildflowers for years to come, too

5. Tallamy's Tapestry: Keystone Natives in a Chaotic Embrace
Inspired by the insightful work of Doug Tallamy, our backyard section features his kit collection of 28 keystone starter plants, vital to our ecosystem survival. The intention is to create a multi-layered landscape of flowering plants and small shrubs that offer food sources and cover for our winter birds, the bunny, and our resident chipmunk family.

This year, our garden embraces nature's beautiful chaos! It's a colorful, relaxing space that's great for birds, too. I’m watching as it evolves and connects with our local butterflies, bees and critters. Enjoy the wander and maybe find some chaotic inspiration for your yard!

Enjoy – Shirley Bailey