The Dirt

American beauty berry is a deciduous shrub naturally occurring in the understory of upland and coastal woodlands. The arching branches...

The Acadian French name for this perennial grass is Caniche or paille jaune. This attractive plant grows 3-5 feet tall and prefers moist...

Indian blanket flower is an erect annual or perennial in the Asteraceae (daisy) family. 

Southern Arrowwood, Viburnum dentatum, is a multi-stemmed, deciduous shrub (6' - 12’ x 6' -10’) that occurs over most of the state in ...

The first time I saw this beautiful plant was in a Cameron Parish drainage ditch between an abandoned parking lot and coastal marsh near ...

I love this article written by Bill Fontenot about Cyrilla racemiflora. It is from the Nature Dude Blog dated December 2017.

Lanceleaf coreopsis is an evergreen native perennial with bright yellow blooms from March to June.

from September 2022 newsletter Cherrybark oak is a relatively fast growing, long-lived large deciduous tree with attractive dark bark...

Throughout the years, Asclepias viridis or green milkweed has acquired several common names such as spider milkweed, American silkweed,...

Spring is here and flowers are popping up everywhere, in this case, flowers that no one planted, they just appear every spring and go...

The weather is still cool and we have another month to plant trees so this month, Carpinus caroliniana, also known as ironwood or...

One of our New Year's Resolutions is to raise the profile of some of our most beloved native plants by featuring them in our outreach and...

Native milkweed species in the genus Asclepias are herbaceous perennials found in many different habitats in Louisiana. Most have milky...

Baptisia alba is a showy white flowered legume growing 2-4 ft. tall by 2 ft wide. It is a mound-shaped bushy perennial with smooth leaves...

This month I decided to take my mind off prairie plants by looking up to the trees and experiencing the onset of fall color in Louisiana....

Gumbo weather makes us think of file’. Sassafras is a small to medium sized deciduous tree or shrub with horizontal branching in tiers....

Cherrybark oak is a relatively fast growing, long-lived large deciduous tree with attractive dark bark broken into shallow longitudinal...

Yellow is the color of October in my prairie. It seems like every plant with a yellow fower is flowering now: the goldenrods and many...

By: Dona Weifenbach Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii (Turk's cap) It has been a long, hot, dry summer.  Each morning, when I look...

By: Dona Weifenbach Mamou (Erythrina herbacea) displays its showy blooms. Mamou or coral bean is a perennial shrub growing 5-8' high...