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As 2025 winds down, we find ourselves reflecting on a year filled with both achievements and challenges. There is much to be proud of — from the many new friends we've made to the customers who have joined our journey. While our ambitions were high, Mother Nature had her own plans. Seventy days of rain meant seventy days of lost opportunity, and some commitments had to be left unfinished. Yet, even in the face of those setbacks, there has been so much beauty and inspiration to carry us forward. A few topics of interest to me — and hopefully to you as well — stand out as reminders of the simple joys that make each season worthwhile. Blueberries: Little Jewels of Summer 🫐 Few things capture the taste of summer like a handful of fresh blueberries. Beyond their sweet‑tart flavor, they're nutritional powerhouses — rich in antioxidants, vitamin C, and fiber. In the garden, blueberry bushes are as beautiful as they are productive, with delicate spring blossoms, lush summer foliage, and fiery red leaves in autumn. They also draw in pollinators, making them a win‑win for both your table and your local ecosystem. Butterflies: Nature's Living Art 🦋 Butterflies bring a sense of wonder wherever they appear. Their presence signals a healthy environment, as they rely on diverse, pesticide‑free habitats to thrive. From the monarch's epic migration to the swallowtail's graceful flight, each species plays a role in pollination and biodiversity. Planting nectar‑rich flowers like coneflowers, milkweed, and zinnias can turn any yard into a butterfly haven — and give you a front‑row seat to their delicate beauty. New Plants: Fresh Faces for the Garden 🌱 Every year brings exciting new plant introductions, and 2025 has been no exception. Breeders are focusing on resilience, pollinator appeal, and extended bloom times. Standouts include the PINK ON REPEAT™ lilac, which offers multiple flushes of fragrant blooms, and the Rocky Mountain goldenrod, a hardy native that lights up late summer with golden sprays of flowers. Adding even one or two new varieties can refresh your garden's look and support local wildlife. As we look back on these simple joys — the taste of blueberries, the flutter of butterfly wings, and the thrill of planting something new — we're reminded that nature offers endless reasons to pause, appreciate, and dream ahead. Whether in a garden bed, a wild meadow, or a single potted plant on the porch, each small act of tending the earth adds beauty to our days and hope to our future. Here's to carrying that spirit forward into the seasons to come. --- Resources: Blueberry | Home & Garden Information Center NABA - North American Butterfly Association New Plants for 2026 - By Collection - SHOP PLANTS
Pollinator gardens provide habitat and food for native pollinating bees, wasps, moths, andbutterflies, including the iconic monarch butterfly. Usage of these plants in gardens is rising -- in tandem with greater awareness of the important ecological functions that pollinators provide. Creating bee habitats like “bee hotels” and leaving or stacking stems from perennials are also popular tactics gardeners are adopting to provide good overwintering habitat for pollinators. https://www.almanac.com/building-pollinator-garden Plant Options: Adding pollinator attracting plants such as Pycnanthemum, mountain mint; Eutrochium (syn. Eupatorium) Joe-pye weed; Liatris, gayfeathers; Echinacea, coneflowers and Asclepias, milkweeds will increase the diversity of garden pollinators. Boxwood blight is an ongoing fungal issue for many gardeners who consider boxwoods an easy-to-care-for and durable evergreen. Boxwood blight is hard to control in the garden and since it spreads quickly, many plants are dying or being compromised. Because of this, gardeners are starting to think about alternative options to prevent potential boxwood blight. Plant Options: Some great substitutions include alternate evergreens such as inkberry holly, Ilex glabra Strongbox®, Gem Box® and Proven Winners®, and Squeeze Box®. Additionally, boxwoods that are bred to be resistant to blight are being promoted by Better Boxwood® such as Skylight™, Renaissance™, Heritage™, and Babylon Beauty™. https://nationalplantoftheyear.com/gem-box-ilex/ Tropical plants are popular in the garden for their seasonal large and luxuriant foliage. This impact in the temperate garden creates a tropical-like feeling throughout the summer and into the fall, and offers up vibrant splashes of color, bringing a taste of the tropics home. Plant Options: There continues to be many great tropical plants coming to garden centers including two new elephant ears, Colocasia esculenta Redemption™ and Pharaoh’s Mask™ from Plants Nouveau®. There are a host of great new bold foliaged begonias with great leaf patterns including Jurassic rex begonias, Begonia rex Curly™ and the Shadow King® series. The Hollywood® Hibiscus, Sun Parasol® Mandevilla and Canna Cannova® Red Golden Flame and Bronze Peach are great new tropical plant introductions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExFvGvct_qQ&t=26s Happy 2025 gardening season from all of us at Combs Landscaping! Keep on following and showing your support. https://www.facebook.com/CombsLandscape47715 https://www.combslandscape.com/https://www.instagram.com/combslandscaping1/
