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My new home rain garden is nearly finished, and the basin is already doing its job.Rain that runs off roofs, driveways, ...
10/03/2026

My new home rain garden is nearly finished, and the basin is already doing its job.

Rain that runs off roofs, driveways, and other impervious surfaces carries sediment, fertilizer, and other pollutants into storm drains and then the local watershed. A rain garden holds that water and lets soil and plant roots filter it before it soaks into the ground.

Here, rain from the roof enters through a copper rain chain, drops onto a river stone channel, and moves across the yard into a cascading, planted basin. Water used to sit on this part of the lawn for days. After the last rain, the basin drained in less than 24 hours.

The plants are small Michigan native plugs, so this is the infrastructure working before the vegetation has filled in. Over the next few seasons, roots will deepen infiltration, and the plantings will add habitat and passive cooling to the property.

This project is part of the 2026 Oakland County RainSmart Rebate program, which covers part of the cost. To find out if you're eligible for a 2027 RainSmart Rebate, see the Clinton River Watershed Council website: https://www.crwc.org/rainsmart
oakgov

This spring I designed and installed native plantings across an entire Bloomfield Hills property, front foundation beds ...
08/03/2026

This spring I designed and installed native plantings across an entire Bloomfield Hills property, front foundation beds to back borders.

This native garden is intentional: layered, structured, full of purpose. Every plant is doing something, for pollinators, for birds, for the soil.

A native garden takes about three years to fully mature, but you don’t have to wait that long for color. This garden already has spotted beebalm, nodding wild onion, sweet Joe Pye w**d, Bradbury’s beebalm, and butterfly w**d blooming in its first season.

I planted densely in drifts along the front borders, where first impressions matter most, and gave plants more room to spread in the back, where the budget goes further and space isn’t as tight.

The property is already more alive. I spotted a rabbit and a toad moving in and witnessed a cicada emerging. Deer will sample new plants, but I choose deer-tolerant natives that bounce back and keep growing.

Blooming Species:

Spotted beebalm / Monarda punctata
Nodding wild onion / Allium cernuum
Sweet Joe Pye w**d / Eutrochium purpureum
Bradbury’s beebalm / Monarda bradburiana
Butterfly w**d / Asclepias tuberosa

I’ve been busy installing this spring. This client’s property now has 18 native species in the ground: over 300 perennia...
06/17/2026

I’ve been busy installing this spring. This client’s property now has 18 native species in the ground: over 300 perennial plugs and nearly 40 shrubs.

These shots are from just after planting, before anything has filled in. Right now it looks sparse. That’s normal and even expected: native plants put their energy into roots the first year, not top growth.

What’s really happening below the surface is a shift in what this property can support. Native plants co-evolved with local insects, many of which depend on specific host plants to complete their life cycle. Butterfly w**d feeds monarch caterpillars, while plants like wild geranium and viburnum support various native moth species. More insects means more food for birds, especially during nesting season when they need protein-rich insects, not seeds, to feed their chicks. Eighteen species adds up to a property that can actually sustain a food web. This isn’t just landscaping. It’s habitat.

Worth the wait. Check back later this season to see the difference a few months makes.

Curious which native plants would work on your property? Reach out to schedule a site consultation.

The plants have arrived and my garden assistants are on duty. Over 200 native plugs, gallon shrubs, and ferns are staged...
05/14/2026

The plants have arrived and my garden assistants are on duty.

Over 200 native plugs, gallon shrubs, and ferns are staged and ready for installation at a client garden in Bloomfield Hills - a whole-property native planting designed to support local wildlife, provide four seasons of interest, and look beautiful doing it.

The property has a mix of prairie and woodland conditions, each calling for its own palette of plants. Sun-loving prairie species like Spotted Bee Balm and Rough Blazing Star for the front beds, and shade-adapted woodland species like Goldie’s Fern, Wild Ginger, and Sweet Joe Pye W**d for the shadier areas at the back.

Planting starts soon. The assistants approve.

Species:
Monarda punctata, Liatris aspera, Dryopteris goldiana, Asarum canadense, Eutrochium purpureum, Viburnum acerifolium, Diervilla lonicera

05/02/2026

This is why we design our native gardens with deer pressure in mind. I lost count at 12! Love them but need to make sure they leave some habitat for the other creatures that live here while plants are getting established.

A full property planting plan and a rain garden restock on Earth Day, and still made time to walk the gardens.American P...
04/23/2026

A full property planting plan and a rain garden restock on Earth Day, and still made time to walk the gardens.

American Painted Lady on her host plant, Pussytoes. Jacob’s Ladder and Early Meadow Rue and already in bloom. Woodland phlox, foam flower, prairie smoke getting started.

Spotted today:
Pussytoes (Antennaria sp.)
American painted lady (Vanessa virginiensis)
Jacob’s ladder (Polemonium reptans)
Early meadow rue (Thalictrum dioicum)
Woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata)
Foam flower (Tiarella cordifolia)
Prairie smoke (Geum triflorum)

The garden is waking up!Over the last few weeks, our woodland beds have been quietly coming to life. Virginia Bluebells ...
04/16/2026

The garden is waking up!

Over the last few weeks, our woodland beds have been quietly coming to life. Virginia Bluebells blushing pink before opening into lavender - one of my favorites. Bloodroot unfurling its single white flower from a curled leaf. Dutchman’s Breeches dancing above feathery foliage. Wood Poppy glowing gold. Spring Beauty threading through the leaf litter. And Spicebush, one of the earliest blooming native shrubs, dotting bare branches with tiny yellow sparks.

This is exactly what we mean when we talk about gardens that are both beautiful and hardworking. Spring ephemerals bloom, feed the first pollinators of the season, and gently disappear below ground by summer. Some even rely on ants to carry their seeds through the forest, part of an intricate web of relationships that has been unfolding long before our gardens existed. They return each year on their own schedule. And in those few fleeting weeks, early native bees and queen bumblebees emerging from overwintering depend on these blooms when almost nothing else is flowering.

They ask very little and give back so much. If you’d love to bring spring ephemerals into your yard and aren’t sure where to start, we’d love to help.

Pictured: Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica), Dutchman’s Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria), Wood Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum), Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica), Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)

DutchmansBreeches WoodPoppy Spicebush NativeGarden HomegrownNationalPark Michigan WildOnes PollinatorGarden FernsAndFireflies

The garden is waking up. Over the last few weeks, our woodland beds have been quietly coming to life. Virginia Bluebells...
04/16/2026

The garden is waking up.

Over the last few weeks, our woodland beds have been quietly coming to life. Virginia Bluebells blushing pink before opening into lavender - one of my favorites. Bloodroot unfurling its single white flower from a curled leaf. Dutchman’s Breeches dancing above feathery foliage. Wood Poppy glowing gold. Spring Beauty threading through the leaf litter. And Spicebush, one of the earliest blooming native shrubs, dotting bare branches with tiny yellow sparks.

This is exactly what we mean when we talk about gardens that are both beautiful and hardworking. Spring ephemerals bloom, feed the first pollinators of the season, and gently disappear below ground by summer. Some even rely on ants to carry their seeds through the forest, part of an intricate web of relationships that has been unfolding long before our gardens existed. They return each year on their own schedule. And in those few fleeting weeks, early native bees and queen bumblebees emerging from overwintering depend on these blooms when almost nothing else is flowering.

They ask very little and give back so much. If you’d love to bring spring ephemerals into your yard and aren’t sure where to start, we’d love to help.

Pictured: Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica), Dutchman’s Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria), Wood Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum), Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica), Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)

Stopped by this Bloomfield Hills pollinator garden this week to reinforce the deer fencing and check in on what’s coming...
04/06/2026

Stopped by this Bloomfield Hills pollinator garden this week to reinforce the deer fencing and check in on what’s coming up. Young gardens sometimes need a little extra protection when you live in an area with high deer pressure.

Good news: things are moving. Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana), Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae), and Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum) are all emerging right on schedule.

The fence comes down once the plants can hold their own. For now, we protect what we planted.

🌿 Pollinator Garden + Natural Birdfeeder, Bloomfield Hills
Full project: fernsandfireflies.com/recent-projects/project-one-f5w4d-cbh5e-t89fm

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Bloomfield Hills, MI

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+12484194917

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