Common milkweed seeds are a great option for those interested in responsible environmental stewardship. We’ll explain why and how to cultivate them.

Supporting native songbirds requires fully understanding the challenges they face, as well as how humans contribute to those problems.

Those interested in saving monarch butterfly populations may be tempted to resort to milkweed monocultures—but the evidence points to polycultures as a more effective option.

From overcoming dormancy with stratification to ideal soil and planting practices, our guide will teach you everything you need to cultivate butterfly milkweed successfully.

The Allegheny County Parks Foundation in Pennsylvania oversees the operation of one of the largest regional park systems in the United States. The nine parks under their care occupy over 12,000 acres of land in the areas surrounding the city of Pittsburgh and welcome more than 22 million visitors each year.  After conducting a 2015 […]

Envisioning the Possibilities for Pollinators In 2015, when the McCormick Corporation announced that they would break ground on their new headquarters in Hunt Valley, Maryland, they saw 350,000 square feet of possibilities. They planned on offering amenities like a full-service café and a fitness center, which spoke to their company’s desire to create an inviting […]

Creating habitat for pollinators is one of the most effective and efficient ways we can naturalize our landscapes. By establishing healthy, diverse wildflower meadows with the intent to accommodate native pollinators, landscape architects can combine sustainability with design. In 2016, Bill Kieffer, a landscape architect at Hershey Gardens, partnered with Ernst Seeds to build a […]

Landscape architecture professionals understand that the best projects don’t just marry design with science, they come to life thanks to the dedicated people behind them. For more than 50 years, Ernst Seeds has combined creativity with technical expertise to assist firms large and small to create environmentally thoughtful landscapes, from wetland restoration areas to pollinator-friendly […]

Wetland conservancy is making a comeback. For our country’s first two centuries, wetlands across the United States were viewed as a waste. As a result, the U.S. lost an estimated 53 percent of its total wetland area from the colonial times through the 1980s. Wetlands were dried, drained and eliminated as the country expanded, which […]

Regrettably, wetlands have often been viewed as undesirable wastelands to be avoided or destroyed. Today less than half of America’s original wetlands remain. The recent devastation left behind by Hurricane Ida is a grim reminder of what we have lost with them. Wetland losses have slowed in recent years thanks to our better understanding of […]