grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

  • Home
  • Bio
  • Publishing
  • SHOP!
  • Garden
  • Food
  • Reading & Books
  • Sunday Letter

A Pop of Spring Color for the Butterflies!

April 5, 2017 By Talya Tate Boerner

A Pop of Spring Color - Monrovia Coreopsis

Raise your hand if you’re busy celebrating spring. (Both my hands are raised!) When I was asked to work with Monrovia again, I didn’t hesitate. The timing is perfect, too, because after traveling and promoting my book during March, my immediate plan was to spiff up our butterfly garden with a pop of spring color. Just in time for Easter.

Even though our established perennials are beginning to bloom, adding a few fresh, vibrant Monrovia plants into existing beds is the best way I know to give the world an immediate boost. I headed straight to the local nursery where I had no trouble filling my shopping cart with lots of spring color. Seriously, you can keep the plastic eggs and chocolate bunnies. The picture below represents my dream Easter basket!

A Basket of Color

So what’d I buy?

For the Butterflies~

Two years ago, I planted a butterfly garden in our backyard. Each spring, I add to it with butterfly attracting perennials. My husband and I live in Zone 6, so it’s a bit early to plant milkweed, but I was happy to find two of our tried and true Monrovia favorites—salvia and coreopsis. These winners are long-blooming and hardy, they complement each other in style and color, and they attract butterflies and bees.

As pollinators, butterflies and bees are critical to our environment. Flowers and flowering shrubs that attract them are high on my preferred list.

Continue Reading

Four Garden Days

March 21, 2017 By Talya Tate Boerner

In four garden days my Thalia daffodils bloomed

Happy Second Day of Spring! On this second Day of Spring (note my use of capitalization as though each day of spring is a holiday) I bring you pictures from the First Day of Spring. A delayed broadcast of sorts. After a weekend spent at the Jonquil Festival in Washington, Arkansas, I’m running behind on unpacking, laundry, writing, grocery shopping, most everything. Everything other than spending time outside which is what I found myself doing yesterday.

One of the first things I do when I return home from a trip is inspect my garden. I can’t wait to see what’s blooming, what’s changed, what’s new.

Do you do this?

I was only out of town four days. But this time of year, four garden days equals lots of beauty and growth.Continue Reading

A Perfect Picking Up Sticks Sort of Day

March 5, 2017 By Talya Tate Boerner

Yesterday was a such perfect day because we spent it working in the yard, and there’s nothing much better than a breezy, sunny, pre-spring day digging in the dirt. (After having been under the weather for several days, I was extra grateful to feel energetic.) John raked and bagged while I cleaned out the front beds. We have so many trees all around which means lots of sticks, especially since the Northwest Arkansas wind of late seems to blow West Texas strong.

hosta

What a fun thing, pulling away last summer’s brittle debris and seeing signs of growth, purple hosta shoots poking through the soil, feathery coreopsis spreading beneath winter’s dry blanket.

When my sister and I were kids, our job was mowing the yard each Saturday, an all afternoon affair which began with picking up sticks, then mowing circles around the trees with the push mower (a job no one liked), and then finally cutting the grass with the riding John Deere (of course) mower.Continue Reading

« Previous Page
Next Page »


Hi! I'm Talya Tate Boerner. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (2022)

THE THIRD ACT OF THEO GRUENE (coming 2025)

Recent Ramblings:

  • Sunday Letter: 11.23.25
  • Maggie and Miss Ladybug: My New Children’s Nature Book
  • Sunday Letter: November 9, 2025
  • Sunday Letter: Oct 26, 2025
  • Sunday Letter: Oct 5, 2025

Novels:

Coloring Books:

Fiction-Themed Coloring Books

Backyard Phenology:

Children’s Nature Book:

Never miss a blog post! Subscribe via email:

Looking for something?

Categories

All the Things!

A to Z April Blog Challenge Autumn BAT Book Reviews childhood Christmas creative writing prompt Dallas Desserts Fall Fayetteville Food Gracie Lee Halloween Hemingway-Pfeiffer holiday recipes home humor Johnson Family Keiser Lake Norfork Lucy and Annabelle Mississippi County Mississippi Delta Monarch butterflies Munger Place Nana nature Northeast Arkansas Northwest Arkansas Osceola poem Reading Schnauzer simple living simple things spring spring gardening Summer Talya Tate Boerner novel Thanksgiving The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee Thomas Tate Winter Wordless Wednesday

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!

All content and photos Copyright Grace, Grits and Gardening © 2025 · Web Hosting By StrataByte