'm a gardener, someone who loves showy plants in artful arrangements. But in recent years, I've been looking less with a collector’s eye when shopping and more from the point of view of an insect. Yes, really.
That means more and more I'm layering native plants to my landscape, but which ones among the ones tagged “native” do the very best job of creating effective wildlife interactions and habitat?
You've probably heard the word “nativar,” as in a cultivar of a native plant, but what does it mean and how effective are these often showier cultivated varieties at supporting wildlife? I asked Doug Tallamy, professor of entomology at University of Delaware and author of “Bringing Nature Home” and “The Living Landscape,” to help me understand more about this important subject. 
When cold weather approaches, we humans often have it easy: We can retreat to the shelter of central heating, or pile on more layers...
While most of us focus on keeping deer from browsing our gardens, Brad Roeller actually once managed what was called a Deer Browse Garden...
More seed how-to's: How's that seed shopping going? On the radio show and podcast, Ken Druse and I covered more of your seed questions,...