'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. 
Increasingly in recent years, my garden “weeds” include more and more tenacious opponents – and the landscape along the roadsides nearby and pretty much...
I can almost taste it now: the flavors of the first spring crops, whether homegrown, or from your CSA share, or even ethically foraged…with...
I think of them as investment plants, plants that might not be hardy where I garden, but that with a little extra work and...