Gardeners including myself want to add more, more, more native plants to their landscapes to support pollinators and birds and other native wildlife, but if our beds and borders are already established? Do we have to erase them and start over? Making room for habitat-style planting, even in an established garden that includes many “collector plants” from other parts of the world, is the topic with my friend, garden writer and photographer Ken Druse, along to help.
Figuring out which plants are native locally is one key first step, and included at the bottom of the transcript is a list of some places to start in that search (and how to find your state's list, and then your county's from there).
Speaking of native plants, we also tackled a listener question about pruning Magnolia grandiflora—the evergreen Southern magnolia. And on the subject of collector plants, Ken confesses to his latest acquisition—probably the most expensive single bulb he ever bought.
Marianne Willburn appreciates the bold and often vertical element that some favorite tropical plants add to her temperate garden. But maybe best of all...
If you’ve got elephant’s ears or calla lilies, some Jack-in-the-pulpits in your shade garden, or maybe a philodendron indoors on your windowsill, you’re well...
Plant Pests: In an issue of his “Pest Talks” e-newsletter not long ago, entomologist Dr. Juang-Horng Chong wrote something that I really loved. "I...