I don’t get to read nearly as much as I would like to, but I have decided that I need to make an exception. I have had 2 recommendations to read Bringing Home Nature by Douglas Tallamy in the last couple of  weeks. A good friend of mine just heard him speak and was really inspired. Then I was reading a post on Carolyn’s Shade Garden about her Native Woodlands last week in which she linked back to this post about planting an oak tree. Carolyn’s post on growing her own native woodlands was really inspiring (not that I have a woodland) so when I saw that she mentioned the same book as her inspiration I felt I compelled to order it. Douglas Tallamy is the Chair of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, and has his own native garden/woodland right near here.
Sample Page showing Joe Pye Weed (a favorite of mine) & Some Butterflies
I haven’t finished the book yet, but so far he makes a very compelling case for including native plants in your landscape where ever possible, even if you don’t have space for growing an oak tree or woodland. I will write up a more complete review shortly, but in the meantime I am using this inspiration for picking out a few small ornamental trees for our side yard.
Does anyone else have any good gardening books to recommend? Anything that might have changed your view on how or what to plant?
Thanks for linking to my two posts. Doug Tallamy really is inspirational. He was the first person who really made me understand that native plants aren’t just beautiful but they are crucial to our survival. You might get more comments if you got rid of the password. I have WordPress and never get any spam.
Carolyn,
Glad to link to your blog, it is so inspiring!
I wish I didn’t have to have the spam password, but I had to put it in because the Spam was getting unbearable last year. I will have to check and see if there is any better spam software these days, maybe I can find something better.
-Heidi