You all are probably are familiar with Doug Tallamy’s first book – Bringing Nature Home. If you aren’t you should be! Written in 2007, this guide to gardening for wildlife and why has become a bible for the conservation minded home gardener.
An article about a book from 2007 may feel like a Throwback Thursday or a Flashback Friday post, but the good ones stay “evergreen” the information remains good for generations and we feel this one fits that description. One of the features of the book that makes it so useful is Appendix One. Here Tallamy lists “Native Plants with Wildlife Value and Desirable Landscaping Attributes by Region.” (p. 288) If you are looking for ideas of plants to carry for your conservation-minded customers or the client who would like a wildlife garden that actually supports all life cycles of wildlife, this is a book and an appendix you should invest in.
We are happy to say we carry a number of the plants Tallamy recommends for the Mid-Atlantic (p. 294-300). He is even so generous as to list them by their habitat. Here are just a few of the ones we carry that fit the bill, for a complete list and an excellent education add the book to your collection.
Groundcovers:
Carex pensylvanica – Pennsylvania Sedge
Chrysoganum virginianum – Green and Gold
Phlox divaricata – Wild Blue Phlox
Phlox maculata – Wild Sweet William
Sedum ternatum – Mountain Stonecrop
Herbaceous Perennials for Dry Sites:
Amsonia tabernaemontana – Willowleaf Bluestar
Aquilegia canadensis – Wild Columbine
Chrysopsis mariana – Maryland Golden Aster
Herbaceous Perennials for Moist Sites:
Coreopsis rosea – Pink Tickseed
Helenium autumnale – Sneezeweed
Relatively Unpalatable to White-tailed Deer:
Aquilegia canadensis – Columbine
Iris versicolor – Blue Flag Iris
Again, just a few of the hundreds of plants recommended by Doug Tallamy. What are your favorite reference books when it comes to designing with native plants?
New Moon Nursery 