Our love affair with alien plants, along with unchecked habitat loss to urban sprawl is taking a significant toll on important native plants. In too many areas of the country, there’s no place left for wildlife. By bringing nature home in the landscapes and gardens we ourselves create, we can collectively start to reverse this alarming decline.
Doug Tallamy, Ph.D is frequently found in his own living laboratory observing the abundance of wildlife
When it comes understanding the critical relationships between native plants and the creatures that depend on them, Doug Tallamy is right at the top.
He’s currently professor and chair of the department of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware. His tireless passion to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how those interactions determine the diversity of animal communities is one of the key driving forces that keeps him in demand. He’s also the author of an award winning book, Bringing Nature Home.
And there are other key influencers scattered around the world, helping to promote the message of creating healthy, living landscapes with a focus on indigenous plants. Rick Darke is one such person. At home, Rick along with his wife and co-horticulturalist Melinda Zoehrer enjoy their own living landscape that is as biologically balanced as it is beautiful.
Rick Darke with wife and co-horticulturalist Melinda Zoehrer enjoy their own living landscape that is as biologically balanced as it is beautiful.
Rick’s rise to horticultural prominence started with a college botany course. His studies led to a 20-year career at Longwood Gardens, considered one of America’s most important botanic gardens. We he left, he was curator of plants, with responsibility for all 11,000 plants in Longwood’s collection.
Today, Rick heads his Pennsylvania-based consulting firm focused on the design and management of living landscapes of diverse projects around the world. His work takes him all over the world.
Rick’s most recent book, The Living Landscape, (along with contributions from Doug Tallamy) addresses the things we can do at home to create a more hospitable habitat for native plants and creatures. Stunning photography by Rick helps illustrate each point. One of Rick’s key concepts to creating a living landscape is by focusing on building layers into the landscape as explained in his book and in this episode.
In their own unique styles, both Rick and Doug’s award-winning books take on the topic of what we can and should do, to bring more life to our own home landscapes, and why that’s so important.
Amazon Link to Doug Tallamy’s book: Bringing Nature Home
Amazon link to Rick Darke’s book: The Living Landscape
Doug Tallamy’s list of Best Bets on what to plant
Xerces Society’s list of regionally specific pollinator-friendly plants
Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Wildflower Center’s Native Plant database–an excellent resource on what to plant
Product links on this page are affiliate links, which means we would get a commission if you purchase. However, none of the prices of these resources have been increased to compensate us.
About GGWTV
Growing A Greener World is a national gardening series on Public Television that features organic gardening, green living and farm to table cooking. Each episode focuses on compelling and inspirational people making a difference through gardening. This gardening series covers everything from edible gardening and sustainable agriculture to seasonal cooking and preserving the harvest.
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Bringing Nature Home–great book! Everyone with an interest in plants should read it.
Thank you so much for doing this episode on the importance of native plants for insect biodiversity! Thank you for interviewing Doug Tellamy – his example of the oak tree in his yard supporting 400 caterpillars is mind blowing! I’ve planted natives for years and never thought about the relationship of these plants with insects other than flower pollination. You presented this information in a very easy to understand way. Thank you for covering this subject and for having Doug and Rick explain the science of this important topic.
I work nights and it is nice to find your shows on growing a greener world and I was lucky enough to catch Dr. Tallamy at a Speech in Lexington Kentucky over the fall. I would love to have a source or show on where to buy good natives and maybe get local groups started for getting natives on the selling blocks. Many people have a hard time finding local natives. Also, I would love to see people get the money men behind climate change to spend some of that money on this. Dr. Tallamy and Dr. Darke have started a cultural movement that could make major changes to the environment if utilized. It needs to be supported in that fashion.
Anthony, Wild Ones is a national organization that promotes native plants and natural landscaping. It’s a chapter-based organization so people can learn together at monthly programs, visit each other’s gardens, host native plant sales etc. See if there’s a local chapter near you or perhaps start one yourself. Info is at http://www.wildones.org. (Note: Doug Tallamy is an honorary board member!)
I WANT TO THANK YOU MR. LAMP FOR FINDING YOU WEB SITE. I LOVE PLANTS, INDORS AND OUT DOORS, ALSO THE PEOPLE YOU ARE ASSOCIATED IN YOU ENDEVOR OF GGWTV.. YOU HAVE MADE A 74 YEAR OLD WOMAQN VERY HAPPY. NOW A DAYS OLDER PEOPLE ARE NOT APPRECIATED THEY THINK WE ARE OLD AND CAN NOT CONTRIBUTE ANYTHING, WHAT A SHAME WE HAVE LEARNED SO MUCH IN OUR YEARS TO CONTRIBUTE, LOOK AT WHAT YOU ARE DOING I CAN HELP SO MANY OF MY FRIENDS AND MY CHILDREN AND PEOPLE I COME ACCROSE TO TELL THEM ABOUT YOUR WEBSITE. PROVO TO YOU AND KEEP ON DOING YOUR WEBSITE AND THE PEOPLE YOU COME ACROSS TO ADD TO YOUR GGWTV. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU I CAN NOW ENJOY LIFE IT BRINGS HAPPINESS EVERYDAY WITH MY PLANTS, AND I CAN ALWAYS ASK YOU WHEN I NEED HELP, AND I DO HAVE SOME QUESTION I NEED YOUR HELP WITH SOON. MY HOME IS FULL OF PLANTS AND ADDS SUCH BEAUTY TO MY ROOMS, I CAN NOW DO THE OUTSIDE OF THE HOUSE. I WANT TO BE ON YOU NEWSELTTER LIST ALSO. PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHERE I CAN SIGN UP iam still learning your never to old. THANK YOU
Thank YOU Barbara. Your note was so kind and it made all of here at GGW very happy. Very happy to return the favor. We’ll sign you up for the newsletter. Just be sure to check your email inbox for a reply from us that you will need to respond to so that you can confirm you approval for being on our list. Thanks again!
One of the best programs ever. Will be sharing with my sons and others. And, I will order some books too. I will be 70 soon and still learning! Thanks to you. Karen
Thanks you, Thank you. Thank you. This is the episode I saw and wanted more information on the authors that were part of your show. You’ve given me so many references to help with next year’s garden.
Great Virginia! So glad to know we hit the mark for you. Thanks for your note.
I’d like to offer up my link to tons of resources, The Ultimate Pollinator and Native Plant Gardening Guide: http://deepmiddle.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-ultimate-pollinator-native-plant.html
Love this video so much. Check for your local native plant society to help if you’re just getting into natives. Benjamin Vogt’s website mentioned above is great for the “deep middle.” One I use for farther west is http://montanawildlifegardener.blogspot.com/