Native plants make sense in the garden for many reasons; here are three:
- they are adapted to local conditions so, once they are established, they thrive without fuss (and without extra water, or fertilizer or pesticides);
- they provide habitat for creatures great and small;
- they are beautiful and diverse.
Books about native plants
Bringing Nature Home: How you can sustain wildlife with native plants. Douglas Tallamy. 2007. Timber Press
Native Plants in the Home Landscape for the Upper Midwest. Keith Gerard Nowakowski. 2004. Published by University of Illinois Extension.
The Midwestern Native Garden: Native alternatives to non-native flowers and plants. Charlotte Adelman and Bernard L. Schwartz. 2011. Ohio University Press.
Great Natives for Tough Places. Niall Dunne, ed. Brooklyn Botanic Garden All-Region Guides.
last updated July 2018