A Northern Gardener’s Guide to Native Plants and Pollinators
264 pages
8 x 9
4-color illustrations throughout
Book Description
Few sights are as charming as a hummingbird hovering over cardinal flowers in your backyard or a butterfly lighting on the black-eyed Susans potted on your balcony. Yet pollinators do more than beguile us: they are key to a healthy environment. With many pollinators threatened and their habitats disappearing, gardeners can make a real difference by planting native species that support these amazing creatures. The trick is knowing what species to plant and how to help them thrive.
If you’re a gardener (or aspiring gardener) in the Northeast, Upper Midwest, or Great Lakes region, this beautiful 4-color guide will become your go-to reference to the most beneficial plants in your area. It includes profiles of more than 300 native plants, featuring lovely illustrations and photos, information on blooming periods, exposure, soil moisture, and good plant companions, as well as how each species supports specific pollinators.
You’ll learn more about common plants you thought you knew and be introduced to species you may have never encountered before. Blooming flowers, native grasses, trees, shrubs, vines, and plants for rain and pond gardens are all included. White Baneberry, Woodland Strawberry, Boneset, Virginia Mountain Mint, Smooth Aster, and many others may find their way from these pages to your soil.
While understanding specific plants is key, so too are growing strategies. Here you’ll learn how to prepare your site and find sample garden designs, whether your growing space is an apartment balcony, a residential yard, or a community garden. Throughout, you’ll discover the power of plants to not only enrich your personal environment but to support the pollinators necessary for a thriving planet.
Review Quotes
"Informatively illustrated on every page, A Northern Gardener's Guide to Native Plants and Pollinators is an ideal and comprehensive compendium that is thoroughly 'gardener friendly' in organization and presentation. An essential horticultural and gardening reference for both novice and experienced gardeners alike, A Northern Gardener's Guide to Native Plants and Pollinators must be considered a core and essential addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library Gardening/Horticulture reference and identification collections."
Midwest Book Review
"A Northern Gardner's Guide to Native Plants and Pollinators is a valuable resource that no Northern California gardener should be without.… Lovely color illustrations by Ann Sanderson enhance the growing strategy instructions and opportunities presented in this book, which covers everything from planning a garden to choosing native plants with its pollinators in mind."
California Book Watch
"What a valuable, comprehensive, timely, and beautiful resource! Lorraine Johnson and Sheila Colla provide the rationale, urgency, and detailed know-how for restoring essential pollinator habitats. Just a fantastic contribution!"
Douglas Tallamy, author of "Bringing Nature Home"
"This book has it all—sample garden plans, beautiful illustrations and photographs, a comprehensive section profiling native plants and the specific pollinators the plants support, answers to common pollinator gardening questions, and a discussion about the critical link between native plants and pollinators…gardeners will treasure this extremely informative book."
Heather Holm, Pollinator Conservationist and author of "Bees: An Identification and Native Plant Forage Guide"
"A glorious manifesto... Profusely illustrated, it highlights dozens of pollinator-worthy flowering plants for home and community gardens. An encyclopedic but highly accessible book that belongs with every gardener and naturalist."
Stephen Buchmann, author of "What a Bee Knows" and "The Reason for Flowers"
"Seldom is there a reference that is so delightful to peruse. It gives even a beginning naturalist a sense of hope, a feeling that even a simple gardener can do something both meaningful and beautiful for their gardens, for their garden’s pollinators, and ultimately, for their whole community."
Olivia Messinger Carril, co-author of "The Bees in Your Backyard"
Contents
Foreword by Douglas Tallamy
Introduction: Pollinators Bring Life
Chapter 1: The Rusty-Patched Bumblebee and Other Native
Pollinators
A Primer on the Pollination of Flowering Plants
The Scoop on Honeybees
Chapter 2: Native Plants Matter
Native Plants
But Don’t Non-Native Plants Attract Pollinators, Too?
All Green Is Not Green!
What About Cultivars of Native Plants?
Where to Find Native Plants
The Climate Change Connection
Diversity, Diversity, Diversity
Chapter 3: Starting Your Garden for Native Pollinators
Site Preparation
Designing Your Pollinator Patch
Native Plants for Containers
Turning Lawns into Gardens
Planting Your Patch
Maintaining Your Patch
Native Herbaceous Plants for Pollen Specialists
As Your Garden Grows
Adding Native Plants to an Existing Garden Bed
From Plants…to Plant Communities
Beyond the Patch
Nesting Sites and Overwintering Habitat for Native Bees
Checklist for Creating a Pollinator-Friendly Yard and Garden
Chapter 4: Profiles of Native Plants
Spring-Blooming Native Plants
Summer-Blooming Native Plants
Fall-Blooming Native Plants
Native Grasses and Sedges
Trees, Shrubs and Woody Vines
Rain Gardens
Pond and Bog Gardens
Ask for Me—and Grow the Native Plant Movement
Boulevard (a.k.a. “hell-strip”) Gardens
Concerns…and Reassurances
Great Combinations of Native Perennials for a Pollinator-Friendly Garden
Chapter 5: Sample Garden Designs
Balcony Garden
Community Garden
Public Patch
High-Density Residential
Residential Garden
Chapter 6: Resources
Native Plant Ranges
Native Plant Groups
Native Plant Nurseries
Selected Books
Acknowledgments
Index
About the Authors
Case Studies & Excerpts
Read chapter 1 below or download it here.