At my favorite local native plant source, Seattle Native Plants, owner Mark Tomkiewicz has worked with me to get gift certificates available so I can start promoting native plants more easily with friends and neighbors. I’m going to send out some books and certificates this weekend. And now I can plan a promotional program here in the neighborhood to motivate folks to start planting more natives. Mark is a pleasure to work with–several of my friends have worked with him and had the same experience–he is generous and the plants are boisterous and healthy, and the value is excellent.
Anyone in/near Seattle/Shoreline reading this blog who has an interest in a gift certificate, please email me at tony.joe@comcast.net and I’ll put you on the list for some free native plants.
There is a 2020 video from Doug Tallamy on YouTube now that talks about the main points in his latest book, “Nature’s Best Hope.” You can find it HERE. His slides are full of photos of dozens of interesting caterpillars people in his part of the world can attract with their native plantings.
I’m in a bug group on Facebook (Pacific Northwest Bugs) and the members take amazing photos. I decided to get a macro lens for my phone and see if I can start documenting the bugs in my garden. Here are a couple of my early attempts:
The moth photo isn’t great, but it was good enough for me to identify the creature as a Toothed Brown Carpet Moth.
The aphids would scare a traditional gardener and a chemical response would likely ensue, but I was excited to see them because I know they will attract natural predators that will bring balance back to my rose shrub. If not this year, then next. The rose will bloom, anyway–maybe not perfectly, but if Doug Tallamy has taught us anything, it is that perfection isn’t a natural state for plants. Plants that are being eaten by native insects is the goal!