Ecologist helping North American growers use their yards to help fight the climate crisis 🌻
We're living through a mass extinction ☠
Hi friend,Something that I don’t think is talked about enough is the fact that we’re living through one of the largest mass extinction events to ever happen on Earth. Our planet has lost 73% of wildlife biodiversity between 1970 and 2020, according to the World Wildlife Fund's Living Planet Report Right now, 40% of all insect species globally are in decline. And up to 1/3 of all insects are in the range to be endangered. Insects are the foundation of the food chain for both human and non-human animals.Without them our crops aren’t pollinated, birds can’t feed their babies, amphibians and reptiles starve, and all of that continues across the food chain. So for almost HALF of all insects across the world to be declining is pretty significant. It contributes to the decline of so many other animal populations. Habitat destruction and the replacement of native plants with exotic and invasive species play a huge role in the decline of insects and other wildlife. Up to 90% of all plant-eating insects are specialists. NINETY percent! That’s so many bugs. Being a specialist means they’re dependent on one plant or plant family at some point in their lifecycle. They need that plant to reproduce and it’s always native to the same region as them. What can you do to help?
It's time to be cold-stratifying native seeds to start this spring!Still need seeds to add to your native garden this year?
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Native Yardening
Ecologist helping North American growers use their yards to help fight the climate crisis 🌻
Hi friend, I get asked a lot about how to figure out what species are native to your area. So I wanted to share resources for folks in the USA and Canada. I've updated this list to include more resources, as well as some Canada-specific resources for Canadian gardeners. 🌻 🇺🇸 🇨🇦 The National Wildlife Federation has an excellent tool called the Native Plant Finder. It shows you what native species support the most wildlife in your zip code - these are called “keystone” species. 🌻 🇺🇸 The NWF has...
Hi friend, It’s a common misconception that you need to spend a lot of money to grow a native garden (or my preferred term, an eco-garden). In reality, it’s much cheaper than a traditional garden. Eco-gardening means applying sustainable and regenerative practices to your yard. This can look like using materials already on site, making your own compost, and relying on natural processes to do a lot of the work. It’s been a little over three years since I started transforming my yard. My front...
Hi friend, As I post more on social media about the problems caused by invasive plants, I realize how much misunderstanding there is around these issues. I always get a little discouraged when I see firsthand how misinformed the general public is about how nature works. But I also understand that it's a systemic issue. We aren't taught about these things. I recently made this post on Facebook and Instagram, showing a handful of common invasive species in North America. For some reason, people...