T HOUGH I HOPE MY FIGURE IS STILL A TAD BETTER THAN THIS GUY’S, despite all the dark chocolate and fig bars lately, he is definitely on to something: Miracles abound outside the window. Have you had a look today? Thanks, Andre Jordan, for the sweet reminder.
WHEN I TALKED to Doug Tallamy in February around the publication date of his latest book, “Nature’s Best Hope,” I didn’t want to go on and on about the advice in it regarding smart fall cleanup, which is one of the ways I know I’ve dramatically shifted the way I manage my own garden compared to 10 or even five years ago. But we were looking ahead to spring then, not fall.
I’m grateful that Doug returned to the podcast in autumn to do just that. Want to plan your most ecologically minded garden cleanup ever, and understand the consequences of each potential action you can take—including next spring?
The subtitle of University of Delaware professor Doug Tallamy’s recent book, “Nature’s Best Hope,” is “A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard.” Meaning: The choices we make all year-round, including the very important one of how we clean up, can help counteract an overdeveloped, fragmented landscape that puts the food web to the test. You and I are nature’s best hope, and I’m glad Doug joined me again to help us learn to support it.
(Stream it below, read the illustrated transcript or subscribe free.)
Thanks, Andre, it’s so true! Just when I thought my clematis ternifolia had drowned over the winter, on Sunday I saw the very tips of three stems peeking through the soil. A miracle!
My peas have started to blossom. And a pepper I cut down to a stump in November (but didn’t uproot, to let everything else in the pot keep going) has regrown in miniature form, and fruited! Bonsai chiles. I think I’ll keep it going.
The chocolate and fig bars are for stamina as you rev up for your big Open Garden date this Sunday, right?! Do you do everything yourself? I so wish I could come stroll… will look through the schedule to see if you have another date later in the summer and then sweettalk my husband into a roadtrip! I wish you clear skies and interesting people :)
Yes, I am looking forward to seeing the lovely garden that you have created Margaret. I am hoping the skies are clearer than they are here and that I am a moderately interesting person….see you Sunday!
oh today has been quite a day. My Mother has come to visit from England and we have spent most of the day looking at the garden and talking about the last 10 months.
I am not sure about fig bars, but the dark chocolate is a must. Looking outside my window this morning, I have more alliums in full bloom. I will see you on Sunday, hoping maybe that the Frogboys might come back for the tour.
Hope to make the trip from central Connecticut to see your garden on Sunday.