THE GARDEN CONSERVANCY’S national Open Days garden-visiting program is officially under way for 2008, with more than 300 gardens including mine open to the public on specified days. (Those are my houseplants pictured at left; they spend the summer congregating by the back door with some troughs of water I stock with aquatics.) Don’t miss out: sign up for the Open Days email alerts to get reminders about when gardeners in your region are putting out the welcome sign.
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.)
Truly a wondrous organization. Order their Open Days guide, too! Private garden tours make road trips SO worth the price of gas.
Hello, Margaret! Thank you so much for the information. I will sign up to at least go to the ones in my area. I so wish that I could visit your garden – perhaps some day I’ll make it out that way!