Native

I read a new book by Douglas W. Tallamy, Bringing Nature Home: How native plants sustain wildlife in our gardens. Tallamy writes that gardeners could slow the rate of extinction by planting natives in their yards.

Inspired, I called the handsome young landscaper that I hired (and blogged about) last January. He gave me an estimate and promised to come back the following week.

The crape myrtle is gone, Lizziebrod. The blooms were colorful but the tree was like a pretty boy in a Calvin Klein ad -- of no use except to unsavory characters, like Japanese beetles. Removing it made room for a native tree, a blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium) to cross pollinate with its mate across the driveway.

Blackhaw is not a showy tree. Clusters of white flowers in spring are followed in summer by purple fruit, eagerly consumed by birds. The tree is the optimum size for the understory, 15 feet when mature, and several hours of afternoon sun is sufficient for healthy growth.

I wrote author Tallamy an email and he responded the next day. Within the week, the crape myrtle removed and a raised bed was filled with a 50-50 topsoil/compost mixture and anchored by stones. The crape myrtle and daylilies were replaced with native blackhaw viburnum and stokes asters.