Saturday, September 24, 2011

Picture This, You Nerf Herder

My entry for Gardening Gone Wild's monthly Picture This Photo Contest:


In other news, I saw Doug Tallamy last night. If you've not read his Bringing Nature Home you are silly. His presentation was funny and charming, and it had to be, considering how many non native plants the gardening biz pushes (nurseries, landscapers) on unsuspecting buyers, who plant them and quickly kill off local animal and insect species, and eventually will kill us off. For example, a sterile lawn was partly torn up and replanted with native perennials, shrubs, and trees, and within two years the place was awash in life many times over compared to its lawn days. Tallamy spoke on how he planted a dogwood shrub outside his bathroom window, and showed about a dozen species of birds he views while, one would assume, using the facilities.

13 comments:

Town Mouse said...

Great photo! And I'm so envious you got to saw Tallamy! Wonder whether he ever comes to the west coast.

Regardless, don't give up hope just yet. I bought 10 native perennials (4 different species) at the local garden center today. A few years ago, they had nothing (and put bottle brush and rosemary under a sign that said "natives"). I'm very happy with those plants.

Corner Gardener Sue said...

I was thinking about going to see him, but have so much going on that I forgot to. If it was Friday evening, I was out planting the over $100 worth of plants I got from the arboretum until I lost my light.

I would have taken my grandsons to Vegfest yesterday if I would have remembered.

That is an awesome photo, and perfect for the contest.

Benjamin Vogt said...

TM--Natives at a nursery? That's like compassionate politicians or a mongoose that can fly to Mars. :) Tallamy was awesome.
Sue--$100! Wow. I spent only $20 Saturday morning. Good for you! you are doing your part--you don't need Tallamy, you ARE Tallamy! :)

Malinda said...

I love the different angle of the sunflower. Thanks for the book tip too. We live in a forest and feel it's so important to keep natives thriving.

Benjamin Vogt said...

Malinda--Thank you! Natives are more important than most realize--Tallamy's book makes it brutally clear.

One said...

I came over from GGW. Your shot lured me here. Stunning photo!

Gaia Gardener: said...

Love that photo! And I'm so jealous about your chance to see Tallamy. His book is awesome, and I would love to hear him talk in person.

Benjamin Vogt said...

One--Thank you! To see the other shots from that day, here's the post: http://deepmiddle.blogspot.com/2011/09/study-in-sunflowers.html
GG--Tallamy was great. But I couldn't help but wonder how many books I could have sold to that captive audience if I'd had 60 seconds on the stage as a warm up act.

teresa said...

I just visited your photo post last night. by far my pick for the winner. it's a great shot. now i see you on gardenchat, nice to meet you and good luck in the pic contest, enjoyed the chat and your easygoing attitude toward gardening. refreshing, tired of so many gardening rules i hear.

Benjamin Vogt said...

Teresa--Oh, thank you! I'm not as easy going as I might make you believe. I a a firm believer in native plants, at least mixed in, and not using any chemicals--which puts me at odds with 50% of gardeners I think.

HA said...

Congratulations! A well deserved victory, it's a stunning picture!

Diana Studer said...

You won you won Congratulations!

Benjamin Vogt said...

I did win! Huzzah! Thanks guys! I've been thinking of making an Etsy account and seeing if I could sell some photos--but that might mean networking on yet ANOTHER site. Argh.