tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post2891139931317887113..comments2024-03-14T02:18:13.285-05:00Comments on T h e | D e e p | M i d d l e: Gardening With Natives as a Moral Act -- Part 2Benjamin Vogthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10661489036836711335noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-1230520653851622532014-02-18T12:22:02.262-06:002014-02-18T12:22:02.262-06:00Mmmm. Daylily flowers and roots are DELICIOUS!
I...Mmmm. Daylily flowers and roots are DELICIOUS! <br /><br />I appreciate and celebrate your perspective, and I'd like to offer you a different one. <br /><br />Gardening IS a moral act. <br /><br />One of the first things I did when establishing our large ecological garden was to divide the small, overcrowded patch of daylilies and spread them around our yard. <br /><br />I intended doing so Michael Hoaghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15728642724953659658noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-52060198249907150262013-09-21T07:30:47.729-05:002013-09-21T07:30:47.729-05:00I always figger that those peeps who complain the ...I always figger that those peeps who complain the loudest feel the most guilt.<br /><br />The rest of us can read your rant, comfortable in the knowledge that we are doing what we can to encourage the local wildlife with the natives that we have... and the few exotics in our gardens... aren't worth defending...<br /><br />After reading that nandina is killing birds... I've begun a Gardens-In-The-Sandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13373144762759568415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-85702334416867422312013-07-23T14:03:39.918-05:002013-07-23T14:03:39.918-05:00another choir member.
When I planted the rose gard...another choir member.<br />When I planted the rose garden, with lots of indigenous, my niece said but, where are the roses. I renamed it, Paradise and Roses. The rosebushes are sorting themselves out into a few tough survivors - and Paradise is flourishing. 4 beds, each colour themed, and more fun for being indigenous choices, instead of the same old same old seen in temperate gardens across the Dianahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12551774336888550944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-56067511615556815362013-07-17T16:07:45.767-05:002013-07-17T16:07:45.767-05:00Please continue to rant. Let us all rant for a hea...Please continue to rant. Let us all rant for a healthier earth.<br /><br />I began my conversion to natives fully last April. I continue to add and learn as go along. I have never done anything more satisfying in my life.<br /><br />I am appalled this year at the lack of bees in my garden. Last year I had all types of bees, each plant was teeming with bee life. This year I am lucky to see two or lilcatfeet56https://www.blogger.com/profile/03102019856992349638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-90553474361832631962013-07-14T09:19:47.734-05:002013-07-14T09:19:47.734-05:00TN--I made the mistake of calling out hosta and da...TN--I made the mistake of calling out hosta and daylily fans. I think this means I need to make up a whole list over overused, non beneficial, non native plants. :) <br />LR--A neighborhood plant demonstration garden? How cool and progressive! There's an island bed in a cul de sac here I'd love to plant, but yeah, the red tape, the fighting, I don't think I could do that. Benjamin Vogthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10661489036836711335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-67157316785441855342013-07-12T17:30:02.490-05:002013-07-12T17:30:02.490-05:00I'm just finding your blog and subscribing. I ...I'm just finding your blog and subscribing. I too am a native plant gardener and this spring I renovated the neighborhood native plant demonstration garden. You wouldn't believe the amount of resistance and bureaucracy I encountered, even though I volunteered my time and personally bought $200 worth of mulch and supplies. I was shocked at the emotional outbursts from my neighbors and the Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05390390370115355808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-33530532156345342522013-07-12T15:01:17.602-05:002013-07-12T15:01:17.602-05:00I loved the rant....can't believe anyone would...I loved the rant....can't believe anyone would disagree! I have no lawn anymore...it's all native flower's and shrubs and ferns, and i have every certification you can possibly get. I'm a Monarch Conservation Specialist so you can imagine that I'm all about the milkweed! Thanks for taking up the sword!!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16194769055827964368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-50767045910363374842013-07-12T14:27:47.972-05:002013-07-12T14:27:47.972-05:00GG--We are so afraid of the planet, I think it is ...GG--We are so afraid of the planet, I think it is a primal survival instinct. But our smarts mean we can poison and nuke it in minutes. Of course, the reverse is also true. It must start with raising kids differently -- every school should have a decent native plant garden, k-12, where all classes can use it (writing, art, biology, hisory...).<br />JS--Yesterday was the first day things seemed Benjamin Vogthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10661489036836711335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-7262910494491328252013-07-12T14:10:27.209-05:002013-07-12T14:10:27.209-05:00Since I'm part of your choir, I'll just sa...Since I'm part of your choir, I'll just say: too bad more people don't get and act on the whole "understand your ecosystem and plant what will enhance that ecosystem" message.Adrian Ayres Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11057583835126786240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-85428933065802240412013-07-12T13:05:55.500-05:002013-07-12T13:05:55.500-05:00I started ripping my lawn out ten years ago...I wa...I started ripping my lawn out ten years ago...I was never one to plant in rows,etc., so I now have a yard that realliy looks wild but it is neat enough where its not ugly (iwould nver find it ugly but I do have some folks that do not get it) I put up my Pollinator Partnership and Monarch Watch signs and I am blessed with lots and lots of butterflies, bees all kinds of bugs, birds, snakes. Just Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11737924734719801657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-68254863173158069852013-07-12T10:26:42.659-05:002013-07-12T10:26:42.659-05:00"Gardening with natives is as much an act of ..."Gardening with natives is as much an act of defiance toward those who destroy our natural world as it is a willingness to listen to our deepest selves and embrace the joy and terror of our connection to this planet." In that one sentence you've encapsulated the entire debate, to me. "Nature" seems to cause a real terror in many people (sadly encouraged by "the onlyGaia Gardener:https://www.blogger.com/profile/00692281131036600613noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-60213745250707255252013-07-12T09:41:39.200-05:002013-07-12T09:41:39.200-05:00Ryan -- my point is exactly about healthy gardens....Ryan -- my point is exactly about healthy gardens. And low maintenance ones. I see people with mixed ornamental gardens spraying or fertilizing or amending all the time. In my mostly native garden the bad bugs get eaten by the good -- I've created a balanced, self-maintaining ecosystem, and I never fertilize. And I could have more of a balanced garden if I started over. I'm inviting Benjamin Vogthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10661489036836711335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-7418382580680660862013-07-11T20:34:24.298-05:002013-07-11T20:34:24.298-05:00I thought it was a fine rant even if it didn't...I thought it was a fine rant even if it didn't do much for me. Personally I plant about 50% natives in my garden and in the ones I design, and I tend to ignore absolutist positions. Gardening is sort of an anti-absolutist activity in general; the plants and animals and microbes seem to have it in for people who want the 100% answer to garden things. And the extremists -- the vehemently ryanhttp://drystonegarden.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-59885448297715810362013-07-11T15:14:27.790-05:002013-07-11T15:14:27.790-05:00I think we push ourselves up against a wall when w...I think we push ourselves up against a wall when we come up with the frustrating conclusion that those who disagree somehow "don't get it" when I think they clearly get what the point is, they simply do not accept it on their own terms. It is not different than someone who buys junk food full of unhealthy chemicals because it is cheaper in the pocketbook, someone who drives a doggirlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-33085941690833100912013-07-11T11:40:51.297-05:002013-07-11T11:40:51.297-05:00PR--You're darn right I meant to push buttons ...PR--You're darn right I meant to push buttons with the language I used, and it worked. I never said the other side was immoral -- you and others simply inferred this on your own from the title of the piece, but please note I never directly said that, which is a huge difference. And after I bought the first dozen guns, I went and bought a tank and F-16 fighter jet just in case. :)Benjamin Vogthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10661489036836711335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-89738681194680707482013-07-11T11:24:39.936-05:002013-07-11T11:24:39.936-05:00Benjamin, the "issue" is likely not the ...Benjamin, the "issue" is likely not the philosophy of what you wrote, but I suspect you hit buttons with the language, perhaps intentially, although you may have underestimated the passion. Stating that the other side in a debate is "immoral" or, as TheLocalScoop says above, "ignorant" is degrading and elitist by definition. And yes, I'm guilty of the same by ProfessorRoushhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17827625019371233145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-17497620051220149282013-07-11T10:05:58.501-05:002013-07-11T10:05:58.501-05:00Thanks for the two-part rant, Benjamin. I'm su...Thanks for the two-part rant, Benjamin. I'm sure we will see further episodes as the level of ignorance and the defensive backlash out there is mind-numbing. To those in that camp I say: you just don't get it! And how could you not get it? Maybe you've been brainwashed by society. Think outside the big box (chain-store retailers, old-school landscapers, regressive governmental TheLocalScoophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05201225347053272178noreply@blogger.com