tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post6228184666232876745..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 -- A Big RantBenjamin Vogthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10661489036836711335noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-75149881148931511912017-08-01T13:29:33.090-05:002017-08-01T13:29:33.090-05:00And I leave you with a final parting shot of glowi...And I leave you with a final parting shot of glowing springtime blossoms underplanted with epimedium, native sword fern and hydrangea.<a href="http://bestselfpropelledlawnmowers.com/blog/how-to-plant-grass-seed-on-dirt/" rel="nofollow">best 21 self propelled lawn mower</a><br />jadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13835847777966515522noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-15935316226504946342015-06-18T14:30:50.763-05:002015-06-18T14:30:50.763-05:00Thank you again, Ben! I'm spreading the word w...Thank you again, Ben! I'm spreading the word with 4 garden talks myself this weekend. GROW NATIVES!Candy DeBerrynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-9595952474456117172015-03-22T23:02:10.494-05:002015-03-22T23:02:10.494-05:00I enjoyed reading this and really would love to se...I enjoyed reading this and really would love to see more native plants in the landscape ESPECIALLY replacing lawns. Have you heard of the group The Wild Ones? They share your view, have been around for over 35 years although I have only recently heard of them. Check out their website if you haven't already.ruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05113507180623152429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-89531501030172768292013-09-03T04:57:14.243-05:002013-09-03T04:57:14.243-05:00Thank you Ben for being a other environmental sold...Thank you Ben for being a other environmental soldier. Let us keep Foodways and escapes in our wake.<br /><br />Terrijhon @ <a href="http://www.cropperbroslandscapes.com.au/garden-design-brisbane/" rel="nofollow">garden design brisbane</a>Majid Hussainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11423090207003656674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-60020031247150905652013-07-17T13:58:49.384-05:002013-07-17T13:58:49.384-05:00I am in the process of converting my Silicon Valle...I am in the process of converting my Silicon Valley home from the grass lawn that came with the house to front and back yard gardens that are based on California natives. The gardens are so much more interesting and so much more colorful! In addition, the landscape design (which I did myself) reflects my sense of art: color balance, variety of textures, wildlife interest (birds, butterflies and Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12880772828926300290noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-86765901564023739792013-07-13T19:14:50.267-05:002013-07-13T19:14:50.267-05:00Love the discussion! Quite civil, really.
I star...Love the discussion! Quite civil, really. <br /><br />I started converting to natives the yard of our 100 yr. old home in So. Cal. when we moved here in 1998. It has been a slow but worthwhile process. Maybe I could have gone faster but I prefer gradual - always with my eye on the prize: more life in the suburban garden through the development of healthy, appropriate habitat - coastal sage scrub Barbara Ehttp://wildsuburbia.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-54716380873061894482013-07-13T10:44:16.928-05:002013-07-13T10:44:16.928-05:00Thank you Benjamin for being a fellow ecological w...Thank you Benjamin for being a fellow ecological warrior. Let us leave foodways and beescapes in our wake.Lindsay Rebhanhttp://twitter.com/lsrebhannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-7095673837880286412013-07-12T09:35:36.301-05:002013-07-12T09:35:36.301-05:00Sue, http://deepmiddle.blogspot.com/2011/12/garden...Sue, http://deepmiddle.blogspot.com/2011/12/garden.html and then there's the timelapse video of my garden also in the top right of my blog under the picture link.Benjamin Vogthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10661489036836711335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-25039154915937057272013-07-12T09:34:33.910-05:002013-07-12T09:34:33.910-05:00Sue, you can see pictures of my 1,500' 80% nat...Sue, you can see pictures of my 1,500' 80% native garden in the top right corner of my blog -- just click on the link that says pictures of my garden. It's 6 years old this month. The next garden I have will not use nearly as many cultivars and will be 1/4 to 1/2 acre in size. Benjamin Vogthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10661489036836711335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-76917706800029744302013-07-11T23:42:27.217-05:002013-07-11T23:42:27.217-05:00Ben, let us know how your all native garden comes ...Ben, let us know how your all native garden comes along. Have you begun it and how much property have you? <br /><br />You certainly have a passion for this and you should not be discouraged from planning and creating your all native garden. Will you do updates on it?<br /><br />Sue at California Native Plants in the Garden FBSue Langleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16734024716704491704noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-23458008123309605572013-07-11T11:05:10.189-05:002013-07-11T11:05:10.189-05:00Agree with all of that, Anon. :)Agree with all of that, Anon. :)Benjamin Vogthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10661489036836711335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-44207430817167841522013-07-11T10:55:07.115-05:002013-07-11T10:55:07.115-05:00What defines "native" is location, locat...What defines "native" is location, location, location. For example, a watershed in California has a sunny side and a shady side. Naturalists collect seed for outplanting back to the source location, i.e., to the same slope within that watershed. The reason lies in the DNA of plants; plants of the same species have different DNA, because they evolved to handle specific environmental Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-7411607270333191212013-07-11T10:49:22.310-05:002013-07-11T10:49:22.310-05:00Anon--hey now, I preach the value of native bees o...Anon--hey now, I preach the value of native bees over honeybees every chance I get! They are far better, and the whole native plant / habitat thing is with a nod to them. Yes, RoundUp is awful, and trust me, I've read almost every article out there about it. I am very conflicted about it when we're talking the need for large scale renovation and starting with a clean slate. I am not yet Benjamin Vogthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10661489036836711335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-24238812437175416342013-07-11T10:14:21.289-05:002013-07-11T10:14:21.289-05:00Ben, I heartily agree with most of your rant, but ...Ben, I heartily agree with most of your rant, but you pose two points I take issue with: RoundUp? Really? You may want to look at some recent research about this noxious pesticide's pervasive nature and the damage it brings. And yes, the planet is already seeing the need for hand pollination in the absence of honeybees. But as much as I love honey and honeybees, native bees are far more Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-91362658965770911722013-07-10T23:18:03.079-05:002013-07-10T23:18:03.079-05:00I hear you...<>>
I think I have the easi...I hear you...<>><br /><br />I think I have the easiest time with this. I only became interested in gardening to improve my wildlife habitat. To do that three years ago we started removing the non-natives and planting natives. As a novice I didn't have any notion that what I did would look decent, but it does... I am still waiting for a monarch this year at my WayStation. Not one..notAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-35746329297344666992013-07-10T12:58:11.343-05:002013-07-10T12:58:11.343-05:00Anonymous, you will like this guy's article I ...Anonymous, you will like this guy's article I link to in a post I did, but you won't like my response to his article: http://deepmiddle.blogspot.com/2011/04/this-guy-is-idiot.htmlBenjamin Vogthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10661489036836711335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-17808485802242898602013-07-10T12:53:05.114-05:002013-07-10T12:53:05.114-05:00Anonymous, you've taken a careful argument and...Anonymous, you've taken a careful argument and gone off the deep end. I specifically anticipated and spoke to a comment such as yours toward the end of my post, but you seem to have gone from 0-100 and ignored it in favor of a knee reaction. This has NOTHING to do with racism or bigotry. And you've failed to miss my point -- native plants aren't just for nectar, but also for Benjamin Vogthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10661489036836711335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-56746512994528831882013-07-10T12:31:17.120-05:002013-07-10T12:31:17.120-05:00Butterflies and other pollinators are not plant bi...Butterflies and other pollinators are not plant bigots. Humans are. With few exceptions, non-natives attract the most bees and butterflies (e.g. alfalfa, red clover, buddleia bushes, Vitex trees, english ivy, Daisytree and many more. Some humans refuse to accept that basic biological reality.<br /><br />So if bees and butterflies could talk they would tell us the current "natives only"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-75364274096485077822013-07-10T10:10:55.354-05:002013-07-10T10:10:55.354-05:00One of the questions I would raise is how a plant ...One of the questions I would raise is how a plant is determined native. Is there a master listing? Benjamin, I think there should be other criteria as some non-natives are quite adaptable to our landscapes and can be used. I have problems with monocultures and pave everything over mentalities. Part of the challenge of getting gardeners to look at prairie plants is that historically many danthebutterflymanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12564039938479033694noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-83165627762206800702013-07-10T07:35:37.448-05:002013-07-10T07:35:37.448-05:00I agree 100%. Plant hyssop in place of lavender. P...I agree 100%. Plant hyssop in place of lavender. Plant sedges instead of turf grass (turf grass is a scam for your $). Plant only native coneflowers - the hybrids are ignored by insects.<br /><br />The Eurotrash, largest invasive species, destroyed indigenous people who knew how to respect the land and work with it. Eurotrash brought their weeds with them and we have been going downhill since.<Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-15865198782770465502013-07-10T06:27:04.458-05:002013-07-10T06:27:04.458-05:00Well stated.Well stated.Andrewhttp://lvfoodforest.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-49415930704348766562013-07-09T23:16:20.663-05:002013-07-09T23:16:20.663-05:00Allen: Your comment calls to mind a passage from D...Allen: Your comment calls to mind a passage from Doug Tallamy’s Bringing Nature Home. Tallamy realizes he has an opportunity to share with his neighbor, Sam, the important role native plants play in promoting biodiversity and laying the foundation of our complex food web, but recognizes that Sam—and others unaware of the ecological importance of native plants and the essential part they play in Jackiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05397658769642211482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-57510202753931434822013-07-09T20:28:34.823-05:002013-07-09T20:28:34.823-05:00Allen--I knew you would take issue with this post....Allen--I knew you would take issue with this post. :) Look, again, I am not MAKING ANYONE PLANT NATIVES. I am not STANDING WITH A GUN TO YOUR HEAD. I am saying WAKE UP to the environmental destruction we have caused, and let's try to fix this while we can. If you think that's a wrong thing to advocate for, I honestly pity you (not you Allen, a general you). And I'll tell you plain, Benjamin Vogthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10661489036836711335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-75466107649290640862013-07-09T17:44:37.303-05:002013-07-09T17:44:37.303-05:00Some will argue that a garden planted with native ...Some will argue that a garden planted with native plants is not a garden at all but a meadow. <br />Since a garden is a human artifice, each human ought to be free to decide what to grow.<br />Your rant, while noble, sincere, and well meaning, is an opinion that is not universally shared.<br />If I were to use native plants to the extent that you suggest, I would lose all of my urban garden allanbecker-gardenguruhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00249183285802762125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9218275625589637009.post-12997418674004032952013-07-09T13:46:02.801-05:002013-07-09T13:46:02.801-05:00DG--We can compromise if you go native from now on...DG--We can compromise if you go native from now on (because I then know that someday those nasty, boring daylillies will come out). I think 2 acres would be inexpensive to convert -- till it up, or spray it with RoundUP, then till and seed. Bam. A few hundred dollars at most? Lincoln's 6" weed ordinance is insane, but I heard of someone going through and naming every "weed" in Benjamin Vogthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10661489036836711335noreply@blogger.com