One of the ideas I’ve been mulling over this winter is how to help promote the use of native plants in folks’ gardens. The hardest part of that for me is knowing more about the native plants here in Gardner, MA. That is what the hold up was when I first thought up the notion a few years ago. How could I ever find the time to research them weekly?
Well, I finally bought my own copy of Native Plants for New England Gardens, written by Mark Richardson and Dan Jaffe, in August of last year. (I also wanted to buy the other two books seen on that linked page, but I figured one book a year might be a wiser budget schedule.) It’s a book I first found at my local library, and loved it so much I hunted it down straightaway, though it would take another loan and a bit more time until I finally had it in my hands. Somewhere in my draft post folder there’s an incomplete post about it I should polish up and post one of these days.
My thought is that every Wednesday I can post about one plant in that book with some general info about the chosen plant, and hopefully a picture I took myself of such when possible, otherwise one credited to the photographer/source. I will add other info I have learned elsewhere than the book I’m choosing from—to what degree will mostly depend on browser bookmarks and time available at the time of posting.
Because it’s late winter, I likely will start with either a tree or shrub that is covered in the book that we have in our garden. That will give me an excuse to get outdoors and take pictures that aren’t just through my office window. I’m thinking about starting with blueberry because I don’t think I’ve taken pictures of the new ones we purchased last year, and I also have older pics of the first highbush blueberry we bought our first year here.
If there are any native plants from New England you would like to know more about, please let me know in the comments below.
