Exploring Native Plants

Gardening is not foreign to me. My roots are in the soil – grand parents who were farmers and a land reclaimer, and four parents (of my wife and I) fully active with vegetable and flower gardens. So we followed suit, Wendy and I, and have enjoyed both the work and the views.

But I did not really live into it in any missional way until a few years ago, when our equilibrium was disturbed by the cutting down of the massive silver maple tree in front of our house by the street (by rights, a city tree). Its grand canopy had drawn attention away from our rather ho-hum front yard, but with its removal I could no longer bear the desolation of it.

So, with an inkling that came from who knows where, I ventured to replace the trees and add landscaping and plants that could give the house some life. I looked for my inspiration to the natural landscapes that I have loved all my life – in woods and parks, by lakes and among rocks. I began intuitively and somewhat naively, and only later did I begin to tap into the strong forces advocating for native plants in our gardens.

I have much to learn and enjoy yet, and this presentation is part of that process. I am looking forward to constructive responses and community to help make this happen. The garden plants are documented in these photo albums:

I have also been casually documenting native plants in nature, for forty years, and have gathered a few of these photos here. I expect that my home garden cultivations will enrich my experience in the wild.

For my own benefit:

A five part blog series, “The Plant Recorder Quest”, of which this is the third, details the lengths to which I have gone to document my gardens using an android app on my phone.