Native Plants

Douglas Tallamy was recently interviewed on one of the local public radio stations (WHYY, my favorite radio station here). Tallamy is the chair of the University of Delaware's department of entomology and ecology and the author of the book Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens.

Tallamy talked about the importance of native plants to wildlife. Only insects that evolved with plants are able to eat them, so the native insects are unable to eat non-native plants. Many of our favorite plants are not native. Initially, I was thinking that this would be a great way to avoid insects eating the plants without using pesticides; however, wildlife (particularly birds) depend on insects for food. He thought one reason for the declining bird populations is the decline in the insects, because of non-native plants. Since we're having to landscape our small yard, I'm hoping we can use native plants -- which has the added benefit of attracting wildlife by providing them with food.