Most of my photos look like the next two below: a detail of a client's redo that I forgot to measure during previous meeting or the ugly black landscape plastic poking up in the parking lot of my local Whole Foods. Everything has both sides, like the plastic: on the minus: ugly and not environmentally-friendly (I assume corporate doesn't want to pay for somebody to weed); on the plus: I'm buying food and it is good quality and I live in a community that is not a food desert. Lots to be grateful for! As I am for...
My beloved, native American Hophornbeam (Ostrya virginiana) in the backyard below, opening its new green growth to a cold, but fresh, sunny day. It is a great tree in every way. Plus, as a native, I just learned that its seeds are eaten by finch. And then I learned more about Goldfinch, which seem to be around now. I believe they migrate because they are not apparent in winter, but are in Spring. Interesting to learn that they are vegetarian, but eat seeds, like those of Ostrya. I don't recall how old this tree is: maybe 12 -15 years since I had it planted.
Speaking of practicing what you preach, these two high-quality experts with great knowledge and aesthetics, have a newish book about natives and what they supply to the Eco System: The Living Landscape by Rick Darke and Doug Tallamy. I have heard both these giants speak; they are superb at every level. Plus, as a photographer's daughter, I appreciate that, in my opinion, Darke is one of the best in the industry. His horticultural background is stellar as well. As for Tallamy, entomologists, like arborists, are some of my most respected and essential colleagues: couldn't do it without them! Here is an interview with Tallamy a few days ago on our local Public Radio; it's on Worldview May 11, 2015. Click on #4 for that date: "Learning to landscape with native plants."
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