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Yes, I am that person--the person whose summer photos of her kids are interspersed with many, many photos of caterpillars, butterflies, and bees. On the way to turn on a hose at one of our recent plantings, I glanced down at the yarrow blooming in the above picture and discovered half a dozen beetles mining their own floralscape. In the last few weeks, I have seen tiny bees on the (non-native) cornflower, a spicebush swallowtail caterpillar on the spicebush, and a pearl crescent butterfly flitting around the echinacea and mountain mint, perhaps headed to the asters, its host plant.
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When you fill your landscape with a variety of native plants, you begin to see a greater diversity of insect life, which of course supports everything else. Plant them and they will come. Read to the bottom of this newsletter for links to lists of the best flowers and shrubs to plant.
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As the blooms of summer bring on the bugs, it is a fine time to think about fall, which is an ideal time to plant perennials and shrubs. Read on about our consultations and DIY workshop and enjoy all the natural buzzworks of July!
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Help us help you--take our survey!
In the next couple of weeks, Journeywork will be sending a survey to newsletter subscribers. We would like to hear feedback about your interests, concerns, and priorities so that we can provide the information and services that people need to create healthy habitat wherever they have a lawn.
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This homeowner recently had to have a beloved maple tree cut down and wanted to freshen up the landscaping that was installed 30 years ago. We encouraged them to replace the vinca and spiraea, which are both considered invasive, with native flowers. The new garden includes ironweed, coreopsis, butterfly weed, penstemon, amsonia, and liatris, with Cherokee sedge along the driveway and wild petunias that will gradually reseed and fill in as groundcover. Each of these plants is important for native bees, and they are host plants for several species of butterfly and moth. We purchased the plants from Redbud Nursery and Kind Earth Growers.
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Now imagine every townhome in this development replacing its little patch of grass with native plants. What a rich habitat! No more mowing! And less air and noise pollution from lawnmowers!
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We dig it.
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Thank you to everyone who supported our summer solstice t-shirt fundraiser, which raised $620! If you didn't have a chance to grab a shirt, they are now available on our website. They are mighty comfy and pair well with a shovel (or a hammock).
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Need advice?
If you have a native planting project in mind in your yard and want ideas or advice, Journeywork can help! We offer a one-hour consultation for $50.
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DIY workshop
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Get ideas, encouragement, and next steps to make it easy to add native plants to your land at our first DIY workshop on Saturday, August 19 from 10:00-11:30 in Gwynedd. The fee is $75 or $50 if you bring a neighbor.
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Another day trip idea: Glenstone Museum
Glenstone Museum is located in Potomac, Maryland. It is a museum of post-World War II art housed in elegant buildings on a 300-acre campus. The grounds include a magnificent restored meadow, ponds, and a wooded area where 7,000 native trees have been planted. Admission is free!
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Wonderful lists and more lists from Tufts
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If Journeywork inspires you to sheet mulch, start seeds, or plant some native plants in your yard, please send us a picture! Let's celebrate and support each other!
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Our wish list
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Rubbermaid bins with lids for storing gloves and tools
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clean, gently used 5-gallon buckets
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Follow us on social...
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