Stabile-Dot-Org

I just finished reading the extremely depressing “The Dying of the Trees” by Charles E. Little (1995).

Near the end (page 232), he quotes the Union of Concerned Scientists November 18, 1992 press release:

A new ethic is required — a new attitude toward discharging our responsibility for caring for ourselves and for the earth. We must recognize the earth’s limited capacity to provide for us. We must recognize its fragility. We must no longer allow it to be ravaged. This ethic must motivate a great movement, convincing reluctant leaders and reluctant governments and reluctant peoples themselves to effect the needed changes.

My question: After the dismantling of the EPA during the Bush administration and Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth”, has anything gotten better? Or are we all doomed?

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Canadians may be more progressive, but they apparently draw the line at naturalized yards:

Rally For The Right To A Naturalized Yard

I am lucky I only tend to get one lawn citation a year (or so) and all I need to do is talk my way out of it.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Illinois Wildflowers is an excellent site about native plants in Illinois and is chock-full of information like this page about prairies.

I really wish the Natural Garden Inc., in St. Charles, IL, had a better website. As it stands, I’m looking at tables of their plant lists, trying to figure out what to plant this fall to restore my lawn to prairie. It’s a long, arduous process. On the plus side, Natural Garden is only about twenty-five miles away from me, and claim their native plant nursery stock is from seed collected within a 90 mile radius sometime in the seventies. We’re talking local genome here folks.

Prairie Nursery has always had an informative and well-organized website. I’ve ordered from them before when I was establishing my woodland garden a couple of years ago, and was happy with the result. The only drawbacks were that the plants reeked of smoke when they arrived and the Virginia Wild Rye (Elymus virginicus) was a bit more invasive and weedy than I would have liked.

Prairie Moon Nursery used to have a somewhat dis-functional site, but they recently re-vamped it and it’s now much better and more user friendly. So far, this is the only place I have found that sells native plants bare root (I haven’t been looking very hard…). This Spring I took advantage of their bare-root clearance sale and, though it was a bit late in the season for it, the unpromising looking twigs they sent me all took off quite impressively. This is the way to establish some really impressive stands of Prairie Blazing Star, Prairie Larkspur, and Sweet Joe Pye Weed. I will definitely be making a larger order this Fall and spend a good weekend in October planting. Spring 2010 should be spectacular.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh