WHEN ELISE HOWARD and I talked on the show in March, her new book, “Plant This, Not That,” was just out. The popular book offers basic guidelines for selecting and using native plants, and specific substitutes for non-natives you may wish to replace. Once spring arrived, Elise Howard got back to making a garden around the weekend home in Western Massachusetts she and her husband bought in 2025—not just deciding what to grow, but thornier topics like tackling invasives and all the rest of what goes into rethinking a landscape with ecology in mind. I wanted to check back in and hear how the implementation of the book’s principles and plant choices is going for her in real time, because Elise is practicing what she preaches. And like for all of us, that means being confronted with some tricky questions to puzzle out along the way. Elise Howard, a literary agent, began learning about natives more than 15 years ago as a volunteer at Riverside Park in New York City. Her book, “Plant This Not That” (affiliate link), offers 200ish examples of swaps for plants that have proven troublesome or just don’t do much in the name of supporting biodiversity, […]

The post elise howard’s adventures in native-plant gardening appeared first on A Way To Garden.

IF YOU’VE EVER posted a photo on the massive community science project called iNaturalist and wondered how such contributions get used in research… well, today’s guest is here to tell us about one especially stunning example. It involves 1.6 million such crowd-sourced observations, and the timing of the migration of hummingbirds in Eastern North America. You’ve probably heard it said that hummingbirds love red flowers, and scientists in the Hopkins Lab at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University took a much closer look at that connection thanks to all that community data, and the use of artificial intelligence to sort through it all. One of the Harvard scientists, a post-doctoral researcher in the plant evolution lab named Patrick McKenzie, part of the team at Dr. Robin Hopkins’s lab, is here to explain what they learned and how. Patrick has written that, “Quiet hours in the sun, meditating with the bugs, plants, and birds, are my inspiration as an evolutionary biologist.” He is always on the lookout for patterns—and then asking himself why each pattern unfolds—like the why of red flowers and hummingbirds, for example. Besides his extensive training in plant evolution, Patrick is a keen birder, and I was glad for […]

The post the hummingbird-red flower connection, with harvard’s patrick mckenzie appeared first on A Way To Garden.

OWLS: THEY ARE birds we more often hear than see, exceptionally well-camouflaged creatures,  many of whom move about in the hours of low light for an extra layer of stealth, making them seem even more mysterious. So what do you know about owls—besides perhaps the eerie sound of their voices? For wildlife photographer and writer Paul Bannick, owls have been the subject of much study and also the topic of several of his books, and he’s here today to tell us about these incredible animals who have commanded his attention, and should command more of ours. (Above, a great gray owl and owlets.) Paul Bannick is an award-winning author and wildlife photographer based in Seattle whose work focuses on the natural history of North America, with a particular emphasis on the conservation of birds and their habitats. He has written several previous books about owls—including “Owl: A Year in the Lives of North American Owls” (affiliate link) and another about the great gray and one about the snowy owl, too, plus a book about woodpeckers. Plus: Comment in the box near the bottom of the page for a chance to win a copy of “Owl: A Year in the Lives […]

The post the magic of owls, with paul bannick appeared first on A Way To Garden.

THE MORE THAT I SEE photographs of gravel gardens and the more that I learn about this gardening style, which besides its distinctive aesthetic appeal promises to be water-wise and weed-suppressing, the more I want to give it a try. So I was happy to get an early copy of “The Gravel Garden,” a book that’s due out in June, and be treated to virtual walks through 20 such landscapes in a range of sizes and styles. The book’s co-author, Jeff Epping, who has been making gravel gardens for clients since 2008 and converted his own Wisconsin front yard from lawn to gravel in 2017,  joined me to talk about what kinds of plants work in these resilient gardens and provide us with some design inspiration, too. Jeff is a longtime horticulturist and garden designer who for 28 years was director of horticulture at Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wisc. Jeff’s upcoming book is called “The Gravel Garden: Visionary, Drought-Defying Naturalistic Designs” (affiliate link), written in collaboration with Teresa Woodard. It takes us around the country and to the UK and Germany, too, to look at how various garden makers have interpreted the technique of gravel gardening, and I’m so […]

The post gravel-garden possibilities, with jeff epping appeared first on A Way To Garden.

FINDING OUR WAY toward a more ecologically vibrant garden can sometimes feel a bit challenging, and I’m always looking for resources to guide me along the way, and to share with you. Last year I shared news about a New York-based sustainable landscaping firm called Plan It Wild that had developed a digital self-test to help us each evaluate the ecological health of our landscape, and an accompanying 12-step program to enhance it—both of them free to use. Now the same company, with an impressive group of collaborators that includes Doug Tallamy’s Homegrown National Park, the Wild Ones membership group, Audubon, Cornell Lab and more, has taken the next step. They just launched the beta version of an app described as a “personalized rewilding guide for every homeowner in America” to help us decide which actions to take and what plants to use to accomplish them. Joanna Hall, the CEO of Plan It Wild, a Westchester, NY-based landscaping firm focused on creating biodiversity-raising native habitats, and Bram Gunther, Plant It Wild’s  VP of Science & Development joined me to talk about the Wildr app, the new app they’ve developed to guide us as we enhance our home landscapes with an […]

The post wildr: a new free app to guide us on our ecological journey appeared first on A Way To Garden.

HOW CONFIDENT are you about the use of color in your garden, and where do you draw your inspiration from for creating a pleasing palette? The topic of color is just one of many that Stephen Orr tackles in his new book, “The Gardener’s Mindset: Connecting with Nature Through Plants,” and we talked together recently about how he’s finding his way to some combinations that please him through his own garden experiments. Stephen, the former editor-in-chief of “Better Homes & Gardens,” is embarking on the fifth growing season at the home he shares with his husband on Cape Cod. It’s their fourth garden and their most ambitious one, a place that presented new realities to acclimate to like sandy soil, but also at least one form of great relief: Finally, no deer. Above, one of his tactics that we discussed for keeping track of color ideas that work is to take snippets of plants of a given moment in the garden and photograph them as a still-life, for future inspiration. Plus: Comment in the box near the bottom of the page for a chance to win a copy of “The Gardener’s Mindset” (affiliate link). Read along as you listen to […]

The post getting confident with color in the garden, with stephen orr appeared first on A Way To Garden.

IF WE’RE shopping for native plants with the most ecological impact—ones with the most pollinator appeal, for example—then simply choosing by the prettiest picture on a label or by a catalog photo won’t get you to your goal. It helps to understand the vocabulary of natives: words like straight species and ecotype and selection and cultivar. Especially with cultivars—the cultivated named varieties of, say, Echinacea or Phlox or Aster of which there are now so many to choose from—we need to learn to read between the lines on those plant labels, because not all cultivars are created equal. Sam Hoadley, the manager of horticultural research at Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware, helped me  understand how to do just that. Since 2002, the gardeners at Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware have been studying native plants and their cultivars for their garden-worthiness and ecological value, and since 2019 Sam Hoadley has been heading up that effort, conducting multi-year trials that compare different species and varieties of a genus. (Above, Phlox paniculata ‘Jeana,’ a top performer in their Phlox trial.) Read along as you listen to the April 27, 2026 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can […]

The post straight talk on native-plant cultivars, with mt. cuba’s sam hoadley appeared first on A Way To Garden.

BOTH GARDENERS and their plants have to be more resilient than ever these days in our changing climate it seems. At the High Line in New York City, one of the best-known naturalistic gardens anywhere, that’s especially so, since it’s built on the preposterous site of a former rail line, 30 feet above street level, meaning a plant must be an exceptional performer to make the grade. Richard Hayden, the High Line’s Senior Director of Horticulture, talked to me about the plants that excel in different extremes of moisture, for instance, or in shade, or offer the most ecologically, and about how the team is using certain species to create weed-suppressing living green mulch, and also shifting their thinking about gardens as ecological communities rather than a collection of plants. Richard joined the High Line four years ago to lead the team that manages the mile-and-a-half-long stretch of gardens, with two new areas set to open this year. Also: On Saturday, May 30, the High Line is holding its first-ever plant sale with 39 different species the team has propagated from the garden—some of those top performers, that play key roles in making the High Line work aesthetically and ecologically. […]

The post resilient plants that meet the high line’s test, with richard hayden appeared first on A Way To Garden.

I’M PRIVILEGED to observe a fascinating diversity of animals outside where I live, but the term “Outsider Animals” was new to me. It’s the title of a recent book by today’s guest, Marlene Zuk, a leading expert in behavioral evolution and a professor at the University of Minnesota. The book’s subtitle is “How the Creatures at the Margins of Our Lives Have the Most to Teach Us” (affiliate link), and among her subjects are ones that many gardeners may know—or think they know—like raccoons, cabbage white butterflies, cowbirds and snakes (like the garter snake, above, devouring one of “my” frogs in the garden some years ago). All these animals have one thing in common, she writes: “When we see them, we ask, what are you doing here?” Outsider animals were the topic of my conversation with Dr. Zuk, the Regents Professor of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Minnesota, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Plus: Comment in the box near the bottom of the page for a chance to win a copy of the book. Read along as you listen to the April 13, 2026 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the […]

The post what we can learn from ‘outsider animals,’ with marlene zuk appeared first on A Way To Garden.

I ALWAYS SAY that birds taught me to garden as I watched their behavior and added more of the plants and features they seem to like and use most. And I’ve been blessed to have a diversity of avian visitors over many years. One place I’ve long turned for all kinds of information about birds is Cornell Lab of Ornithology. And lately among their many educational resources, they’ve added the Garden for Birds Project, loaded with reference materials and inspiring webinars and more. The project’s leader, native plant specialist Becca Rodomsky-Bish, filled me in about its offerings and suggested some of the more impactful tactics for making your own landscape into a garden for birds. Becca has been gardening for more than 20 years. She draws upon her background in environmental science and her native plant expertise to manage her home garden and shape the offerings of the Lab’s Garden for Birds Project. Like everyone I know who gardens for birds, Becca reports not just an uptick in sightings of feathered visitors, but also in the positive impacts the practice has had on her life, not inconsequential effects like hope and joy. Read along as you listen to the April […]

The post garden for birds, with cornell lab’s becca rodomsky-bish appeared first on A Way To Garden.