Mid-March is when many in southern New England would usually get their gardens started. With the weather we’ve been having, that may seem a distant dream right now. That just leaves us extra time for planning.
A new book has plenty of ideas about how – and why – to incorporate native plants into our landscapes. It’s called Native Plants for New England Gardensand the co-author is Dan Jaffe, propagator and stock bed grower at the New England Wildflower Society's Garden in the Woods.
Jaffe tells Living Lab Radio that one of the best reasons for planting native plants is that they survive without a lot of care.
“Any of that weird stuff that New England has a way of throwing at us tends to be something that they’ve dealt with before, so they tend to be a lot lower maintenance,” he said.
From the interview, here are a few trees that Jaffe loves:
- Sourwood: glossy leaves, late summer flower.
- Tulip tree: fast-growing, great for pollinators. Gets big.
- Red maple, sugar maple, and yellow birch for fall color.