Favorite gardening books and resources

Nature Talk
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Ecologist and iNaturalist user Dr. Shaun McCoshum @ShaunMichael recently published a beautiful, well-researched book about “Inviting Pollinators and Other Wildlife Into Your Garden”. He took some time to answer my questions and I published the interview here: https://pollinatorweb.com/meet-the-author-dr-shaun-mccoshum. Hope you’ll take a minute to read.

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I know many of you are also gardeners, or at least aware of and probably encouraging the wildlife in your yards or nearest green space. There are hundreds of websites and books in this category. To keep the discussion going, please share some of your favorites below!

I also like “Bringing Nature Home” by Doug Tallamy and “The Bees in your Backyard.” In many US states, the native plant society has helpful resources (for example: https://www.npsnm.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Central-NM-Gardens-2018.pdf).

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For interest in wildlife sightings/using iNaturalist in gardens, see this other forum thread: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/monitoring-gardens-and-spreading-the-message/26094/55

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I just finished Tallamy’s newest book, ‘Nature’s Best Hope’, and thought it to be excellent.

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For California (where I garden and am familiar with the native flora) specifically, The California Native Landscape: The Homeowner’s Design Guide to Restoring Its Beauty and Balance by Greg Rubin and Lucy Warren is a great guide for gardening that I’ve taken some inspiration from. It explains the practical aspects of gardening with native plants as well as the aesthetic qualities of landscape design.

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When I’m not iNatting, I’m a librarian and gardener working in a very cold climate (Canadian plant hardiness zone 3a). The challenge with gardening books is finding material that has relevant advice for short growing seasons. Most British and American books are not suitable…a lovely tropical whatsis ideal for zone 9 will be stone dead after one February here. We’re lucky to have 100 frost-free days per year and winters can get as cold as -45C. The timing of garden activities has to be very compressed compared to the sunny south.

So, some useful books for gardeners in tough northern conditions:

Garden design for the short season yard: everything you need to know for the Chinook and Canadian prairie zones. Lyndon Penner. ISBN 9781550596007.

Gardening with short growing seasons. Graham Saunders. ISBN 9780981249209.

Bird-by-bird gardening: the ultimate guide to bringing in your favorite birds–year after year. Sally Roth. ISBN 9781594863110.

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Here is one I have not actually read it (yet) but will hope to get around to it. Got it recomended to me: Attracting Birds, Butterflies, and Other Backyard Wildlife

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Penstemon? I hope you have Penstemon! :slightly_smiling_face:

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