OH! Stage_rat-- what timing for this post of yours!! I wish you had been at the Midwest Native Plant Conference in southern Ohio this weekend! You would have learned so much about exactly that (how native plants nurture our wildlife so much more effectively than non-native species)! I have not yet read Douglas w. Tallamy's book, Bringing Nature Home, but am going to pick up a copy ASAP. Here is part of the synopsis from Amazon: "There is an unbreakable link between native plant species and native wildlife ― native insects cannot, or will not, eat alien plants. When native plants disappear, the insects disappear, impoverishing the food source for birds and other animals. In many parts of the world, habitat destruction has been so extensive that local wildlife is in crisis and may be headed toward extinction. "Bringing Nature Home has sparked a national conversation about the link between healthy local ecosystems and human well-being, and the new paperback edition ― with an expanded resource section and updated photos ― will help broaden the movement. By acting on Douglas Tallamy's practical recommendations, everyone can make a difference." You must read this article explaining in detail why cardinals that are eating Amur honeysuckle berries (a food source that is dismayingly widespread now) are not as healthy as the mates they attract think: http://redandthepeanut.blogspot.com/2014/01/a-northern-cardinal-eating-red.html And be sure to follow the link embedded in THIS article to another from the website of the National Wildlife Assn. regarding non-native plants being ecological traps for birds (and, therefore, affecting all wildlife since EVERYTHING is connected to everything else in the Web of Life! And then take a good long look at the plants in your yard to see what you may need to remove and think what you may replace them with!! Another good book with lists of native replacements for horticultural nightmares sold so widely is author Sara Stein's Planting Noah's Garden. It has been out for some time, but has very useful information!

That's what I've heard. When we had my Yardley (See my avatar picture) on patrol, he caught a couple of the tunneling critters and we were able to confirm our suspicions that they were moles not voles. Voles are a hideous problem. A friend of mine had to dig up all her roses and line the bottoms of the holes with hardware cloth to keep the Voles from eating the roots off. Every plant she planted had to have the hole lined with that stuff. A royal pain and one I don't think I'd even be able to accomplish if I had the mind to in our clay soil............Maryl

?? What is the difference in this: "Went throught houzz.com " add this? "nothing worked until I went in through google chrome." Chrome is a browser. You can get to Google, via any browser. Going to Google and searching for houzz.com will get you to the same place as typing in www.houzz.com in your address bar. Can you clarify what you meant? Did you perhaps use a link from your history and that is what you mean by the first statement?

Debra, Nancy got A Walk in the Clouds from me and soon it will be in your garden too! It really is a great late. For some reason mine is sending up scapes already when it normally blooms in August but lots of my lates are doing that. Nancy, I'm glad it is happy in it's new home! It clumps up fast, just to let you know.