To Garden Honestly

From "Minnesota" 1980 by Joan Mitchell The call to action appeared in my inbox: “are we gardening while the world burns?” Yes, I got the easy reference to Nero, Rome and all that, which is, historically, a fairly complicated story in itself. And yes, ornamental—as distinguished from food—gardening, could be considered an oblivious, even oppressive activity, especially if conducted with plenty of staff in the pursuit of displaying wealth using plants and techniques that harm ecosystems. But rebelliousness rose in me. As a serious modern gardener, I wondered, does this person not understand where gardening is situated in the history of our species and how it can be used to make a fierce statement about possible futures? And I’m not talking about utopian ideas of getting back to the Garden of Eden, either. Nettled, I did look around the internet and found that the phrase seems to have come from an essay in which the write ultimately decided gardening to be akin to other creative...

Free Webinar: Native Bees in the Garden




I'll be talking about native bees from a gardener's perspective online Sunday, June 14 at 2:30 pm CDT. Excited to be part of West Cook Wild Ones' series of monthly talks! 

Did you know that the Chicago area has some 480 species of native bees? Many of these species are understudied and some appear to be in decline. Research shows, however, that urban areas can be a great refuge for them. Come and learn about the fascinating biology and life cycles of native bees and how you can provide habitat in your garden. 


 



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