Episode 10

Prairies, Pragmatism, and Pollinators with Benjamin Vogt

Published on: 15th August, 2023

Prairies, Pragmatism, and Pollinators- Discussing Prairie Up with Benjamin Vogt

Episode Introduction

In today's episode, Prairies, Pragmatism, and Pollinators, we chat with Benjamin Vogt of Monarch Gardens about reconciliation ecology, the humble dandelion, and messy landscapes.

Host Stephanie Barelman

Stephanie Barelman is the founder of the Bellevue Native Plant Society, a midwest motivational speaker, and host of the Plant Native Nebraska Podcast.

Guest Benjamin Vogt

Benjamin Vogt is owner of the prairie-inspired design firm Monarch Gardens. He is author of the best-selling books A New Garden Ethic: Cultivating Defiant Compassion for an Uncertain Future, as well as Prairie Up: An Introduction to Natural Garden Design. Benjamin's design work has been featured in The American Gardener, Dwell, Fine Gardening, Horticulture, Midwest Living, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. Through his business he offers a variety of resources such as consulting, design, online classes, webinars, garden guides, articles, and more.

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Episode Content

The new book of Benjamin's we talk about:

Benjamin Vogt- Prairie Up

Follow Milk The Weed on Facebook

Make America prairie again- or at the very least feel good as that phrase floats through your brain.

Milk The Weed https://www.facebook.com/MonarchGardensLLC

Bringing the Prairie Home

Bringing Nature Home- An idea championed by Tallamy that we can make hyper-local.

Can we really bring the prairie home? No. But we can embrace the echo of what's been lost. Metal...

Bringing Nature Home by Doug Tallamy

Why did it take people so long to care about native plants?

Ben promises we won't regret reading his other book A New Garden Ethic

But mostly people suck (we see gardens as ours but they are shared spaces!)

Plant attributes

Habit, lifespan, wildlife support, bloom time, etc. etc. Think of how these qualities will work together, not just in and of themselves.

Floral fidelity

Bees have an easier go when you plant in masses and drifts. Help a hardworking worker bee out!

A Garden Perpetually in Bloom

But Ben wants you to know how much especially likes fall and how much he especially dislikes the chiggers of summer.

For real though, do dandelions really need saving?

To read Ben's blog post in depth on this, click here:

And yes, as promised Ben even made this shirt:

HOAS

If you live in one, you'll have some boot polishing to do.

Just remember to be nice! And remember we are trying to win favor, not incite the pitchforks!

"Cues to care"

via Joan Nassauer- long pathways, benches, sculptures, and educational signs. Your gazillion pink flamingos may not count.

These are visual reminders that our gardens are not weedy, neglected areas. Just make sure your garden isn't really weedy.

Garden layers

Because we don't need to continue to spend money on mulch dyed 50 shades of the rainbow.

The matrix

Not the Keanu variety, the garden variety. Planting in layers on a grid so that annual weed competition stays to a minimum. And a way to yet again mimic natural spaces.

Maintenance, schmaitenence. Isn't site prep for squares?

No! Success is all about how you maintain. Weeds are where we get into trouble.

If you want an easier go at things, start small and plant in fall y'all.

Thank you for listening! And thank you to Benjamin for being with us!

-Stephanie

Additional content related to this episode:

What makes a plant native?

http://bonap.net/fieldmaps Biota of North America North American Plant Atlas database-select Nebraska

https://bellevuenativeplants.org Bellevue Native Plant Society

native (wild type) vs. nativar/native cultivar (cultivated by humans for desirable characteristics)

On the Web

BONAP aforementioned

BNPS aforementioned

http://www.facebook.com/groups/bellevuenativeplantsociety- BNPS on Facebook

Books & Authors

Rick Darke- The Living Landscape

Douglas Tallamy- Professor and Chair of the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Entomology at the University of Delaware, author of The Living Landscape, Nature's Best Hope, naturalist, and curator of "Homegrown National Park".

Enrique Salmon- Iwigara

Daniel Moerman -Native American Ethnobotany

Heather Holm- https://www.pollinatorsnativeplants.com

Native Plants of the Midwest

Planting in a Post-Wild World

Jon Farrar's Field Guide to Wildflowers of Nebraska