Episode 15

Softer Landings with Heather Holm

Published on: 25th October, 2023

Softer landings

Episode Introduction

In today's episode, Softer Landings, we chat with Heather Holm, pollinator conservationist and author, about leaf litter, the mighty oak, and what we can do to make more “habitable” habitats in often underutilized understory. Thanks for listening!

Host Stephanie Barelman

Stephanie Barelman is the founder of the Bellevue Native Plant Society, a freelance garden designer, and host of the Plant Native Nebraska Podcast.

Guest Heather Holm

Heather Holm is a pollinator conservationist and award-winning author of four books: Pollinators of Native Plants (2014), Bees (2017), Wasps (2021), and Common Native Bees of the Eastern United States (2022). Both Bees and Wasps have won multiple book awards including the American Horticultural Society Book Award. Heather’s expertise includes the interactions between native pollinators and native plants, and the natural history and biology of native bees and predatory wasps. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and many local publications. Heather is a National Honorary Director of Wild Ones and also serves on the boards of several non-profits: Friends of Cullen Nature Preserve and Bird Sanctuary and Friends of Minnetonka Parks.

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Episode Content

Visit Heather’s site and get pollinator educated!

Heather’s site: www.pollinatorsnativeplants.com you will find lots of amazing stuff and lose about 3 hours of your day! You’re welcome!
Soft landings: https://www.pollinatorsnativeplants.com/softlandings.html

Keystone plants: what does that even mean?

Heather’s free handout on keystone plants! https://www.pollinatorsnativeplants.com/uploads/1/3/9/1/13913231/softlandingskeystonehandout.pdf
Some native plants have significant interactions with the food web. In essence they are more significant than other species. Essentially, the not-Karens of the natural world.
Plant native stuff! You can find many amazing databases and resources online. Try out nwf.org/nativeplantfinder and check out their ecoregion guides.
Audubon also has a native plants database: https://www.audubon.org/native-plants The birds will thank you… or they will eat dinner and sneak away, much like my mother likes to do.

Soft landings- nice, cushy spaces for our little insect friends.

Leaf litter and diverse native plantings under native trees. A multi-season buffet for birds and a haven for all the sweet little caterpillar babe-ays. And fireflies, and bumblebees, and ladybugs… You get the idea.

Yet another reason insecticides are bad

Did you know systemic insecticides can persist in woody plant material for long periods of time-like years? I didn’t…
Check out this Xerxes Society publication here.

Tailored plant list for NE

Here’s Heather’s full list for multiple regions. https://www.pollinatorsnativeplants.com/uploads/1/3/9/1/13913231/softlandingshandout.pdf
We’ve narrowed the list down to NE here:

Wildflowers

Wild Columbine
Wild ginger
Wild geranium
May apple
Bloodroot
Short’s aster
Common blue violet

Grasses and sedges

Carex brevior
Pennsylvania sedge
Sprengel’s sedge
Bottlebrush grass

Ferns

Lady fern
Marginal fern
Maidenhair fern

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 (native plant cultivated by humans for desirable characteristics)

On the Web

BONAP aforementioned

BNPS aforementioned

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

Books & Authors

*Please note* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Rick Darke- The Living Landscape https://amzn.to/3EYx8lK

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". Link to Nature's Best Hope book here: https://amzn.to/3RGInqv

Enrique Salmon- Iwigara https://amzn.to/3LFPrQp

Daniel Moerman -Native American Ethnobotany https://amzn.to/3tdCLK7

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

Native Plants of the Midwest- https://amzn.to/3PXCX9i

Planting in a Post-Wild World- https://amzn.to/3EVGPRQ

Jon Farrar's Field Guide to Wildflowers of Nebraska https://amzn.to/3FhwOPj *Just get the kindle version

Additional Resources