Favorite Resources

Local Support
Wild Ones is a non-profit that promotes landscaping with native plants. Central Wisconsin has several local chapters.

Garden Design Principles
Prairie Up, An Introduction to Natural Garden Design by Benjamin Vogt is a book that teaches about the various principles of native garden design.

Garden Design Templates
Wild Ones repository of free, downloadable native garden designs.

Native Plant Basics
Wisconsin-based resources from Wisconsin DNR.

Birds and Native Plants
Craig Thompson’s presentation is the best out there, drawing connections between birds, conservation, and planting native plants. It’s called The Power of Birds: Putting the Kibosh on Extinction.

Monarch Science
Monarch Watch coordinates citizen science and distributes free milkweed plants in support of monarch butterflies.

Inspiration
Biking With Butterflies by Sara Dykman is a book chronicling a young woman’s 10,000-mile bicycle journey along the monarch butterfly migration route. The ecological importance of native plants becomes crystal clear through her entertaining story. You will want to create a “Monarch Waystation” immediately after reading this.

TED Talk
Rebecca McMackin's TED Talk,
Let Your Garden Grow Wild, discusses the importance of gardening for biodiversity in public spaces and private gardens.



Plants for pollinators and biodiversity | Amherst, WI