A GROWING CONCERN: For big impact with little effort, go native

OUR FAMILY COTTAGE is in Wisconsin on Morton Lake, the headwaters of the northerly flowing Presque Isle River.

This is the area where both the deciduous forest (temperate forest) and the evergreen forest (boreal forest) collide, so all the flora and fauna of these ecosystems flourish.

In short, it is a unique environment, much like the Olympic Peninsula, full of beauty and a wide variety of plants.

And that leads us to today’s message: Plant a native garden — because now is the time.

First, let’s start with the plain and simple fact that no other plants will perform better in your yard than native indigenous botanicals.

Native plants have evolved in our climate, they love our nutrition-poor soils, they can handle quite well our weather patterns and have adapted to bugs and diseases.