Native plants in our own back yards can be part of the Homegrown National Park!

Because most of our land is privately owned, we can all contribute to nature by adding native plants in our yards. Nature preserves do not provide enough land to preserve our native ecology.

When we add our yard to the Homegrown National Park, we can even register it here:

https://map.homegrownnationalpark.org/users/new

Several of our Sierra Club members are adding native plants to their yards, and contributing to our native ecology.

Turk's cap is one of the favorite native plants of our Sierra Club members. It is a sturdy bush with tiny bright red flowers that butterflies love, and this one has grown huge!

Native plants can survive our snowy winter weather and our summer blistering heat (especially with a little watering).

On September 21, 2022, the Bay Area Sierra Club hosted a talk with Doug Tallamy, a noted entomologist and professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware.

Local plants and local species, insects, are interdependent. For biodiversity and the well-being of our environment, including us humans, natives are best.

Doug Tallamy says, “Plants don’t like to be eaten.” They protect themselves and, over a long time, native insects develop ways to bypass the protection of native plants, so food webs evolve. Imported plants provide no food for our insects, and can easily spread and become a nuisance.

Doug Tallamy has authored three influential books, "Nature's Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard," "Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants," and "The Nature of Oaks."

Resources:

Doug Tallamy, Bringing Nature Home website: https://map.homegrownnationalpark.org/

The Bay Area Sierra Club Houston Facebook page has many photos of native plants in our local gardens: https://www.facebook.com/bayareasierraclubhouston/

BASCH Eco Yards and Pollinators: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1933356496825052

Native Plant Society of Texas: https://npsot.org/wp/

National Wildlife Foundation, Native Plant Finder link:

https://www.nwf.org/NativePlantFinder/

For more information about the Bay Area Sierra Club’s native plant gardens, email:  

bayareasierraclubhouston@gmail.com

Turk's cap photo by Candy Anderson.