Native Plant workshop at the BBG

I attended a fantastic workshop at the BBG organized by Greenbridge last Thursday.  The room was packed with gardeners and proponents of native plants, some with differing expectations for the 2 hour long workshop.  One group of homeowners wanted to know how to substitute their non-native, "alien" species with native alternatives, while others were intrigued to know of the latest in plant research at GNPC.  The presenter was Heather Liljengran who spoke on her work at the Greenbelt Native Plant Center.  She brought a wide range of books on native plants, and overall expressed her excitement at this time in our history when so much research on native plants is being conducted and there is finally a sizable constituency that cares about replanting our small and large landscapes with plants native to the NYC/Metropolitan region.

I will leave a set of handouts/ booklets from the workshop for our budding library of hard-copy materials in Dean Hainline's office. If you'd like to see them, shoot me an email and I can have them left for you in the front office.


Here's others links and resources about native plants and upcoming tours:

Greenbelt Native Plant Center
http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_about/parks_divisions/gnpc/index.html

NYC Wildflower week:
http://nycwildflowerweek.org/ataglance.htm

Op-Ed NY Times piece:
"Mother Nature's Melting Pot"
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/opinion/03Raffles.html?scp=1&sq=native%20plants&st=cse

Flatbush Gardener
http://flatbushgardener.blogspot.com/p/native-plants.html


Books:
Weeds of the Northeast
Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast
Bringing Nature Home


BBG Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants
and Great Natives for Tough Places
http://www.bbg.org/gardening/handbook/native_alternatives/