September Gardening
Back in 2012, Civano Nursery® joined forces with American Beauties Native Plants® to help support the National Wildlife Federation® while putting some of our best Southwestern native plants in the spotlight. Recognizing a native plant that is part of the American Beauties® line is easy because they have unique mint-green containers and special tags with information about how that plant benefits our regional wildlife.
Protecting wildlife has been a hot topic for years, but recent warnings about declining populations of birds, bees, and monarch butterflies have renewed interest in landscaping with native plants to provide much-needed resources for wildlife in an increasingly unrecognizable environment.
(Monarch and queen butterflies will only lay eggs on milkweeds. Asclepias subulata – pictured above – is one of the milkweed species recommended by monarch rescue organizations to help revive monarch butterfly populations.)
Why use native plants in your landscape? Native plants are more recognizable to the critters who travel through or live in our area. In addition, plants that naturally grow here are adapted to our heat and our arid climate, often requiring less water and attention than many of the most popular imported plants. Using native plants helps to conserve natural resources, like water, while helping to shelter and feed local wildlife.
(Apache Plume is a drought tolerant Southwestern native that provides nectar for pollinators, nesting materials for birds, seed, and shelter for many of our desert critters.)
Choosing an American Beauties Native Plant® goes even further to protect wildlife because part of every purchase directly supports the National Wildlife Federation®.
The next time you stop by Civano Nursery, look for the clearly-marked, mint green American Beauties® containers. These native plants, grown at our farm here in Tucson, are sure to make your garden more wildlife friendly while also supporting multiple efforts to protect our environment.
(Calylophus berlandieri ‘Tucson Sun’)
