Designing gardens with flora of the American East / Carolyn Summers.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [205]-210) and index.

Why should we garden with indigenous plants? -- Wildlife in field, forest, and garden -- "Safe sex" in the garden -- Showy substitutes for common invasive plants -- Designing traditional gardens with indigenous plants -- Designs drawn from indigenous plant communities -- Shopping for indigenous trees, shrubs, and perennials.

The beautifully illustrated Designing Gardens with Flora of the American East approaches landscape design from an ecological perspective, encouraging professional horticulturalists and backyard enthusiasts alike to intensify their use of indigenous or native plants. These plants, ones that grow naturally in the same place in which they evolved, form the basis of the food web. Wildlife simply cannot continue to survive without them-nor can we. Summers provides guidelines for * The best ways to use exotic and nonindigenous plants responsibly * Easy-to-follow strategies for hosting butterflies, bees, moths, birds, and fish * Designs for traditional gardens using native trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, perennials, fruiting plants, and groundcovers as substitutes for exotic plants * How to control plant reproduction, choose cultivars, open-pollinated indigenous plants, and different types of hybrids.