Gardens benefit insect population, a vital link in the food chain and one that is in steep decline.
Excerpt from this story from the Chicago Tribune:
At a time of growing concern about declines in insect populations, native plants are having a moment, with local fans such as Nugent showcasing them in parkways and front yards and community garden walks featuring them alongside the traditional roses, salvias and lilies.
National trend data isnβt readily available, but the Northern Illinois Native Plant Gardeners Facebook page recently reached 10,000 members, up from 6,000 just two years ago. Thereβs also the Native Gardening in Illinois group with 6,500 members, and Native Plant Gardens in the Upper Midwest with 24,200 members.
The Chicago garden center Christy Webber reports spring native plant sales have almost doubled since 2023, from about $50,000 to $93,000.
And at the Monee native plant nursery Possibility Place, co-owner Tristan Shaw says his retail operation sold more native plants in the first eight months of 2025 than in all of 2024.
βThereβs always been a core of people who have been preaching this (native plant) gospel, but it really just has gone crazy within the last 10 years, and especially within the last three or four,β said Bob Sullivan, an administrator of the Northern Illinois Facebook group.
People are turning to native plants for many reasons, including their natural good looks and low-maintenance profiles. But reports about declines in beneficial insects β includingΒ monarch butterfliesΒ and the federally endangeredΒ rusty patched bumblebeeΒ β have played a major role, observers say.
βNative gardening for many people is empowering,β Sullivan said. βIt is something they can do that is rewarding, they see immediate benefits, and theyβre getting a lot of reinforcement from scientists who are telling them, your yard really can make a difference.β
βAn amazing shiftβ
Amanda Nugent had always been interested in both gardening and conservation, but she didnβt really appreciate the connection between the two until she read the book βBringing Nature Homeβ by University of Delaware entomology professor Doug Tallamy.
Tallamy, a bestselling author and a leader in the native gardening movement, is among the scientists who say that insects β a vital link in the food chain β are in trouble.
Tallamy wants ordinary gardeners to fight back against insect decline by supporting his vision of a 20-million acreΒ βHomegrown National Park.βΒ Roughly the size of Maine, this park-without-boundaries would consist of native plants, shrubs and trees grown on private land by gardeners doing their part to protect and sustain wildlife.
The idea is that as more native gardens join the βpark,β they will start to provide continuous habitat for the insects that, in turn, support larger animals such as birds.
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