Native plants of the Midwest A comprehensive guide to the best 500 species for the garden

Review by Choice Review

This book is a great example of an emergent trend in gardening and gardening books: a focus on using native plants for landscaping. The bulk of the volume consists of descriptions of 500 plants native to the North Central area of the US that are arranged in logical categories by plant forms, such as shade trees, evergreen shrubs, woodland perennials, etc. Uniformly high-quality color photographs complement the concise species treatments organized in sections pertaining to how to grow plants, landscape use, ornamental attributes, and related plants. Branhagen, director of horticulture at Powell Gardens (Kansas City's botanical garden), is also an experienced naturalist, and his personal interaction with the plants in both natural and garden settings provides valuable insights. The 65 pages preceding the species descriptions briefly cover the natural plant communities of the region and offer advice for selecting, designing with, and maintaining native plants. Well designed and richly illustrated, Branhagen's book will be of value to landscapers, restoration ecologists, and home gardeners interested in creating regionally appropriate landscapes. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. --Glenn D. Dreyer, Connecticut College

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.

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Review by Booklist Review

Gardeners considering adding native plants to their gardens should be sure to start with the well-written introduction rather than being tempted by the 677 photographs of many of the native trees, shrubs, and forbs that are included. Branhagen defines native as he uses the word and differentiates it from wild, as in wildflower. While encouraging the use of native species, he also discourages collecting in the wild and reminds gardeners that some natives do not do well in captivity because they need particular habitats with specific neighbors (plants, insects, and animals). The bulk of the book is divided into chapters from the largest plants to the smallest, with several special groups. Shade trees are followed by evergreens, large and small trees, and shrubs; then vines and prairie, woodland, and wetland perennials; and finally, ground covers. Bulbs and annual and biennial plants follow. Most of the succinct entries include a general comment about the species or its range within the Midwest, how to grow it, its landscape use, and ornamental attributes. Some include notes and related plants, including cultivars. Interspersed in some of the chapters are block lists of suggested plants for special situations, such as Vines for a Traditional Landscape and Small Trees for Traditional Landscapes. There are also lists of ground covers for sunny and shady locations and ornamental shrubs and perennials for full-sun and wet conditions. Despite the growing interest in milkweeds, and the book's coverage, the index doesn't carry the common names of milkweed species, using instead the term Asclepias. As more people are incorporating more natives in their landscapes for their own pleasure, pollinators, and birds, this book will be used by novice and experienced gardeners alike.--Scarth, Linda Copyright 2016 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Library Journal Review

The sheer number of beautiful photographs in this volume provide an excellent way for readers to browse and become inspired by the beauty of native Midwest plants. Containing a handful of introductory chapters on the history and complexity of the Midwest landscape, the first part of this book resembles a gardening memoir and might confuse readers looking for specific recommendations. Branhagen (director of horticulture, Powell Gardens; The Gardener's Butterfly Book), a landscape architect by training, delivers practical advice for -native plant selection and placement; for example, "Design with Native Plants" is an excellent introduction to the process of inventory, analysis, and scheme. The remainder of this book is comprised of plant profiles categorized by type; the author does not attempt to profile all native Midwestern plants but instead provides "descriptions and photographs of the most garden- and landscape-worthy Midwestern native plants. A compilation of the best native plants for gardening and landscaping." VERDICT Gardeners wishing to learn more about native Midwest plants from an experienced professional will appreciate the blending of growing recommendations along with the author's personal experiences using each plant.-Kendra -Auberry, Indian River State Coll. Lib., Port St. Lucie, FL © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Introduction This is a book about the plants indigenous or native to the heartland of North America. No place else on earth has such an extreme continental climate, yet it is a place filled with plants of every size and in every hue. This book aims to inspire readers to plant native plants while learning how and where to grow them successfully. There is no perfect plant so understanding the strengths and limitations of each species is a critical component. I also aim to explain why it is important to utilize native plants in a landscape wherever possible. Humans have manipulated the landscapes of the Midwest since arriving in the region. The first English-speaking settlers described a forest that stretched from the Appalachians to the Mississippi. The prairies were celebrated as a sea of grass, so vast it stretched to the horizon in many places. Much of the forest was portrayed as open woodland, with a parklike appearance of scrub and gnarly trees interspersed with grass. We like to think of these early descriptions as depicting a pristine place, but we know that the bison, elk, and other creatures along with Native Americans and their use of fire created that landscape. When settlers arrived, the region was already changing as the great glacial ice had melted not that long ago (in the big scheme of things). Northern forest trees were retreating northward and southern species advancing as the climate changed. Grasslands had periodically advanced eastward and northward through periods of heat and drought, the habitat they required maintained by natural and man-made fires that burned through entire landscapes. Plants filled every niche, segregated by their adaptations to all the various conditions from wet to dry, muck to sand, sun to shade, and hot to cool microclimates. Today the Midwest is one of the most human-manipulated landscapes: the seas of prairies are now a vast expanse of farmland while the forest has been fragmented into smaller tracts. Once open woodlands and savannas are now dense forests. The region's great herbivores, bison and elk, no longer roam, while wildfires no longer burn. Some native animals like white-tailed deer and some imported plants like bush honeysuckles and reed canary grass have gone awry, usurping indigenous plants in remnant wildlands. With the forces that shaped the original landscape now gone, the remaining natural areas must be managed almost like gardens to protect their inhabitants. The indigenous plants are important because they sustain all of life in this landscape. Could you live solely off native plants? Many species, mainly insects, through millennia of adaptations and evolution, are viscerally linked to a specific plant. Two butterflies are a good example of these links: zebra swallowtail can only survive where its host, the pawpaw, grows, the Karner blue where the wild lupine grows. We know a healthy environment for humans includes a diversity of life around us. Aldo Leopold's saying still holds true: "The first part of intelligent tinkering is to save all the parts." By including native plants in our landscape, we are helping to save this diversity, especially important in the manipulated and fragmented Midwest. The typical suburban landscape includes a home, expansive (and rarely used) lawn, foundation plantings, plus token shade and evergreen trees with various adornments of ornamental plantings. In many cases, the shade trees are native but most of the smaller trees, shrubs, and groundcovers including turf are not. In 1976 Hal Bruce wrote: "Americans simply do not utilize their wildflower resources. Yet there is still time to begin." After almost 40 years since his book was published, we have begun, but we can do even better. Excerpted from Native Plants of the Midwest: A Comprehensive Guide to the Best 500 Species for the Garden by Alan Branhagen All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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