Here’s What Gardeners In Darien Should Plant

DARIEN, IL — For much of the country, including Illinois it’s been a long, grueling winter. No one knows this better than Patch, which has written about terms we didn’t even know existed — looking at you, “bomb cyclone.”

But fortunately spring has sprung. And many people are welcoming the monthslong reprieve from snowy driveways, icy roads and slushy sidewalks.

This is especially true for gardeners in Darien champing at the bit to grab their trowels and garden forks.

Americans love getting outside, digging, planting seeds in the dirt and watching their flowers, vegetables, fruits and trees grow. If you’re one of them, why not do it in a way that’s beneficial for the environment and attracts birds?

It’s simple. Grow native plants.

These are plants that grow naturally in Illinois and are the “ecological basis upon which life depends,” according to the National Audubon Society.

Luckily, Audubon makes it easy for you to help the environment. The group, which advocates for protecting birds, used data compiled by the North American Plant Atlas of the Biota of North America Program to recommend plants native to your ZIP code.

Best of all, the site even tells you which plants attract certain types of birds. This means if you’ve always wanted to look out at orioles, cardinals or finches in your backyard, now you can. It also means those wishing to keep pesky woodpeckers off their roofs should probably avoid American Elms and Ash-Leaf Maples.

To see what the group has to say about Darien, click here.

Here are some recommendations we think you might like:

• Lance-Leaf Tickseed
• The plant is also known as Sand Coreopsis. It is a perennial wildflower that grows to two feet tall. It has solitary, yellow, daisy-like flowers.
• Birds attracted: Finches, Jays, Sparrows
• White Turtlehead
• It is a perennial that grows in clumps two to four feet tall, and has spikes of white flowers. The plant grows best in moist soils and partial shade.
• Birds attracted: Thrushes, Waxwings, Hummingbirds
• Oswego-Tea
• The plant is also known as Wild Bergamot and is highly attractive to hummingbirds. It can grow up to four feet tall and produces clusters of lavender, pink or white flowers.
• Birds attracted: Wood warblers, Cardinals, Wrens

The native plants listed under “best results” were hand-selected by Audubon experts in your region.

“They are important bird resources that are relatively easy to grow and are available at native plant nurseries,” the site says.

Over the past century, the group says the continental United States lost 150 million acres of habitat and farmland to urban sprawl. Urbanization has taken “intact, ecologically productive land and fragmented and transformed it with lawns and exotic ornamental plants,” Audubon says.

Human-dominated areas no longer support functioning ecosystems, Audubon says. And the remaining natural areas are often isolated and too small to support wildlife.

Native birds need native plants and the insects that come with them, the group says. Because most landscaping plants in nurseries are exotic species from other countries, many native insects don’t like eating those plants.

“No insects? No birds,” the organization warns.Where To Get Native Plants Near You

Once you’ve found the perfect petunias that will surely give you the most enviable garden on the block, try one of these nurseries. They’re a great place to begin your search, just make sure to call ahead to verify native stocks.

• Wannemaker's Home and Garden Center
• 1940 Ogden Ave., Downers Grove
• 630-8520
• http://wannemakers.com/
• The Farm
• 34 E. 63rd St., Westmont
• 630-960-3965
• http://www.thefarmwestmont.com...
• The Hidden Gardens
• 16W658 S. Frontage Road, Willowbrook
• 630-655-8283
• http://www.hiddengarden.net/

Patch reporter Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

Photo by Renee Schiavone, For Patch.