I posted this over at Milk the Weed on Facebook, but it deserves being permanently enshrined in this space, I think. Tell me what you think and what you might add.

If you want to win over neighbors with your front yard wildlife garden (or at least not totally cheese them off) while avoiding county weed control, there are a few key strategies to take:

1) Do not just let your lawn or landscape "go."
2) Create structure in garden beds and the landscape. That can most easily mean plant tiers -- short stuff in front, tall stuff in back or in the middle.
3) Plant flowers in masses or drifts. 3 or 5 of a kind together. Do not just toss a bag of seed out there.
4) Have a mulch or lawn pathway that's plenty wide and accessible. This helps frame the landscape and welcomes folks in.
5) Don't let plant material droop onto sidewalks or driveways or impede viewing angles at street corners.
6) Include a bench or table or sitting area.
7) Keep it weeded. Thin seedlings that could get out of hand (hello, Rudbeckia) and to maintain tiers / massing, aka the designed or intentional look. You don't have to go crazy doing this, just a little TLC can go a long way.
8) Be able to name every single plant in your landscape using the common AND Latin names. Using the Latin name helps you come off as an authority (which you should be, anyway) to both neighbors and weed ordinance folks.

All that being said, if you're like me you take even more risks in the backyard behind the fence. Case in point:

I've sure been enjoying Liatris ligulistylis, meadow blazingstar, this last week or two. I don't really see monarchs in significant numbers until it starts blooming. Native to the northern Great Plains and Midwest, it purportedly mimics the scent of monarch pheromones. All I know is the flower buds are pretty, the blooms are pretty, the seed heads will be pretty (if brief), and the winter stalks add stellar vertical interest as the snow flies. When our plants can celebrate all the dimensions of garden making -- from art to sensory stimulation to ecological importance -- they become elevated and deeply meaningful places to rediscover wildness. 

Meadow blazingstar has a corm -- a bulb-like mass -- that transplants easily when the plant is dormant. I find it takes about 3 years to get a mature plant with many stalks, but after that it declines quickly and may last only 4-5 years in the landscape. I'd be interested to hear from those who have observed it in the wild and how it performs over time.

The first advanced copies of my book appeared this week on my doorstep. Publication is officially 9/11. You should be able to find it most anywhere books are sold in a month, but if you can't, please ask for the business to place an order. Amazon (I know...) has them on sale for just $13 right now, but who knows for how long.

I can't believe this book happened. Or that a press gave me the green light in every way imaginable. It all started 4 years ago with a wildly contentious post on Garden Rant, then years of blogging, then a fury of manuscript writing over two months last fall that followed three months of research annotations. I'm deeply thankful to everyone who has encouraged, challenged, loved, and even been angry with me -- it all helped.

I'll be speaking on this topic in Madison WI (September), Chicago (October), Tampa (January), and Seattle (February). Working on a few more spring dates, as well.

“A powerful and transformative work, written with honesty and grace.”
-- Susan J. Tweit, plant biologist and ward-winning author
 
“Vogt’s call to be conscious about what we plant in our gardens, and to respect the beauty and resilience of species that have been in our communities for millennia, is clear and urgent.”
-- Dr. Peter Robinson, CEO, David Suzuki Foundation

A nice fall morning begs for a stroll -- when usually a stroll this time of year would mean sweating buckets. It's 52 right now!