When I noticed Doug Tallamy was the guest speaker for an upcoming program at Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center, his name sounded familiar. I quickly recognized that he was the author of a great book I read recently that offered a simple plan for conservation.
My excitement was tempered when I realized he wasn’t actually going to be in Kirkwood at 7 p.m. Nov. 1, but on further review, the virtual program format might be even better. While an author-autographed copy of “Nature’s Best Hope” would be a nice prize, hearing his presentation in my home office has a real allure, too.
The entomology and ecology professor’s 2020 best-seller is a follow-up to his similar, previous book “Bringing Nature Home.” The free program at Powder Valley will highlight his latest offering, “A Chickadee’s Guide to Gardening.” The theme of all his works is the importance of encouraging and protecting native species.
His solution from “Nature’s Best Hope” is to establish miniature parks that focus on native species in backyards across the country. These are not big tracts of land for someone else to maintain, but millions of individual efforts. If every suburban yard had a 10-by-10 native garden, the restored land would provide more habitat than all our biggest parks combined, he says. Those locations would attract the insects that have evolved alongside the plants for millennia, providing food for birds and other wildlife that rely on them to sustain their populations.
“In the past we have designed our landscapes strictly for our own pleasure, with no thought to how they might impact the natural world around us,” Tallamy says in a press release from the state Department of Conservation. “Such landscapes do not contribute much to local ecosystems and support little life.”
As evidenced in the title of his newest book, Tallamy focuses on the role of the chickadee, one of the most common birds at our feeders. By creating landscapes that look more like places where those small birds and other species have lived forever, the benefits extend to all backyard gardening efforts.
The doors at Powder Valley will open at 6 p.m. so guests may tour the center’s exhibits and visit with volunteer staff at tables to talk about topics like Missouri native plants and pollinators. Visitors also will have the opportunity to purchase Tallamy’s books. All who attend in person will have the chance to take home wildflower seed packets.
The presentation will be on the screen in the Powder Valley auditorium, or those who register in advance may log in and watch from their personal computer or other internet-linked device at home.
More than 100 of 250 seats remained available at the end of last week. To receive a link to the virtual program via email, go to http://short.mdc.mo.gov/4DH. All who register must provide a valid email address where the link can be sent.
Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center is at 11715 Cragwold Road in Kirkwood, near the intersection of I-270 and I-44. To receive email or text alerts about future programs and events in the St. Louis area, visit https://short.mdc.mo.gov/ZoP.
John Winkelman has been writing about outdoors news and issues in Jefferson County for more than 30 years and was the Associate Editor for Outdoor Guide Magazine. If you have story ideas for the Leader outdoor news page, e-mail ogmjohnw@aol.com, and you can find more outdoor news and updates at johnjwink.com.