All the Dirt on Gardening

Is your mailbox starting to be stuffed with catalogs yet? Ours is. Plants, bulbs, seeds, tools, equipment, books - we all need it all if the wording on the catalogs is to be believed. I love tropical and exotic plants that thrive the first year. Each year, though, as I learn more about sustainable gardening, planting for wildlife, and taking care to leave the earth a little better for my having been here, I put in more and more for nature. Fewer chemicals go onto our slice of the Earth than they did 10 or 15 years ago. And, more U.S. native plants go into the ground. This is last spring's bulb bed - 300 flowering bulbs created a spectacular view from our kitchen window. I found a nursery in the state of Washington, near Portland Oregon, that is called Sweet Nectar Nursery, and contacted the owner, Susan Kirkenbride. My question was, how can we attract more hummingbirds and butterflies to our gardens without hanging those sugar-water feeders? Here is a map of hummingbird arrival da...