ecological resolutions, with uli lorimer of native plant trust

LIKE EVERYONE around this time of year, I get into a “looking back while looking ahead” combined mindset. Today I want to do just that, but with a sort of ecological filter, taking stock of how things in the garden fared in the bigger environmental picture and what opportunities lie ahead for me to read nature’s signals even more closely and be an ever better steward of the place.

Who better to talk about that with than my guest, Uli Lorimer, director of horticulture at Native Plant Trust, the nation’s oldest plant-conservation organization.

Uli Lorimer, author of “The Northeast Native Plant Primer” (affiliate link), has made native plants his life’s work. In 2019, he became director of horticulture at Native Plant Trust, which was founded in 1900 as the New England Wild Flower Society. Previously he was a longtime curator of the Native Flora Garden at Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Those are Eastern hemlock cones (Tsuga canadensis), above, in a photo by Uli, and we’ll talk about how vulnerable hemlocks are, and also about the critical need to develop regional seed sources for native plants.

Plus: Comment in the box near the bottom of the page for a chance to win a copy of Uli’s book.

Read along as you listen to the Dec. 25, 2023 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify (and browse my archive of podcasts here).

ecological thoughts at the new year, with uli lorimer

Margaret Roach: Happy almost New Year, Uli. Who knows what-

Uli Lorimer: So hard to tell these days.

Margaret: What a crazy-feeling year here for me, and I’m sort of across Massachusetts, over the New York border from you, but it’s the same place I’ve been in