172 - Jennifer Ceska - Enhancing Your Garden with Native Plants

You will be surprised how much your day-to-day gardening helps save our endanger plant species. In this episode Jennifer Ceska is determined to make native plants regular.How to wake up native plants already on your land and learning to love the untidy. She explains why connecting people and grasses is essentials and why grasslands are so important.Weaving as much diversity as we can get to create as much resilience we can get in the habitatJennifer Ceska is accredited Public Service and Outreach Faculty at the University of Georgia and has served since 1995 as Conservation Coordinator in the Science & Conservation Program of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia, Athens.She received her masters at UGA in horticulture with an emphasis on plant conservation. Her specialty is creating project driven professional networks and facilitating projects for endangered species recovery.She has consulted with 14 states in developing their own conservation networks. Jennifer serves as project manager for the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance, coordinating over 60 organizations contributing recovery actions to 105 critically imperiled plant species in Georgia.This is a remixed encore episode.Links for things talked about ---State Botanical Garden of Georgia Connect to ProtectConnect to Protect Garden GuideUS Forest Service Gardening for PollinatorsNational Wildlife Federation, Plant with a Purpose, gardening pageGeorgia Plant Conservation Alliance Center for Plant Conservation, Rare Plant AcademyBaptisia arachnifera, Hairy Rattleweed profileRhus michauxii, Dwarf Sumac profileTime Line:00:00 Welcome to The Garden Question Podcast00:48 Introducing Jennifer Ceska02:19 Starting a New Garden Project04:54 Top Native Plants for Your Garden06:38 The Importance of Native Plants12:34 Challenges and Solutions in Gardening25:32 The Role of Fire and Herbicides27:43 Success Stories in Plant Conservation32:29 Exploring Botanical Gardens and Resources33:36 The Role of Pollinators in Conservation34:20 Conservation: Challenges and Hope35:21 Gardening Tips and Practices38:03 The Importance of Native Plants39:28 Personal Gardening Memories40:34 Choosing a Career in Plant Conservation44:35 Mentors and Influences in Botany46:39 Learning from Gardening Mistakes48:17 Future Gardening Plans and Plant Love55:33 Invitation to the State Botanical Garden of Georgia56:38 Connecting with Jennifer Ceska