Wild Ones Dayton Area chapter members helped compile this list of recommended reading material. Please let us know if you have a favorite to add!
Why Plant Native Plants
Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants by Douglas W. Tallamy. 2009. ISBN: 9780881929928
Nature’s Best Hope by Douglas W. Tallamy. 2020. ISBN: 9781604699005
The Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees by Douglas W. Tallamy, ISBN: 9781643260877
Noah’s Garden: Restoring the Ecology of Our Own Backyards by Sara Bonnett Stein. 1993. ISBN: 9780395709405
A New Garden Ethic: Cultivating Defiant Compassion for an Uncertain Future by Benjamin Vogt. 2017. ISBN: 9780865718555
We Are the ARK: Returning Our Gardens to Their True Nature by Mary Reynolds. 2022. ISBN: 9781643261782
American Plants for American Gardens by Edith Roberts. 1996. ISBN 9780820318516
Beauty of the Wild by Darrel Morrison. 2021. ISBN: 9781952620287
Sustainable Landscaping
Garden Revolution: How Our Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change by Larry Weaner. 2016. Thomas Christopher, ISBN: 9781604697490
Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes by Thomas Rainer and Claudia West. 2015. ISBN: 9781604695533
Go Native! Gardening with Native Plants and Wildflowers in the Lower Midwest by Carolyn Harstad. 1999. ISBN: 9780253213020
Got Sun? 200 Best Native Plants for Your Garden by Carolyn Harstad. 2013. ISBN: 9780253009319
Got Shade? A “Take It Easy” Approach for Today’s Gardener by Carolyn Harstad. 2003. ISBN: 9780253216250
Native Plants of the Midwest: A Comprehensive Guide to the Best 500 Species for the Garden by Alan Branhagen. 2016. ISBN: 9781604695939
The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden by Roy Diblik. 2014. ISBN: 9781604693348
Planting: A New Perspective by Piet Oudolf, Noel Kingsbury. 2013. ISBN: 9781604693706
Principles of Ecological Landscape Design by Travis Beck. 2013. ISBN: 9781597267014
The Garden Awakening: Designs to Nurture Our Land and Ourselves by Mary Reynolds. 2016. ISBN: 9780857843135
Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update by Donella Meadows, 2004. ISBN: 9781931498586
Homescape Rewilding by Richard and Annette Rubin. 2021. ISBN: 978-1737810902
Prairie Up: An Introduction to Natural Garden Design by Benjamin Vogt. 2023. ISBN: 9780252086779
Naturalistic Planting Design by Nigel Dunnett. 2019. ISBN: 9780993389269
Going Native: Small Steps to a Healthy Garden by Tammie Painter. 2013. ISBN: 9781492114635
How to Get Your Lawn off Grass: A North American Guide to Turning Off the Water Tap and Going Native by Carole Rubin. 2002. ISBN 9781550172591
The Living Landscape: Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden by Rick Darke & Douglas W. Tallamy. 2014. ISBN: 9781604694086
Planting Noah’s Garden: Further Adventures in Backyard Ecology by Sara Bonnett Stein. 1997. ISBN: 0395709601
Growing and Propagating Native Plants
The New England Wild Flower Society Guide to Growing and Propagating Wildflowers of the United States and Canada by William Cullina. 2020. ISBN: 978-0395966099
Native Trees, Shrubs and Vines: A Guide to Using, Growing, and Propagating North American Woody Plants by William Cullina. 2002. ISBN: 978-0618098583
Native Ferns, Moss and Grasses by William Cullina. 2008. ISBN: 978-0618531189
Native Gardening for Pollinators
100 Plants to Feed the Monarch by The Xerces Society. 2021. ISBN: 978-1-63586-273-7
100 Plants to Feed the Bees by The Xerces Society. 2016. ISBN: 1612127010
Gardening for Butterflies by The Xerces Society. 2016. ISBN: 1604695986
Attracting Birds, Butterflies, and Other Backyard Wildlife by The National Wildlife Federation. 2019. ISBN: 1580118186
Pollinators of Native Plants: Attract, Observe and Identify Pollinators and Beneficial Insects with Native Plants by Heather Holm. 2014. ISBN: 0991356306
Our Native Bees: North Americas Endangered Pollinators and the Fight to Save Them by Paige Embry. 2018. ISBN: 9781604697698
A Buzz in the Meadow by Dave Goulson. 2014. ISBN: 9781250065889
The Milkweed Lands: An Epic Story of One Plant: Its Nature and Ecology by Eric Lee-Mader. 2023. ISBN: 1635864364
Field Guides
A Field Guide to Eastern Butterflies by Paul Opler. 1998. ISBN: 9780395904534
Caterpillars of Eastern North America by David Wagner. 2005. ISBN: 9780691121444
National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Insects and Spiders by Arthur Evans. 2007. ISBN: 9781402741531
Wildflowers of Ohio by Robert Henn. 2008. ISBN: 9780253219510
Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide by Lawrence Newcomb. 1989. ISBN: 9780316604420
A Peterson Field Guide to Wildflowers: Northeastern and North-central North America by Roger Tory Peterson & Margaret McKenny. 1998. ISBN: 9780395911723