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 habitat

Jennifer 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 Protect

Connect to Protect Garden Guide

US Forest Service Gardening for Pollinators

National Wildlife Federation, Plant with a Purpose, gardening page

Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance 

Center for Plant Conservation, Rare Plant Academy

Baptisia arachnifera, Hairy Rattleweed profile

Rhus michauxii, Dwarf Sumac profile

Time Line:

00:00 Welcome to The Garden Question Podcast

00:48 Introducing Jennifer Ceska

02:19 Starting a New Garden Project

04:54 Top Native Plants for Your Garden

06:38 The Importance of Native Plants

12:34 Challenges and Solutions in Gardening

25:32 The Role of Fire and Herbicides

27:43 Success Stories in Plant Conservation

32:29 Exploring Botanical Gardens and Resources

33:36 The Role of Pollinators in Conservation

34:20 Conservation: Challenges and Hope

35:21 Gardening Tips and Practices

38:03 The Importance of Native Plants

39:28 Personal Gardening Memories

40:34 Choosing a Career in Plant Conservation

44:35 Mentors and Influences in Botany

46:39 Learning from Gardening Mistakes

48:17 Future Gardening Plans and Plant Love

55:33 Invitation to the State Botanical Garden of Georgia

56:38 Connecting with Jennifer Ceska