All posts by Nancy Lawson

Nancy Lawson is the author of The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife. A columnist for All Animals magazine, she founded Humane Gardener, an outreach initiative dedicated to animal-friendly landscaping methods. Her book and garden have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, O: The Oprah Magazine, and other media outlets.

More than Monarchs: Welcoming All Milkweed Fans

Monarchs, slugs and milkweed bugs! They were all on my mind this week as I put together this video showcasing some of our latest wild visitors. Its main message? To  encourage gardeners to nurture habitat for all creatures, not just the glamorous ones. At this time of year, many people are picking off, squishing, and even spraying any insects on their milkweed plants who aren’t the iconic monarch butterfly. But you can have habitat for monarchs and still support all the other fans of milkweed, too. Here’s how—and why—I welcome all creatures, from the slugs to the butterflies to the wasps to the deer, to my humane garden.