From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “People rationalize their perceived need for butterfly bush because they think it helps butterflies,” Tallamy said. “What they really want is a pretty plant in their yard.”
People love butterflies; people love seeing butterflies…we’ve got butterfly clubs, butterfly magazines, butterfly gardens, butterfly motifs for every aspect of our lives, yet Doug Tallamy thinks people are interested in butterflies only for the purpose of helping them!? That bit of reasoning could qualify him for a seat next to Biden on the way to the doctor for cognitive testing. Since Tallamy works in Delaware and Biden lives there, they’ll be able to carpool.Unspoken in the AJC quote from Tallamy is the same old effluent coming from native plant nazis that the nectar from this plant that feeds bees and butterflies has zero nutritive value for these animals and, thus, doesn’t help them. What you can infer from this mindlessness is that the interviewee believes these insects to be too stupid to know what they are doing when they partake of the nectar (sugar) of a non-native plant.
Getting back to Doug Tallamy’s quote (and some parallel construction) , for years he has been trying to get people to “rationalize their perceived need for” a native plant “because they think it helps” chickadees. I wonder if he ever listens to himself. It’s the reason we think politicians are horrible people. They tell you that what you are doing is wrong while they do the exact same thing. BTW, you can plant tons of native plants (like Tallamy wants), but (he never mentions this part) they must be trees. If they aren’t…guess what?….no chickadees. To get these birds, you’ll need, in addition to multiple mature trees, a special bird house…and don’t forget bird feeders to really ramp-up chickadee interest and staying power.
Ambassador of Ent and NPN fave Doug Tallamy has a poor opinion of the native Tulip Poplar because it does not host enough leaf-eating insects. This is what happens when one’s ecological world view is so razor thin that they can’t see the forest for the leaf-eating larvae. For more, see the “corruption is here” page.
