Gardeners use native plants for several reasons. For many, their initial attraction is to native plants’ reputation for being low maintenance, as well as their ability to survive difficult soil and weather conditions. But equally appealing is the joy of connecting with nature and our state’s natural heritage and the satisfaction of creating a real sense of place rather than just another cookie-cutter landscape. "Landscaping with Native Plants of Minnesota" is the first book designed to help you identify Minnesota’s native plants and plant communities and to demonstrate how to use them effectively in a typical home landscape. In this book you’ll find the basic gardening information you need for working with the native plants of Minnesota. You’ll learn what level of native-plant landscaping is right for you and get valuable information on the process of designing a natural garden that fits your lifestyle and family. You’ll also find lots of plant lists for specific styles of gardens. In the Gallery of Gardens section, you’ll be inspired by what your fellow Minnesota gardeners have done with native plants in their own landscapes, including a prairie restoration, a suburban woodland garden, and a garden for wildlife. The Native Plant Profiles section includes comprehensive descriptions of some 600 species of flowers and groundcovers, trees, shrubs, vines, evergreens, grasses, and ferns native to Minnesota, as well as information on planting, maintenance, and landscape uses for each plant. About the Author: Lynn M. Steiner is one of the best-known gardening writers in Minnesota. Her enthusiasm for native plants and gardening stems from her childhood curiosity about all things natural as well as 20 years of tending her own extensive home gardens. For 15 years she was the editor of Northern Gardener magazine, and under her direction it earned several awards for ""Overall Excellence"" from the Minnesota Magazine & Publications Association.
Lynn Steiner is one of the Upper Midwest's best-known garden writers and a frequent speaker at gardening and environmental events. She is the author and photographer of several books that advocate for the effective use of native plants in the typical home landscape. Landscaping with Native Plants of Minnesota, the first book designed to identify Minnesota's native plants and plant communities and to demonstrate how to use them effectively in a typical home landscape, was a finalist in the 2006 Minnesota Book Awards in the Science and Nature category.Lynn is the author and photographer of several other books, including Rain Gardens: Sustainable Landscaping for a Beautiful Yard and a Healthy World, published in February 2012. Other titles include Landscaping with Native Plants of Wisconsin, published spring 2007, and Landscaping with Native Plants of Michigan, published in 2006 and named a Michigan Notable Book for 2007. She also helped develop, wrote, and provided photographs for The Complete Guide to Gardening series, ten regional gardening books published in 2012 by Cool Springs Press.For fifteen years, Lynn was the editor of Northern Gardener magazine, the official publication of the Minnesota State Horticultural Society. Under her direction, Northern Gardener received several Overall Excellence awards from the Minnesota Magazine & Publication Association, and several individual contributors received Garden Writers Association Media awards. She now writes a column for the magazine titled "Northern Natives."Lynn lives with her husband and two cats on a 115-year-old farmstead in northern Washington County, Minnesota, where she enjoys tending her gardens and watching the progress of her restored prairie, savannah, and oak woodland.
