On the green infrastructure front, there are lots of resources out there on what plants support what kinds of wildlife.

“Bugs” have a PR problem as a group, but they have their charismatic members – bees, butterflies, and dragonflies to name a few. If you support these, you will probably support others by accident. There is plenty of information out there, for example:

The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation has a ton of free publications on plants, pollinators, and design; including bee-friendly plant lists for all regions of the United States and several other countries.

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center has a ton of free native plant information, including recommended mixes to attract various types of wildlife in all U.S. states and Canadian provinces.

Finally, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture) has free fact sheets on about a thousand plants.

A lot of good can be done for wildlife and humanity on small scraps of land, and even more good could be done if we gave serious thought to how all those scraps of land fit together and connect to larger parks and preserves. So let’s get out and plant something this spring, even if it’s small. Or if you have a scrap of land but you don’t feel like planting anything, find a frustrated armchair gardener who doesn’t have their own scrap and let them plant something on yours.