Ken Druse's back to the land movement, begun with nature-inspired designs in "The Natural Garden" in 1989, really takes root in this volume of native plantings found in gardens across America.

Druse, author of the country's natural gardening movement as well as an accomplished photographer, teams up with Newsday gardening editor Margaret Roach for this survey of 35 public and private gardens that rely heavily on native plants.

"What we found, sometimes in very unlikely spots, was that a grass-roots movement -- well, a grass-roots movement whose lawn has been dug up and replaced with natives -- was quietly sweeping across the United States, one garden at a time," Druse explains.
He describes this book as "first public meeting space" for like-minded gardeners committed to saving the Earth by preserving the integrity, stability and beauty of its biotic communities.

"If even a fraction of America's 38-million gardeners turned a quarter of their landscape into rewilded spot that recalls, at least roughly, its presettlement state, there would be a measurable impact. If every gardener gave just one tenth of an acre back, the instant net gain would be 3.8 million acres of native plants."

Grouped into four botanical habitats -- Grasslands, Drylands, Wetlands, Woodlands -- the splendidly photographed and carefully documented gardens are presented as an inspiration to homeowners and gardeners looking to make a transition to more natural surroundings. The pictures catch the eye and invite it to linger while the text explains how to re-create local habitats and provide new havens for birds, butterflies, and other wildlife.

The gardens profiled range prairie grasslands in Wisconsin, buffalo grass lawns in Texas, desert plantings in Arizona and a wet meadow in New York to wetlands in Rhode Island, a botanical garden in North Carolina and wildings in Delaware.

A Source Guide in the back of the book provides gardening tips, seed and plant sources, and contact information for native plant societies, botanical gardens and arboreta across America.