Different plants will grow well in different climates.【小题1】 Or, to help the natural ecosystem improve, plan your garden with plants native to your area.

Native plants have spent a lifetime adapting to their natural environments, which means they don’t need much help to grow well in your garden.【小题2】 These plants are also more likely to do well without the use of pesticides, keeping potentially harmful chemicals from entering the soil and groundwater.

Regional plants provide food and shelter for wildlife and a habitat for insects. As scientist Doug Tallamy said, “Native oak trees support over 500 species of caterpillars (毛虫) whereas ginkgos, a commonly planted landscape tree from Asia, host only 5 species of caterpillars.” The number of caterpillars affects the number of baby birds that will survive in the wild.【小题3】

【小题4】 The National Wildlife Finder site finds plants based on your zip code. Once you enter your location, you’ll see pictures and descriptions of the kinds of plants native to your region. If you click on each plant, you'll also be able to research the wildlife a given plant supports.

To help you source and buy these plants, the site PlantNative provides a database of native nurseries where you can find plants specific to your region.【小题5】 Such as, taking time to learn about your ecoregion, about how different species of plants will interact alongside one another, and building out your custom planting calendar.

The first animal Tracey Parsons rescued was a baby bird she found jumping in and out of the road. It had lost its mother. Parsons was seven. She kept it in her bedroom, where it flew around the room. She went to the library to learn how to feed it. The bird started following her around. In the morning it would fly up to her bed and sing beautiful songs. “I’ll never forget it,” she says.

Parsons, who is now 35 and runs a clothes shop in Blackheath, London, doesn’t know how many animals she’s saved since then. Thousands, she estimates. “I like animals,” she says, “because they’re pure and reflect the beauty of nature. And they don’t have their own voices, so someone has to be their voice.”

Any time an injured bird or animal is found in the area, odds are it will find its way to Parsons’ home. People bring them to her front door all the time. Around Blackheath, people know Parsons as “the bird lady”. The local farmers’ market donates scraps (剩饭) for her to feed the ducklings.

She spends thousands of pounds a year on feed and medication. Once the animals are rehabilitated (康复), Parsons releases them into the wild or takes them to wildlife sanctuaries (保护区) if they’re not able to live independently.

“I’ve known Tracey for more than 10 years,” says her friend Diane Blackwell. “She paddles (划船) into freezing pond water to rescue ducklings. She’s rushed to my place to rescue a badly injured fox at 10 pm. She doesn’t have an off switch for her rescue work.”

When asked which animals stand out in her three-decade-long career as a wildlife rehabber, Parsons tells a seemingly unbelievable story. One day in 2019, Parsons was at her shop. When she opened the curtain she saw an injured fox. It ran away, but returned the next day, and every day after that. He’d jump in her lap, and follow her around. People think foxes are aggressive (富于攻击性的), but that’s not true, she says. “They’re adorable, loving creatures.”