Landscaping with native plants is often intimidating for those living in an urban or suburban setting. For those who are concerned that their landscaping be friendly to pollinators yet aesthetically pleasing it doesn't help that many of those plants seem to have the name “weed’ in their name such as swamp milkweed, butterfly weed, and ironweed. 

Carolyn Miller moved into her urban home in Lansing four years ago, and the first thing to go was ALL the turf grass. Through trial and error of plant material, she found that plant placement was key as she determined what native Michigan plants work best in smaller spaces.

Carolyn holds a BS in botany/plant pathology from Michigan State University and is currently the Plant Recorder for MSU. Using GIS and GPS technology, she records the location and health of shrubs and trees across campus (5,000 acres). Before this, she was the Curator of Plant Collections at the Naples Botanical Garden (Naples, FL) where she took a keen interest in native landscapes. Moving back to Michigan, she began a quest to landscape with native plants. Currently, she is the President of the Wildflower Association of Michigan, Recording Secretary for the Michigan Botanical, Club, a master’s student (biology) at Miami University (Ohio), and serves on various environmental groups in the Mid-Michigan area. In her free time, she and her wife, Diane enjoy birding, botanizing, camping, cooking, and hanging with their cat, Rougarou.