Ron talks to Shubber Ali 12/16/2023

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Here is your nine first yardening forecast. Today, mostly cloudy, hive around
fifty seven on Sunday, look forrain tonight and Sunday morning. Hopefully we'll
get a fair amount high on fiftytwo. On Monday, cloudy thirty eight
and on Tuesday, mostly sunny thirtyeight degrees seven nine fifty five hundred.
Here at fifty five KRC Detarch Station. Welcome back here in the Garden with

(00:22):
Ron Wilson. Then, our secondguest is absolutely unbelievable that we get him
on our show. It's kind ofcrazy, but it's a it's a fun
thing to do. As a matterof fact, he just got back from
all I'm gonna let him tell youto share the experience with you. But
a something that I would love loveto I think just to check OUTTI,
you know, be the fly onthe wall anyway. He is the CEO
Garden for Wildlife by the National WildlifeFederation. Their website of course check it

(00:45):
out Garden for Wildlife dot com.And as I kidded him the first time
we had him on our show,he does literally float like a butterfly sting
that could be ladies and gentlemen shoverawe League. Good morning sir, Good
morning Ron. It's great to beback. Thank you for having hey,
good having you on. All right, So are they your arms still sore
or starting to get back in condition? Now they're starting to get back in

(01:07):
condition. Of course. Now I'vetraded that for it a little bit of
a chess cod So I apologize ifI sound a bit rough, but it's,
you know, one of the thingsthat you travel halfway around the world
and you're in place with thousands ofpeople, you're bound to pick up something.
So yeah, absolutely, just achess hold. All right. Well,
we hope you get better and yousound good. So it's good having
you on the show with us thismorning. So let folks know where you

(01:30):
were a week ago. Yeah,So I was very fortunate I received an
invite to be at a part ofthe Climate Summit in Dubai, which obviously
is in the in the Middle East. Is everybody I think has heard about
on the news, the COP conferenceCOP twenty eight and all the different things
that went on there and I waspart of. Specifically, there was a

(01:52):
sub section called the Climate Investment Forum, which is where it's organizations talking about
how do you actually invest in thingsthat are going to help with climber resilience
and related things. And I thinkso. One side note, if any
of your listeners have not ever beento or even seen Dubai, like just
go online google it. It islike that twenty second century city dropped out

(02:15):
of the sky into the middle ofthe desert. It's just it's the scale
and the size and of course hasthe tall building. The world of bridg
Klifa is just astounding. I meanit's you know, coming from the US,
it's quite a difference. Oh yeah, and again I've always seen the
pictures, but I can't imagine.That's why I was curious to talk to
you this morning what that was liketo be able to experience that the whole

(02:36):
area. And I'm hoping you hadtime to get out and actually experience it
in between all of your classes andsessions that you went to. I did.
I actually had a chance. Justa couple of little things. One
is that, you know, Iwent to the thing that they have out
in the desert. They've been doingthis for twenty plus years called Global Village,
and literally it's like a world exposthat they do from October to April

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where they have pavilions from countries allaround the world and vendors from all those
places. So if you can't travelthe world, they bring the whole world
to you a massive event with foodfrom all over the world, shops from
the world like authentic vendors. Soif you want to get you know,
clothing or arts and crafts or whatever, you know, great place to be
a Christmas presents as well, butfrom anywhere from you know, say Azerbaijan

(03:21):
to Thailand to you know, SouthAmerica, whatever. It's all in one
place. Wow, which was prettypretty amazing. Yeah, son, believe
we'll talk with a chevar Ali.Of course their website check it out.
It's Garden for Wildlife dot com.Uh, get signed up for any information
from that and we'll talk more aboutthat here in a second. But he
was at the Climate summ and sowhen you you know, when you're there

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and you meet so many different people, Uh, you know, what what's
the buzz I mean? Is thereany kind of a general buzz coming away
from that where we are right now? What what'd you feel? So?
I think people, you know,obviously they're there are a number of different
agendas and perspectives there. But whatwas I thought most interesting in this sessions
I was in was that, youknow, traditionally people have treated four things

(04:05):
very distinctly. There's carbon and carbonyou know, climate and all that.
There's water quality, there's habitat,and there's biodiversity, and different people focus
on different things. And this year, for the first time, I heard
people talking about how they're all actuallyinterconnected, which of course is what we
talk about, right, you know, it's there's an example. I met
a woman from a country in WesternAfrica, she's a minister there, and

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she was talking about how, youknow, in order to like reforest and
to get carbon sequestration, partly becausethey you know, people will buy those
credits, they planted a whole bunchof Euglicus trees or gum trees. And
you know, my reaction was havinglived in Australia so well, but they're
not native to that part of theworld, and she goes, yes,
we figured that out when they startedto destroy the water table, because they

(04:49):
did not see that. You know, it's one of those like the old
children's nursery around you know, thelady swallowed to fly and then swalled the
spider to catch the fly and youknow, we do one thing to fix
another thing, and then something tofix that because we don't look at the
whole system. And so now they'refinally talking about how carbon sequestration has to
be connected to water quality, hasto be connected to biodiversity, has to
be connected to habitat preservation, andso from our perspective, like the Garden

(05:12):
for Wildlife, We've been talking aboutthat from as long as I've been here,
which is planting native plants and shrubsand trees creates a habitat that is
native to the area, but italso supports the biodiversity and that the songbirds
we all care about, and thepollinators. But it also helps with water.
I mean, like here in Marylandwhere I live, we have a
program called Rainscapes in our county wherethe county will pay you, you know,

(05:35):
up to seventy five hundred dollars asa resident in the county to put
a rain garden in your yard todivert the runoff so it doesn't get to
the Chesapeake. Because those native plantshave such deep roots, they can absorb
the water instead of letting it runstraight to the storm brains like lawn stew
so it's like all these things areconnected, and then of course it's the
questric carbon because of the root structuresand the trees and the shrubs and all

(05:55):
that. That's what they do,right, So all those are actually connected.
And it was just great to hearyou finally connecting those dots at this
summit for the first time. Soyou came away with something I did,
and a lots of great connections.And of course people kept saying, you
know, so when are you goingto be in Europe? When are you
going to be in you know,in like the Middle East for a Garden
for Wildlife. I'm like, well, first we have to get to the
west coast and then we have toget and then we'll look overseas. So

(06:19):
give us a few years. Butwe've got, you know, a lot
of people interested in what we do. Excellent talking with schevar Ali. Of
course their website again, Garden forWildlife dot com. Be sure and check
it out. Let's take a quickbreak. We come back. We're going
to talk about native plants, obviouslyin their importance, but Shover's got something
that's going on right now that youmay be interested in getting involved with.

(06:40):
In addition to the garden for wildlife. Uh, we'll talk more about that
after the break. Here in thegarden with Ron Wilson. Landscaping made easier
with your personal yard boy. He'sin the garden and he's Ron Wilson.
Don't miss any of your favorite shows. Get the podcast on the iHeartRadio at

(07:00):
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products and work it like a pro. It's the how through Saturday here on
fifty five KRC. Here's our lineup. Nine o'clock Gary Sullivan for the best
and home repairent Home Improvement. Oneo'clock Dale Donovan in the car Show.
Then we've got Weekend Dive, VictorGray, Sean Hannity. It all happens
right here. I'm fifty five KRCDE Talk Station. Welcome back here in
the Garden with Ron Wilson, ourspecial guest this morning. Shover Allie.

(08:31):
Here's the CEO for Garden for Wildlifeby National Wildlife Federation, and of course
Garden for Wildlife is gardening for goodand here to promote gardening for wildlife.
You know what's funny, and Ithink I told you this last time we
talked many years ago. They waswatching the trends coming out of out of
Europe, and of course we usedto watch the trends coming out of the
West coast coming to the East coast, and one of the trends coming out

(08:54):
out of Europe was gardening for wildlife. And this several years ago, and
I said, initially, I saidto myself, guard for wildlife, like
bringing in the squirrels and the raccoons. And you know, I'm thinking,
I'm talking about not thinking out ofthe box. And then finding the bell
rings and it's like gardening for wildlife, dummy. You know, they're all
included and uh and it's funny,how not funny, But it's interesting how

(09:15):
it didn't take long for that trendto continue to move across. Of course,
it's here now. And of courseone of the biggest factors here that's
where you come from, of course, is the planting of native plants to
help, you know, take careof all of what we're looking to do
here. And by the way,I want to back up for a second.
You talked about the gum trees andthe situation that they had planted there

(09:37):
and it caused problems. So whatdo they do in a situation like that
remove them and plant up native plants, which is the next step, right,
So they have to undo the fixthat actually turned out to be worse
than the original problem. So theywere able to but they're able to do
that well yeah, I mean itcost labor, right, yeah, yeah,
but they but they were able tomake make make the change, make

(09:58):
the adjustment. Yeah. You know. The next thing is that nature is
actually pretty resilient if we just giveit a chance. But yeah, I
mean when you're hitting out of gardeningfor wildlife, and you know, I'll
admit I had the same initial Likemy reaction when you say wildlife is it's
the thing that most people think ofas past it to whether it's deer eating
your plants or it's you know,squirrels or reccoons if you don't like them.

(10:18):
I like raccoons, but some peopledon't. But actually it's really about
the palmbirds and the pollinators, allthe butterflies and the bees and they and
the sombers that rely on their ontheir offspring, the catecillaries that have been
disappearing, and the simplest way tobring them back is native plants. Is
we talked about before, and soone of the challenges is lack of supply.
So part of the reason we createdGardens for Wildlife, and literally since

(10:41):
we last spoke, we are nowofficially spun out as a separate company owned
by the National Wildlife Variation but alsohas outside investors, and it's a it's
a for profit company. So wetook a program that was inside a not
for profit and turned it into afor profit business that benefits the not for
profit but also benefits to other peoplelike investors. And the reason we did
this is because we need to goand create a lot more supply of native

(11:05):
plants in the marketplace. There's lotsof great nurseries out there and garden you
know, greenhouses, but most ofthe small scale, you know, mom
and pop operations that we're partnering with, but there's just not enough supply.
That's the single biggest impediment. Untilwe create a lot more supply, you're
not going to find a big nativeplants section app you know, for instance,
at Home DEEPO or Lows or youknow a certain of those places.
And so that's what we're we're tryingto solve for is to create more supply,

(11:28):
make it easier for people to getthese plants. We started by doing
a the e commerce which is rightnow. You know, if if you've
got native plants, great, ifyou want to get them, you can
just go to our website and orderthem. You can also you know,
gifted to a friend. If youknow somebody who's got a garden you want
them to put some and you know, go to the website buy them and
gift Guard just in times of theholidays and send it to them electronically and

(11:50):
then they can buy plants. Butbut that's not what I'm most excited to
talk to you about right now.Well, and I tell you and again
I want to bring that up realquick is Guard And again it's a garden
for Wildlife dot com. You cango on there, put your zip code
in there and it will print outa list of native plants for your zip
code for your area and you canuse that to shop at your local garden

(12:11):
centers if you want, or toorder from them. And I had somebody
email me last week, believe itor not, that said their son lived
in some town in Indiana and youknow, looking to plant a lot of
native plants and for the pollinators andall. And you know where can I
get a gift card for online.Of course I fired right back and said
garden for Wildlife dot Com for one, and of course, and of course

(12:31):
have him check with a local gardencenter to see what they would have available
in native plants, because you're right, I have a lot of folks and
you know a lot of garden center, especially smaller towns or whatever, that
don't offer native plants, and soit's hard to find them. As a
matter of fact, we are ina conversation at our own nursery this past
week and I brought you up saying, you know, he's going to be
on the show. They're actually investingnow in growing their own native plants to

(12:56):
help the supply out there because it'sjust not as much as we need.
It's hard to find. Yeah,and you know, we are actually looking
for more native plank growers as smallnurseries and gardeners. We actually one of
the most recent ones were brought onthis great little uh. It's a couple
that owns a little place called HiddenGem Farm in Chesapeake, Virginia, and
they've got about three acre farm andthere are newest supplier. We actually built

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a greenhouse for them that will getpaid off over a couple of years,
but to create the capacity so thatwe can actually get the MAINI plants to
that area. But so we arereally petty to partner with small growers in
particular, So like that nursery you'rementioning, I'd love to talk with them
if you want to put them intouch with me, okay, But part
of what we're doing as well,and we're building our own greenhouses here in
Maryland starting this next year too,for our own supply, and also to

(13:43):
try to you know, automate andbring this more than twenty first century so
that we can create more supply atthe lower cost. But one of the
things that I'm really excited with isthat by spinning out and being a four
profit company and opening up the marketplace, is that I really pleased to announce
that we have just launched a it'scalled a regulated crowdfunding red c f It's

(14:03):
a it's a type of crowdfunding,but it's it's an SEC filing, so
it's actually buying common shares in companiesopen to general members of the public,
so you don't have to be ana credit investor or or you know,
super rich. And by that Imean ordinary people, and they can become
investors in for Wildlife just by goingto invest that Garden for Wildlife dot com.
And then all the details are there. There's a there's a video,

(14:24):
there's the perspectives, all the restof the stuff. They go there to
invest that gardenfall loft dot com andand learn more about it, and then
if they're interested, you know,actually join us in the journeys as a
shareholder as well as the customer andfor folks that are interested in doing this.
And it's a you know, youcan print it out or read it
through as you get to the website. It's the invest Garden for Wildlife dot

(14:45):
com. Is there is there adot dog? Yeah? Yeah, I
thought I saw that down. Ican put my glasses back on again.
Uh yeah. Invest dot Garden forWildlife dot com. Pretty interesting and the
minimum minimal investment here is what twohundred and fifty bucks? That's correct.
Yeah, So anybody can get involved. So I mean, that's it's a
great thing, and you can learnmore about what they are doing, and
I think again the problems that they'retrying to solve, you learn more about

(15:09):
it. Just go to their webspend some time you know, if you're
off for some days during the holidays, here just go to their website learn
more about it again, it's Gardenfor Wildlife dot com. And then if
you're interested, you'll also find thison their invest dot Garden for Wildlife dot
com as well. And I thinkyou know, again, the supply out
there, the demand is coming along. We're seeing that that more and more

(15:31):
as you continue to get the wordout as local you know, we all
do our thing to get the wordout there about using native plants. The
demands out there. Now the questionis all right, that's fine, So
now where do I find it?So hopefully you know, yeah, actually
I'll say I've even pleased that MarthaStewart tweeted about it about two weeks ago
because the certified wildlife habitat, whichthe program Garden Fidlift does through the National

(15:54):
Wildlife Federation. They have this program. The other's about three hundred thousand certified
habitats about the country, and hopefullyall of your listeners one day will certify
their own yards and certified wildlife habitats. She was the eight thousand certified habitat
and so she was celebrating us awaltlef Federation and Garden for Wildlife and promoted
us in a tweet a couple ofweeks ago, which which is really nice.

(16:14):
We didn't know is coming, sothat was always fun to see.
And when Martha tweets, everybody listensexactly. I love it. Shover all
of you with us this morning.Here's the CEO Garden for Wildlife by National
Wildlife Federation. Of course, yourwebsite is a Garden for Wildlife dot com.
And again if you're interested to learnmore about investing, it's invest dot
Garden for Wildlife dot com as well. You know, and again I really

(16:37):
appreciate you spending time with us thismorning. I know you're not feeling well,
but do appreciate that. And aswe can help as we go along
here, continue to use our radioshows as an avenue to get the word
out for what you're doing and tocontinue to push these native plants. I'll
ask you one last thing here aswe work, and I know you're really
focused. I ask you this before, but I always like the folks to

(16:59):
hear what you say. You knowyou're focused on native plants genus species,
but what about native selections. Well, so here's the thing and have been
even looking out of my yard rightnow tho it's winters. So pretty much
everything is said is we will onlysell truly native plants and native to where
you live as prior as that could. Finder is so powerful. But people

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plant other stuff. We're not,We're not purest. We're up that you
can't do other things in your yard. We just won't provide them, right
because we have a mission that we'respecifically focused on, which is to restore
the habitat for the pollen natives ofthe birds. And that's what why we
do only need it, got it, And that's and again I want to
make sure folks understand that, uhyou know, because you know there are

(17:40):
some native selections out there that willwork for your area. But again promoting
the native plants, the native speciesthat are for your area. And again
if you want to check that out, and it's a great list, I
mean, you can take that listwith you and go to your local garden
center see what they have or whatthey don't have, and then work back
and forth. But again just goto their website check it out. It's
well worth a garden for Wildlife dotcom. And again and if you're looking
to invest, This is a goodopportunity for you invest. Dot Garden for

(18:03):
Wildlife dot com. Got Christmas comingup in a week or so. What
if somebody like chevar Ali ask forfor Christmas more people buy native plants from
wherever they get them from. I'mhappy if they buy them from us,
but getting those into the ground becauseobviously not right down in the winter.
But yeah, you can get cardsfor people to spread the words. The

(18:23):
more we spread it, more peoplesee it better. Oh and my other
request is, don't cut down yournative plants in the winter, because the
pollinators and the birds actually still usethem throughout the winter. Wait until early
spring and then you can clean themout before the new growth comes in.
Excellent, it's not too late thatyou've already done it. Yeah, and
we're seeing again that trend is startingto show up a lot more. And

(18:44):
as we clean up our perennial gardensat the end of the year, leaving
those things alone until springtime and thencleaning it up. Yeah. So it's
amazing. It's amazing what nature doesfor itself if you just let it get
to it. And you know,even if in your own small backyard,
your in containers or what whatever itmay be. Whatever you do, every
little bit helps indeed. And theother thing is we are now partnering with

(19:06):
the cornell A lout Ornithology, sothey have the great Backguard Birds out coming
up in February. Yes, we'llbe sending out more information about that.
Happy to talk with you guys againabout that as that's coming up, because
we're really excited about that. Andyou know, for people who've been planning
data plants, you should be seeinga lot of birds coming back. Oh
yeah, and that's one we dotry to promote, you know, a
couple weeks in advance and make sureeverybody's up to date. And doing that
only takes you fifteen minutes, oryou can do it longer if you want,

(19:30):
but it's it's a funny. Yayas well, Shover Ali. Always
a pleasure. Appreciate you spending timewith us this morning. I hope you
feel better again. Garden for Wildlifedot com, invest dot Garden for Wildlife
dot com as well, be sureand check both of them out. Feel
better and we will talk to yousometime toward the spring. Always a pleasure.
On Thank you so much, allright, thank you good talking with
you Shover Ali CEO Garden for Wildlifeand again even with our nursery here locally,

(19:56):
sitting down talking about future plants thatwill be great growing, which we
have to do that every year.You know, what what are we going
to grow? What's the trends?You know, the thing for native plants
to continues to grow and grow moreand more, which is good. And
I get it where they're coming from. And again I'm one of those of
the diversity you know, the nativeplants and the native selections for our area

(20:18):
to use both. But again,if you have a hard time finding it,
finding those native plants, this maybe your answer right here, Garden
for Wildlife dot Com. And againlooking for a gift gift card like our
email or one of our listeners.Well, you know, my son lives
in a certain town and wants toget more involved. But you know where
do I get them a gift cardfor there? You go go to the
Garden for WA Yeah, yeah,that's it online dot com, Garden for

(20:44):
Wildlife dot Com and you can geta gift card as well. I'm sure.
I'm totally sure. Now quick break, we come back. We'll jump
back into the garden phone lines ateight hundred eight two three eight two five
five Here in the garden with RonWilson, landscaping, lady's ear with your
personal yard boy. He's in thegarden and he's Ron Wilson. This is

(21:08):
fifty five KARC and iHeartRadio Station.Attention, your run