Author urges gardeners to form one big `national park’

Imagine if all the back and front yards — and even patio container plants — across the country were seen as one magnificent patchwork quilt, a “Homegrown National Park.” Home gardeners would join forces to bring back a variety of native plants to protect and nurture struggling birds, bees and other pollinators. That’s wildlife ecologist and entomologist Doug Tallamy’s vision, as laid out in his most recent book, “Nature’s Best Hope: A New…