On a quiet street in Wilmette, native plants bloom in broad sweeps and bright bursts, bringing color and life to what was once an ordinary strip of lawn separating the sidewalk from the curb.

The violet blossoms of blue vervain hover above clusters of frosty-white mountain mint, golden lanceleaf coreopsis, orange butterfly weed and pink poppy mallow. Monarch butterflies visit the buffet of pollen and nectar, as do wasps, bees, bugs and moths.

Humans pause as well, with a passing bicyclist turning her head to look and a man in an orange Kia pulling to a full stop.

“Awesome!” the man calls out to Amanda Nugent, who is standing nearby. “Is this your stuff?”

“It is,” Nugent says with a smile.

At a time of growing concern about declines in insect populations, native plants are having a mom

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