Natives in your landscaping?

I'm first?? WOW I have a few that happen to be native. I choose by color and then by light requirements.

And I'm second!! That never happens. I have many native plants and I choose them on color and whether or not they have a chance of thriving in my yard.

We also have many natives. But our choices were based on .... "ohhhh, that's pretty' .... more than anything else!

I have detailed garden plans where native plants don't always fit, but if a plant I like fits the plan and it happens to be a native - bonus! To compensate in part, I never use foreign invasives, no matter how attractive or how well they would fit the plan.

LOL Actually, I try never to use invasives at all, foreign or otherwise, but sometimes don't do my homework well enough in advance and end up fighting them for months to get rid of them!

I also try to incorporate as many natives as possible, but they must first pass the drought tolerant test.

I let some of my "weeds" grow: goldenrod, Stoke's Blue Astor, Spiderwort, Cupid's Shaving Brush (Emilia sp.), and others, while also deliberately adding plants that I know are native. I have a hodgepodge mixture, though, of native and ornamental plants because I'm more interested in having a "botanical" garden with one of everything that can grow in my zone, rather than having a formal landscape.

Jerem

Usually, aren't 'native' plants also best suited for ones yard and growing conditions? I take that back. All these new plants - orange lilacs that bloom in March or August, blue potatoes, and everything that starts with "Japanese" or "Oriental" can't be native, right?

dumber than normal today,
Carrie

in the back, near the woods, i try to plant only natives, or at least things that can be found "wild" around here. by the wall, anything else can go - it is such an artificial environment anyway...

amy
*

I chose other, so I will explain, I plant a little of everything that is what I can get my hands on or that I can afford.

I'm planting for the butterflies these days and so I make an effort to find nectar and host plants from the natives offered at our local nurseries or from seeds collected in the parks. The garden centers seem to be offering a wider selection of natives than even just a few years ago, too!

That's not to say that I don't plant non-natives to our area, too,--for instance tropical milkweeds, zinnias, buddliea, verbenas and lantanas which the butterflies love to nectar on all through the summer.

I love different flowers and plants that no one else has. If it is pretty and unusual and there's a chance it could grow in my area ---I would like to try it.

I am very cautious about native plants- I'd love to use them, but so often they are invasive!!

I am interested in edible landscaping so while I don't ignore the importance of supporting native species, it's not my first criterion. I am most able to use natives as companion plants and things that support my non-native food species. I went to some trouble and expense recently to acquire a native vetch species (Vicia gigantea) to use as a cover crop rather than using the more common and inexpensive hairy vetch. Fragaria chiloensis is used as a ground cover and is doing fantastically well. It might even help conquer my field bindweed problems!

I like to avoid chemicals (although I can't do it completely; everytime I pull poison ivy I get a rash, so sometimes I spray it), and native plants seem to do fine without much except compost and mulch. Besides, I live in an area where there are many, many beautiful and useful natives to choose from. So, when things I like naturalize in convenient spots, I let 'em stay. I've got a couple of young tulip trees that are growing in good spots; and there's a beautiful and large black haw viburnum at the bottom of the yard which we uncovered (it was completely covered in invasive honeysuckle when we moved in). I also buy a lot of native plants--red buds, fringe trees, sweet bay magnolias, native rhododendron, winterberries, etc. (I'm in the structure part of my gardening.) And when I want something that's not native (which I do sometimes), I just make sure that it's not on Virginia's invasive plant list.

I chose other because although we bought a home that was 109 yrs old at the time, 111 now, I tore out all landscaping (it was pitiful) and have only planted natives. I didn't feel that the first answer was the right one, because although of course I'm adding now, I started with using all natives.

Native plants are NOT invasive as stated by someone else.

I have harvested some of our wildflower seeds to plant in the garden, as there are some shady areas that only they will bloom in. They enhance our woodland setting.

I garden for wildlife so have begun using 100% native in the natural areas of my property. Up in tight around my home, I will use non-native plants (introduced species) providing they don't try to make a break for anywhere else on my property or someone else's property.

With some reluctance, I will jump into the simmering oil of the frying pan regarding the invasiveness of native plants. Native plants (wildflowers) could not by any definition be considered invasive in their natural setting. They spread as they will and occupy whatever ecological space is best suited for them. But when placed in the confines of a garden design, they can sometimes totally overwhelm any best laid human plan.

My prime example of this is Blue Floss Flower (Ageratum houstonianum http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/256/). I had admired it along ditch banks around north Florida. It provides a nice brush stroke of sky color and is blooming now in what our subtropical climate approximately deems as "Autumn." I found A. houstonianum growing in a shady spot in a side yard of my garden. There, it returned annually and stayed put. I liked it so much, I decided to move a few sprigs of it out to my front yard where it happened to get more sun. The short and long of my woes is that, with the few hours of additional sunlight, Floss Flower totally overran just about everything else I had in the front flower beds. Though I pull it up each year (literally, by the wheelbarrow loads), it comes back from a very well established network of roots that I find whenever I dig in the front flowerbeds. I would include my introduction of this native plant into these flowerbeds in my Top Ten list of all-time worst gardening blunders.

So, in the case of introducing native plants into the unnatural setting of a human design without full prior knowledge of the consequences, I think natives definitely can be considered "invasive."

It all boils down to how much of a "good," natural thing I am willing to tolerate in my garden. Kidney Weed (Dichondra repens http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/55572/), though it is a native plant (one that happens to have a fairly worldwide distribution) was listed in our local Master Gardener training as an "invasive weed." I took exception with that because I think it is one of the best ground covers available, and I encourage it to grow in my garden. I've heard that in some areas, it is used as a lawn plant to replace grass, and the 'Silver Falls' cultivar can be purchased as a garden plant in local garden centers.

Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2026/) occurs here as a very frequent wildflower. My DG friend, Sugarweed, puts an evil eye on each one she sees that I've allowed to grow in my yard and threatens me with death or worse if I should carelessly (or by devious design) carry a single seed of it up to her yard a few blocks away. Though I've become more accustomed to pulling it up, I do leave some stands of it in out of the way niches in my garden. It is sold in many garden catalogs.

In the final analysis, if a plant is part of the natural habitat, one gardener's weed may be another gardener's wildflower, and we each must decide for ourself which is which.

Jeremy

Our climate and clay soil is so difficult that you almost have to use native plants, especially with trees. If I invest that much effort in a plant, I want to make sure it has a good chance of success. Of course, I still can't resist a few of the nicely adapted foreigners, like antique roses and crepe myrtles.

You are in Duvall County. Ageratum houstonianum is an introduced species to your county. It's a native to North America and a native to Florida, but it's not native to where you garden or to North Florida at all based on documented species occurrence accounts.
http://www.plantatlas.usf.edu/maps.asp?plantID=286

Dichondra carolinensis, like Tradescantia ohiensis, enjoys a much broader distribution. Unfortunately, what with development and all, we've reduced or removed the species of flora and fauna that once co-existed with them in natural plant communities that kept their numbers in check. It's these darn houses and shopping malls that keep growing everywhere ;) Definitely two plants to keep an eye on particularly in a "human design" devoid of the other species with which they would have co-evolved. I'd be with Sydney on that Spiderwort... I don't want any plant getting out of control to the extent it begins creating a lot of work for me by re-seeding itself where I don't want it.

Any plant out of place can become weedy but not all that many percentage wise can qualify as being invasive. Natives can certainly be thugs and there are quite a few that are formally identified as being invasive with Rhus glabra coming to mind as being one at the top of my list but that Robinia pseudoacacia is on its heels. I'm of the strong belief that too much of a good thing can be too much of a good thing so if a plant isn't working for one gardener, no sense agonizing over it and it's totally ok to waste it regardless of whether it is native or introduced. I'm also of the belief that there are many well behaved introduced species that "stay put" so why not use them in one's "human design" if one is so inclined?

> Unfortunately, what with development and all, we've reduced or removed the species of flora and fauna that once co-existed with them in natural plant communities that kept their numbers in check.

This leads to something that's been a issue with me lately. I think it's pretty hard to find out what those natural plant communities are, in a lot of cases. I'd like to see this added as a category in the PlantFiles. I'd especially like to see this information made available for plants that have been in cultivation so long that people forget where they're native to. So...suggestion for garden references in general and the PlantFiles in particular:

- where plant is native to

- what its ecological niche is

- what plant community it's generally a part of in its niche

I live in Los Angeles, which is technically a desert.All you have to do is drive up into the hills to see whats native and to know you don't want any of this stuff in your yard.
With double-dug garden beds and a drip system I can grow anything I want.Also the 365 day growing season helps a lot too.
I lean towards Tropicals for the front (back) yard that faces the Canal,so that while you are cruising past in your boat you have nice visuals.Most everyone else does the same thing.
The entire second story roof of my house is flat and I have my vegetable garden up there.I was using large planters and large wooden boxes-raised beds but have switched to 30 gallon Earthboxes.I am putting another 30 of these in this winter.

That sounds like it could be really heavy, Zebraman--are you sure the roof can sustain all that weight?

What's an earthbox please?

Hey Guys: The house was designed with a roof top deck in mind.Most of the houses are built like this to take advantage of the 80*F weather that is most of the year.
The Earthbox's that I use are these
http://www.seattleoil.com/Flyers/Earthbox.pdf

Equilibrium, an EarthBox is here: http://www.earthbox.com/

There are a number of threads on DG about growing in EarthBoxes as well as how to make a DIY EarthBox. You'll often find them abbreviated as EB, though.


>All you have to do is drive up into the hills to see whats native and to know you don't want any of this stuff in your yard.

I grew up in Southern California (South Pasadena, specifically) and can tell you that this is oversimplifying the situation. A lot of the grasses you see in the hills now and a fair amount of the trees and bushes are actually non-native plants. Remember that the Spaniards cruised through starting in the 16th century. Exotic plants started making their way in from that point on, whether on purpose or not.

I like to plant native, but, my main goal is to have all my plants either bird or butterfly or
hummingbird friendly. I plant Daturas and nicotanias to attract sphinx moths. The
plants must attract one of the above mentioned, and be pretty.

I was talking about the sagebrush,manzanita,dodder and the other unattractive,non descriptive plants that are indigenous to So.Cal.Also the washingtonia Palm tree that should be classified as a noxious tropical weed.

Boy would I like to get my hands on an 8' food grade fresh water tank from a boat! Neat links you two! Thanks.

Are dandelions native?!

Yes, there are some native dandelions. But the common dandelion is not native.
http://www.anpc.ab.ca/assets/dandelion.pdf
Agoseris cuspidata is the prairie dandelion and is native.
http://www.prairiemoon.com/store/template/product_detail.php?IID=1315&SID=31c44c22fecc3af67c4d72d26d3521bb

Interesting! I couldn't find a picture of it in our plant files, but here's one:

http://www.missouriplants.com/Yellowalt/Agoseris_cuspidata_page.html

Never got onto the native kick... I know there are some nice plants here in southern California, but I have hiked around a lot here and not too impressed with the native stock.. in fact, the less native something is, the more interested I am to have it in my garden. I guess that is politically incorrect. But I can see natives all over... the stuff I plant I would have to go to Africa or Asia or Australia to see.... or happen upon it in a botanical garden. However out of the 2000 plus species in the yard, I do have a handful of natives here and there

Thanks for that info, terryr! That Prairie Moon Nursery site looks really great. How wonderful that they provide information on soil needs as well as the usual.

The reason we don't have nativity (or provenance, whatever you want to call it) in PlantFiles is made clear by the example of a plant being native to a state, but not to a particular county within that state. There are 67 counties in Florida alone (159 in Georgia, 254 in Texas, etc.) Even if PlantFiles were limited to the USA (which it's not), listing all the counties would require a checklist of over 1,000 counties. If we raised the specificity to the state level, we'd still have several thousand geo-political boundaries around the world to contend with.

At the country level or the continent level, the information would be so broad, it would be meaningless and useless.

Thanks, Terry. I wish there were more Internet sites that had that info, though. Especially about what plant communities a plant is usually seen in. I think knowing what a plant's original niche was and what plant communities it prefers helps one know more about how to foster that plant. Which comes in handy whether the plant is native to your area or not.

I use the USDA plants database for info on which counties have certain natives:

http://plants.usda.gov/

In Australia natives have become very popular again since they are (for the most part) very drought tolerant and widely available. They do have different fertilizer needs - most can't stand high phosphorus but they are usually evergreen and many have winter/early spring blooms to get the birds going before the summer heat. Plus many are "plant it and forget it" type plants which is attractive to busy homeowners!

KYWoods, you have to be careful about the USDA site. You'll find plants that are NOT native in your state, but naturalized in your state, marked as being native. Maclura pomifera is listed at the USDA site as being native to IL when it's not.

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=MAPO

http://weather.nmsu.edu/AbqPlantList/large/OsageOrange.htm