Re: Question About Natives

**J* B* <j*@usol.com>**

Thank you all very much.  It's so great having colleagues so readily  
available to help clear up a question in a very professional manner.

My question was something of a setup and for that I apologize a  
little bit.  When I have someone tell me that I MUST use native  
plants in a certain situation, e.g. rain garden, they might think  
they are recommending plants that existed in 1600 in my area.   Now I  
know different.  Whether the fan of "natives" is willing to admit it  
or just ignore reality, I don't care.  For me as a garden writer a  
native is any plant that has in its genes some percentage of a plant  
that in fact existed in my area in 1600.  That new "native" may be  
the third or fourth generation but if it contains much the same  
important characteristics of a true native, then it goes into my  
garden as a "native".  My native plant is not "native" because it  
actually existed in 1600.  It is a native because one or more parents  
is a plant that existed in 1600 and will usually have many of  
beneficial characteristics that made that "original" native valuable  
to the ecosystem.

Am I getting close?

Jeff Ball
jeffball@usol.com
810-724-8581
Check out my daily blog at www.gardeneryardener.blogspot.com
Check out my extensive web site at www.yardener.com

On Aug 11, 2007, at 7:14 AM, jo ellen meyers sharp wrote:

Hi, Jeff -- I think you need to define native...North America native?
Eastern U.S. native? Michigan native? A plant that is native to the
northwest U.S. would be considered exotic in New York.

I give several talks about native plants and attracting wildlife. I
also talk about garden worthy native plants. Some native species,
such as purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) are garden worthy just
as they are, but others are not because they are too large rangy for
gardens, or they get diseases like powdery mildew. That's where
cultivars or selections come in. Although anectodal, I can attest
that monarchs cover my 'Raydon's Favorite' aster (A. oblongifolius)
and 'Fireworks' goldenrod (Solidago rugosa).

jems

> A question occurred to me as I was working on an article for Mother
> Earth News.  I understand that the tightest definition of a "native"
> is that it grew in some area of the country before 1600.  Now I also
> know there has been considerable research to identify the ecological
> benefits of many natives in terms of hardiness, toughness, value to
> beneficial insects and songbirds, etc.
> There have been a large number of cultivars bred using a true native
> as at least one parent.  The question is whether those plants bred in
> the past fifty years to improve on various native characteristics
> have the same contribution to the ecology as the parent natives.  Has
> there been any research on this issue?
>
> Jeff Ball
> jeffball@usol.com
> 810-724-8581
> Check out my daily blog at www.gardeneryardener.blogspot.com
> Check out my extensive web site at www.yardener.com
>
>
>
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-- 
Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
Garden writer, author, photographer
Region III Director Garden Writers Association
Phone: (317) 251.3261
Fax: (317) 251.8545
E-mail: hoosiergardener@sbcglobal.net

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