Re: George Ball's NYT op-ed article

**"bbmackey" b*@prodigy.net**

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Maryann Whitman" <maryannwhitman@comcast.net>. Betty Mackey has said 
she thought it was excellent. May I ask
> specifically what aspect you agreed with?

-----------
I was pleased by George Ball's point of view. Somewhere between letting 
Kudzu run all over the land and forbidding any imported plants whatsoever is 
a rational garden path.

When one considers a native plant, a question is implied that is rarely 
answered: native to where? To be viewed as a permitted native, must it be 
native to your continent? Your country, your region,  your horticultural 
zone, your state, your city or county, or your town? Do we  ban lavender in 
the USA because it is not a native? Alpine plants? Cucumbers?  In some areas 
we might want to ban overly aggressive fennel or honeysuckle or lamiastrum 
or  ivy, but it is not because they are not natives, it is because they 
crowd out desirable plants and spring up everywhere.

With some parties seemingly overeager to outlaw non-native plants, as a 
gardener I am concerned. I'd like to get rock garden seeds collected in 
other countries. I want to keep my garden options open and not have 
community policing of the posy patch. No, I do not add invasive plants to my 
garden, but yes, I have beautiful and useful plants from many regions of 
North American and the world, and want to add even more, including natives 
by any definition. I find stories of plant exploration, development, and 
introduction to be interesting and valuable.

A little common sense will give us criteria other than whether a plant is 
"native" for deciding what to include and what to banish from our gardens, 
and I am all for it.

Betty Mackey, Publisher
B. B. Mackey Books
P. O. Box 475
Wayne, PA 19087
bbmackey@prodigy.net
www.mackeybooks.com

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