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RE: 'native' plants vs.. 'other' plants



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> De: Sean A. O'Hara <sean.ohara@ucop.edu>
> A: medit-plants@ucdavis.edu
> Asunto: 'native' plants vs.. 'other' plants
> Fecha: martes 3 de marzo de 1998 0:24
> 
> The recent discussion about the 'ease' of growing native (or not!)
> has inspired me to taken my e-pen in hand . . . (bare with me) ;-)

latymer@ctv.es
Hugo Latymer   Spain   Zone 9      
 And with me too
> Perhaps is it due to the overwhelming prevalence of easily
> grown plants in the nursery trade that has created this concept
> that all plants must be easy to be worth growing for the
> average gardener.  And easy being usually defined as the ability
> to grow regardless of where (soil, exposure, water) the poor thing
> is planted

As a nurseryman I find that certain, quick germination of annuals is what
I, and no doubt most other nurserymen, want from a packet of seeds, and
breeding is constantly selecting these characters. Perennials normally sit
in the nursery for a year before they are saleable demanding space,
weeding, watering, spraying - in general, expensive care. Propagation by
division is hard to mechanise. Some  seeds of perennial plants may need
stratification. With a shrub or tree you want a plant that will transplant
easily and certainly,  and which grows quickly.
	You will see all these plants commonly in gardens. Anything else will be
in a small pot in the corner of an aficionado's terrace. But I agree these
are wild generalisations and there are some outstanding perennials  that do
well here  in Mallorca and that fulfil the conditions for a commercial
plant. Echium fastuosum for instance. Take a big terminal cutting in
December, and root it outside directly in a 14cm. pot and sell it in May.
Within a year the buyer will have a really beautiful plant. It just needs
pushing. But I cannot think of any California native that will do the same,
I must admit. Some Eriogonums perhaps







> Anyway - before dismissing any major group of plants (such as 'natives')
> as being unsuitable for your garden, take a long, hard, critical look
> at where it is you are asking plants to grow.  Think of the situations
> they will have to deal with, not the imagined solutions you may or may
> not find - but the real, hard reality of the site.  There will be
> some things you can do to improve it (soil amendment, opening up a
> tree to let in more light, regrading or drainage, etc.), but if you
> accept what you have to deal with, and you explore those plants, native
> or otherwise, which actually PREFER to grow in those conditions, then
> you find your garden suddenly thrives in the way you always imagined.
> 
>  Sean A. O'Hara                     sean.ohara@ucop.edu
>  710 Jean Street                    (510) 987-0577
>  Oakland, California 94610-1459     h o r t u l u s   a p t u s
>  U.S.A.                             'a garden suited to its purpose'
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