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Re: plant/seed source



Richard S Rhodes II wrote:

> I would ask 'Why plant any exotics?'

Simply, because we like them, and because we can.  People here (and around the gardening
world) grow hundreds ( thousands?)  of  non-native species, because they like the look of
them.  The goal is not to have a completely "native" habitat.  There are already many kinds
of South African bulbs among the native bulbs in the meadow. There are also some Australian
and New Zealand shrubs.   If it were completely natural, much of it would probably not be
meadow at all, but would revert to forest over time.  And to keep it in a native state, the
forest would have to be burned every 10 years or so, which is politically impossible except
in a National Park here, becuase peole have built structures in the forest, and just about
politically impossible there as well (remember the outcry over the Yellowstone blaze a few
years back?  That was just nature doing its 400 year cycle).

> Even within continent introductions may be dangerous.  Some riparian species was
> introduced to California from elsewhere in the US and is now a serious pest.

Definitely a mistake - Arrundo donax, a bamboo-like plant.

> If the Nature Conservancy is to be believed, many of the California grassland types are
> globally threatened both by destruction for human uses and by invasion by cheat grass
> (another exotic).

There is very little native California grassland left, mostly due to agriculture, as in the
midwest.  The California grassland used to lie primarily in the central valleys (Sacramento
and San Juaquin), a different ecosystem from the Sonoma County forest and grass that I am
talking about.


> So why introduce a grass that never occured in California to your meadow?

There is almost no native grass there now - it is almost all "cheat" grass and other
Setaria species, as is most of the grassland of California that is not dessert or pasture
(which is also not native), or planted ryes, which are not native either.  Andropogan
gerardii is not an invasive species here in the dry California climate.  A number of plants
(not thousands) in the background, irrigated, will make it look more attractive.

Richard Starkeson

> Richard Starkeson wrote:
>
> > Sonoma County, California - not a native prairie ecosystem, so I am not
> > concerned about the genotype.  It would be used at the back of a meadow hillside
> > (where it would need irrigation - there is no precipitation  here for 8 months
> > at a time).  Most of the meadow will be re-established with california native
> > grasses.  It is now covered with foxtails and some native forbs.  It really
> > needs burning, but there is a high danger of forest fire in the area except in
> > the winter.
> >
> > Bob Kehres wrote:
> >
> > > What State and county are you in. Try to locate a local genotype if you can.
> > > This is seed that is from plants within a 100 mile radius of your location.
> > > I have local Ohio seed available.
> > > -----
> > > Subject: plant/seed source
> > >
> > > > Can anyone give me mail order sources for prairie plants?  At the moment
> > > > I would like some andropgan gerardii.
>

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