Tag: Native plants

Mitchella repens … Partridge Berry … an Evergreen Native Groundcover for Shade

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Partridge Berry in its Natural Setting

One of the questions that came up regularly when I was working the hotline at the local county Extension office, is a recommendation for an evergreen ground cover for shady spots.  I had the same issue when I created my own shade garden … something that would have year round interest, but complement my desire to emphasize native species, although that was only one consideration.

The solution was literally right next to me, as a walk in my woods revealed with the lovely plant Partridge Berry, or Mitchella repens.… Continue reading this article “Mitchella repens … Partridge Berry … an Evergreen Native Groundcover for Shade”

Perennial Funday: Eriogonum allenii ‘Little Rascal’

I’m going to keep posting about perennials that deserve more attention until somebody makes me stop. The fact that my subject is, once again, yellow… is merely coincidental

Definitely was a crowd favorite during the Perennial Plant Association annual Symposium’s grower tour (mentioned in my previous post).  These photos were taken at Emory Knoll Farms north of Baltimore; I believe that they were trialing and/or including it in their plant selection for green roof use.

Thanks to Mary Vaananen, Jelitto’s North American operations manager (and goddess of perennial plant knowledge), who just happened to be standing next to it, full of 411, when I squealed “WHAT the (blankety blank) is THAT?!”… Continue reading this article “Perennial Funday: Eriogonum allenii ‘Little Rascal’”

A Little Woodland Wonder

What’s that bit of green poking through the fallen leaves and forest duff? You’ll have to crouch down to get a good look at Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens). A mere 3-5″ tall, this teensy shrublet from the Ericaceae family (blueberry, azalea) has little oval leathery leaves, often mottled with purple or brown. A few urn-shaped pink to white flowers appear in early summer are followed by bright red berries. The berries persist well into the winter and help to distinguish it from similar-looking seedlings of mountain laurel or deerberry.… Continue reading this article “A Little Woodland Wonder”

How Can Natives and Exotics Possibly Coexist?

Natives vs. exotics. We’ve heard that before haven’t we Bert?  Well, here’s an interesting little nugget published recently in the journal Ecology Letters.  Exotics and natives are different, and their differences allow them to coexist.  In this study exotics were superior to natives in terms of growth, but were fed upon more by herbivores.  Interesting.   Of course there are lots of different types of exotics and natives, but the plants that these researchers looked at had been living together for about 200 years. … Continue reading this article “How Can Natives and Exotics Possibly Coexist?”

The good, the bad, and the ugly. A reply.

Ginny Stibolt of the Florida Native Plant Society recently posted Native Plant Issues: The good, the bad and the ugly, featuring me as the ugly.  I posted a reply on her post, which I include here.  To keep things in context, I encourage you to read her post first.

Enjoy your weekend!

Hi Ginny:

Some comments and a few points of clarification.

On the first item, as a Federal agency the USDA is bound by the Executive Order on Invasive Species which defines natives as species that occur in an ecosystem “other than as a result of an introduction”. … Continue reading this article “The good, the bad, and the ugly. A reply.”

Are natives the answer? Revisited

I started to leave a comment on Linda’s Friday post regarding Seattle Public Utilities proposed building codes regarding “Healthy Landscapes” but decided I’d weigh in with a regular post.  Linda honed in on the 75% native requirement but there are lots of things to make one scratch their heads in the proposed codes.

Existing invasive plant species shall be removed and no invasive species planted.
No mention of how invasive plants shall be removed.  Heavy-duty herbicides?… Continue reading this article “Are natives the answer? Revisited”

Does native matter?

We’ve had lots of lively discussion on my post regarding the Mark Davis et al. comment in Nature on natives and exotics. I have been traveling and otherwise occupied and have not had a chance to comment so I feel a little like the kid that kicked the anthill and then ran away. Fortunately, Holly was gracious enough to forego her post today (I promise to return the favor, Holly!) so I can chime back in.… Continue reading this article “Does native matter?”

Excerpt from Davis et al. letter to Nature on natives vs aliens

In yesterday’s post I linked to a letter in Nature by Mark Davis and a number of other ecologists on the role and native and alien plants.  Unfortunately the journal requires a subscription.   Copyright laws prevent me from re-printing the entire article, however, below is an excerpt from the conclusion, which I think captures most of their message.

“Most human and natural communities now consist both of long-term residents and of new arrivals, and ecosystems are emerging that never existed before.… Continue reading this article “Excerpt from Davis et al. letter to Nature on natives vs aliens”

Ecologists weigh in on native-exotic debate

Charlie Rohwer, a frequent guest contributor to the Garden Professors, brought to my attention a recent letter in Nature by Mark Davis and 18 other ecologist entitled, “Don’t judge species on their origins.” Davis is a leading authority on invasive species and author the book Invasion Biology. In their article, Davis and his co-authors make many of the same points that I’ve made here on the blog (Are natives the answer? Dec. 14, 2009; Restoration ecologists you need us – part 2.… Continue reading this article “Ecologists weigh in on native-exotic debate”

Creating a sense of place

As many GP readers know I’m originally from Olympia, WA.  Once a week or so I troll through the on-line version of my hometown newspaper, the Daily Olympian (“the Daily ‘O’” for short or, more commonly, “the Daily Zero”) to keep up with latest happenings back home and to see if any of my high school classmates are on their way to jail.  While none of the Olympia High Class of ’78 made the news recently, my interest was piqued the other day by the headline “Saving the world – from weeds”. … Continue reading this article “Creating a sense of place”