In the Garden
Ralph Purkhiser, Purdue University Master Gardener
Every campaign needs a catch phrase. It matters little the object of the campaign. A good catch phrase will allow anyone to use that phrase to further the goal. Garden writers are not immune to such tactics. It seems that the garden writers’ catch phrase for 2025 is as follows: If you are only going to plant one plant this year, make it a native.
I have seen that sentence, nearly verbatim, in at least a dozen different garden publications. It sounds like a great idea. It makes perfect sense. Planting natives will help duplicate the original habitats that support the whole local ecosystem. If only it were that simple.
The problem is that each individual garden is unique, and I doubt that anyone who is just planning to install a single plant is going to go to the trouble to discover just what plants are native to a particular site. Here at Sandhill Gardens, where there are many native plants, different plants grow in the valley at the bottom of the cliff than grow on the ridge top. Even in the valley, different plants grow near the cave and along the creek than one may find in the dense shade or on the face of the cliff. There are areas on the ridge where the high water table creates moist areas, supporting different plants than one finds on the rocks at the top of the cliff.
There is also the problem of distinguishing between wild plants and native plants. In the two and a half centuries since settlers arrived in southern Indiana, there have been many non-native plants that have escaped cultivation and are now generally seen as wildflowers. In fact, one of the aforementioned articles urged gardeners to refrain from killing dandelions, because those flowering weeds provide a lot of nectar for insects in the early spring. Dandelions are not native plants. They do have many benefits as food and medicine, and those many flowers that dot lawns are the progeny of plants that early settlers cultivated in their gardens. Many wildflower guides list dandelions and other escaped plants as “introduced” in a particular area. This is different from invasive, in that an introduced plant will co-exist with native flora, while invasive plants tend to crowd out the native plants and take over an area.
Another consideration is the changes in the landscape that have occurred, both naturally and as the result of human activity. A tornado may turn a woodland into an open area in the matter of a few terrifying minutes. Flooded rivers may wash out areas and carry native plants to different locations. Human construction and destruction has definitely left a mark on the landscape. The plants that are truly native to an area may not thrive there in the modified conditions.
There is also the question of using Nativars. I have written about Nativars in previous columns, but they deserve a mention here. Nativars are cultivated varieties of native plants. Hybridizing and breeding for desired attributes results in plants that are similar to the original natives, but they may not be as beneficial to native fauna. Sometimes, a flower bred for larger blooms or a different color may lack the nectar and pollen of the native plant. However, many times the Nativars are still visited by bees and other insects, and, while some suggest that their pollen and nectar are nutritionally inferior to the species flower, I have never seen a scientific study that establishes that supposition as fact.
The flip side of the coin is the veiled suggestion that non-native plants are harmful for native bees and other insects. While it is true that monarch butterflies need our native milkweeds to survive, as that is the only larval host plant, monarchs and other adult butterflies will dine at a patch of non-native zinnias. I can almost guarantee that I will find butterflies in my zinnia patches on a sunny summer day.
I do encourage the use of native plants, and I abhor truly invasive plants, but my version of the catch phrase is: If you are only going to plant one thing this year, plant something that brings you pleasure and gets you out into the garden, and if that is a native plant, so much the better.