Go native! More and more gardeners are opting for plants that grow naturally in our state, or for that matter, were around before we were. Naturalistic gardens, or taking some pointers from Mother Nature, is on the upswing. What better way to have a natural garden than by using plants found in nature.

Why this sudden craze for native plants? One reason, is that if they’ve survived so well on their own, think about how well they’ll do in your own garden given a little TLC. They have to be durable if they have survived the vagaries of our climate without weekly watering and frost protection. Often, natives have adapted defense mechanisms to pests common in their areas, or they have a high tolerance for pest damage. Therefore, natives tend to be more maintenance free than some of our exotics. But, what are natives, and how do you find them?

Common Natives

Some of the plants you have grown for years are native plants and you just didn’t know it. Things like Carolina Allspice (Calycanthus floridus) is native from Virginia to Florida, Yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria) is native as is the American holly and the Savannah holly. Redbuds and dogwoods, and oakleaf hydrangeas all have their roots here. Natives aren’t just unruly weeds.

While some purists believe that you should uproot all non-natives or exotics, there is room for both. If you have an existing landscape, try adding to it some native plants--from perennials to trees. If you are starting from scratch, you may want to incorporate more, simply to cut back on the maintenance.

Native Vines

While we aren’t going to list every native plant available, here are some that should be locally available and would be good to start out with. For vines there is the trumpet creeper--Campsis radicans, with bright orange to red flowers in full sun. It does best where it has poorer soil, tending to grow vegetatively in rich soil. A kissing cousin is Cross vine, Bignonia capreolata, with dark red tubular flowers which are yellow throated. It grows statewide. Then look at the honeysuckles. We don’t want the invasive Japanese honeysuckle, Lonicera japonica--which isn’t native anyway; but there are some wonderful trumpet honeysuckles from Lonicera sempervirens, which comes in shades of red and orange and a rare yellow. Then there is the standard Virginia creeper, a plant commonly mistaken for poison ivy,. Virginia creeper grows well in shade to partial sun and has one of the prettiest fall colors of any vine other than poison ivy, which most of us don’t want. For shadier gardens, you can plant a harder to find vine in the climbing magnolia-Schisandra glabra, or there is the climbing hydrangea, Hydrangea anomala, a deciduous vine with flat white flower clusters, and a wonderful peeling cinnamon bark.

An interesting family to experiment with is the witch hazel family. Hamamelis vernalis, the vernal witchhazel and Hamamelis virginiana, the common witchhazel are both native shrubs. Both have very fragrant , spiky yellow flowers, the vernal one in January - March, while the common plant blooms in the fall--seasons when we need interest and color. Their fall foliage is also outstanding. Another member of this family is the fothergilla. Fothergilla gardenii produces white puffballs of honey scented flowers in April to May, and it too has great fall color. These plants do best in full sun to partial shade and prefer an acid pH.

Taller Natives

As you can see, you have more options than you knew when it comes to native shrubs. If you need taller plants--those we could call tall bushes or small trees, you could also plant the fabulous native Grancy Greybeard, Old Man’s Beard or White Fringe Tree--Chionanthus virginicus. It’s clusters of white fringe like flowers in the spring last longer and, to many, beat a dogwood, hand down. They also require a lot less care. There are also numerous magnolias for the landscape. While many think only about the large-growing Southern Magnolia, there are some great native varieties with a smaller size. These include Sweetbay magnolia, Magnolia virginiana, the Bigleaf Magnolia--Magnolia macrophylla, and if you want something almost tropical in appearance, plant the Umbrella Magnolia, Magnolia tripetela. It has the appearance of a giant scheffelera in your garden, and it’s hardy.

Woody Natives

While this is not the only native woody plants that we can grow, it is a good start. Some will be easier to find than others, but check with your local nursery to see what they have. There are also a few nurseries in the state that specialize in native plants. While I don’t recommend digging up every non-native plant in your yard, to plant all native plants--add a few natives and see how you like them. NEVER, go searching these plants in the wild to plant in your yard. If everyone did that, there would be none left for the rest of us. Unless you own the property, you don’t have the right to dig anything up. Its also healthier on the plant, and easier for you to purchase them from a reputable nursery.

If your yard needs some local flavor, or some interesting new plants that can almost take care of themselves--plant native shrubs.

To continue with the homeowner's landscaping guide, go to Hydrangeas

For more information, see New Landscape in 5 Days.

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