Native Plant Sales, Conferences, and Happenings - 2011:


GroWild, Inc, a native plant nursery in Fairview, TN, is hosting its annual Fall Sale October 15, 2011, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. All wildflowers, ferns, grasses, vines, shrubs, and trees are 10 - 50% off. Visit their Web site for more information and directions.

Connecting to Wildlife through Native Plants:
A wonderful book was published in 2007 that should be must reading for all gardeners. In Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens (Timber Press), author Douglas W. Tallamy makes a compelling biological argument for using native plants as the foundation of our maintained landscapes. This book has just been honored with the 2008 Silver Award of Achievement from the Garden Writers Association. Tallamy is a professor and chairs the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware. His thesis centers on insects...not exactly an enticing prospect for most gardeners, yet, good teacher that he must be, he methodically presents his case clearly and convincingly. The first key point is predicated upon transfer of the sun's energy. Plants utilize the sun through photosynthesis to produce the sugars they need to live and become the first crucial link in the food chain. Nearly all other creatures get their energy directly or indirectly from these plants. The largest group of consumers responsible for transferring plant energy into animal energy is insects. Next, Tallamy explains the evolutionary path that establishes a dependent link between local plants and insects. Insects have developed the means to recognize and utilize certain local plants at different stages of their lives. The vast majority of insects lose this evolutionary association on non-native or exotic plant species, which they either don't recognize as food or cannot digest the plants' tissue. With few exceptions, exotic plants that evolved elsewhere have differing leaf chemistry, distinct even from closely related native species.

At first, gardeners might see this as a great excuse for using non-native plants. If they aren't chewed up by insects, then we'll have good looking plants that don't need chemical intervention. Tallamy anticipates this reaction and is ready. Insects don't just eat, he says, they get eaten, comprising the diet, often exclusively, of some of our most cherished backyard wildlife. What gardener isn't thrilled to find a bird's nest and watch the mother and father flying back and forth with food for hungry little beaks? Insects are the only food suited to baby birds. The health and quantity of an area's insect population directly affects the number of baby birds it can support. Tallamy has found that diverse landscapes of native plants will attract enough chewing insects and the predators that prey on them to hold plant disfigurement to a threshold low enough not to be noticeable. And in the meantime, we get to enjoy a wonderfully alive garden that functions as a healthy ecosystem should. Non-native plants take and keep the sun's energy and do not pass it up the food chain through insects. Therefore, they are non-functioning members of the ecosystem - taking light, water, nutrients, and space, but contributing nothing in return to the betterment of the community. In addition to the sterile void they create in native systems, non-native plants are also responsible for some of our worst headaches. Tallamy offers a depressing recitation of invasive plant infestations and the introduction of a jaw-dropping number of diseases and harmful insects (terrorizing plants in the garden and the wild) that have snuck into the U.S. on exotic nursery stock. This is not to cast aspersions on all exotic plants. Most do not cause direct harm to the environment and provide interest and beauty in our gardens. The point isn't to forego all exotics but to rely more heavily on native plants as the foundation of a landscape. Enjoying ornamental exotics in smaller doses as accent rather than structural backbone will allow the majority native plants to function ecologically and connect more effectively with nearby natural areas in spite of the intervening human presence.

Tallamy offers information on native plants that are particularly supportive of insects and provides a fascinating look at some of the insects a diverse native garden would attract. Who would think "bugs" could be so interesting? Tallamy makes it easier to like and appreciate these little crawlers and fliers for their intrinsic value and the indispensable role they play in healthy habitats through behavioral descriptions and fun anecdotes. The more gardeners understand the larger ecological framework within which they operate, the harder it is to dismiss other species - even insects - as disposable. From humans to the lowliest fly, we all play a part in this wonderful world. Cheerfully sharing our patch of land with fellow critters does not diminish our gardens; it enriches our lives.


Native Plant Alternatives to Exotic Invasive Plants
TN-EPPC's new brochure offers gardeners a comprehensive list of native plant alternatives to the exotic pest plants often used in private and public landscapes. The Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council is pleased to present this information as an effective tool to educate gardeners on the real threats posed by exotic invasives throughout the natural landscape of Tennessee and the southeast. However, understanding the problem and knowing which plants to avoid is only half of the issue. Most gardeners are equally if not more interested in learning which plants will give them a similar look, serve a similar purpose, or fill a similar niche without the invasive baggage. This brochure provides that key information.

Not all of the exotic pest plants in Tennessee or other states are available for horticulture. This brochure focuses on those species mostly likely to be cultivated in gardens or general landscapes. The characteristics that make a particular exotic invasive plant attractive to gardeners are listed, and for each exotic species one to several native plant alternatives are suggested along with the characteristics that make them excellent substitutes. This information moves beyond the finger-wagging "Don't Plant That!" and introduces a fabulous new world of cool plant material for our gardens.

Efforts are underway to share this brochure with Master Gardener programs, extension agencies, garden clubs, nurseries, botanic gardens, university horticultural programs, plant societies, and federal, state and local parks and nature centers. TN-EPPC has posted the brochure on its Web site (see the Links page) in a downloadable pdf format.

Native Shortcomings:
At a recent Cullowhee Conference, Native Plants in the Landscape, Atlanta commercial landscape architect Steve Sanchez, fearlessly faced front and center two of the bigger debates in native plant circles - the need for more cultivars and a few key landscaping niches where native plants are obviously lacking. On the latter topic he cited four areas where natives have a hard time competing commercially with non-natives, (1) groundcovers for sun, (2) evergreen shrubs, (3) evergreen trees, and (4) flowering trees and shrubs in colors other than white. While some perennials might suffice in smaller areas for the first complaint, Sanchez thinks our best hope is in native grasses. Getting the general public to go for the native grass look is key to addressing sun groundcovers. The list of evergreen shrubs and trees is fairly thin, aside from some coastal plain and mountain species. Pines and red cedar are often viewed as too ubiquitous to be considered seriously in the buying public. The hunt for an "evergreen" look is likely to take folks out of the native flora of their region. Sanchez admits that the last shortcoming is a minor issue but points out that a majority of our toughest and most useful woody species have white flowers rather than the colorful rainbow of many Asian counterparts. This leads to his plea for more cultivars as a way to broaden the color palette, improve disease resistance, provide variety in flower display, foliage, fall color, and form (especially dwarfs), and benefit from the advantages of provenance in locally propagated species. The cultivar issue alone splits many native plant enthusiasts in a way that makes the current red state/blue state divide look tame. When putting together the native plant alternatives to invasives brochure here in Tennessee, we faced many of these same issues. With some exotic species it is hard to find an exact native match. Many alternatives just don't really perform in the same way or to the same degree. It's tough to find a native plant that will take the broad conditions English ivy will endure, has evergreen, shiny leaves, and can serve as a dense groundcover. This is our challenge - to help set a new standard of public expectations for the landscape while bringing native plants into the mainstream nursery trade and honoring the ethics that bind us physically, emotionally and spiritually to the natural world.

Margie's Speaking Dates:


Lawrence County Master Gardener Class -- Feb. 14, 2011
Gardening with Native Plants


Williamson County Master Gardener Class -- Feb. 15, 2011
Gardening with Native Plants


Tennessee Naturalist Course, Owl's Hill Nature Sanctuary -- Apr. 9, 2011
Herbaceous Plants of Tennessee: Forbs, Ferns, Fungi and More


Southern Appalachian Plant Society, Apr. 14, 2011
Native Plants Throughout the Seasons: A Gardener's Almanac


Washington County Virginia Master Gardeners Mid-Atlantic Garden Faire -- Apr. 15, 2011
Native Plants in the Home Landscape
All Plants are NOT Equal: A Guide to Exotic Invasive Plants and Good Native Plant Alternatives


Davidson County Junior Master Gardeners -- June, 2011
Native Plants and Wildflower Identification





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