Pick the Right Native Plant
3 Steps to Selecting Indigenous Plants for Organic Flower Gardens
Aug 29, 2009
While some plants are worth taking extra effort to grow them, the majority of the plants in an organic flower garden should be plants indigenous to the local environment. Where you place them in your garden must be suitable for the particular native plant's need for light, moisture, and soil conditions.
By selecting local native plants, you reduce the need for supplemental soil amendments, pesticides, and fungicides. A plant that evolved over thousands of years within miles of your garden has natural predators for indigenous pest. That plant species has already adapted to local soil conditions and to the available moisture throughout the year. Learn more about using native plants at How to Grow a Native Plant Garden and Native Plants in the Organic Garden
Three Steps to Finding Native Plants
To find the native plants right for your garden, follow these three steps.
- Determine your climate zone. A climate zone is determined by factors such as average low winter temperatures, average high summer temperatures, rainfall, and other factors. You can learn more about climate zones at Weather Basics for Organic Gardeners.
- Find a list of plants native to your climate zone.Use the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center plant database, containing only native plants.You can search by botanical name, if you know it, or use Combination Search to find plants native to your state and fitting specific light, moisture, and growing habit criteria.I constructed a search for my garden in Washington's Cascade Mountains. The first few results of my search are also shown in the picture below.At Plantmaps.com, you can find in which zone a specific plant is indigenous. You search by botanical name. If you know only a common name, you can find the botantical name of the plant at Backyardgardener.com.Many states have a native plant society. To find the society in your state, search the Web using “native plant society” and the name of your state.
- Make a plant list for your garden.Create a list of plants, trees, vines, and shrubs you find during your search that you want to include in your flower garden. It is helpful to group the plants by light, moisture, and soil requirements.If you have not already done so, create a map of your garden that indicates garden “zones” by light, moisture and soil conditions. You should also indicate if an area is influenced by factors such as wind or structures like fences, walls, and foundations that can catch and hold heat or rain.
You’re Ready to Plant
Armed with a list of native plants for your flower garden, you are ready to locate a source for native plants. Some possibilities include:
- The native plant society in your area. Some societies hold annual sales and have lists of native plant nurseries.
- Nurseries in your area that sell native plants. Search for “native plant nursery” on the Web.
- Your local extension service or Master Gardener organization. Many of them encourage use of native plants and have information on sources of plants.
Ethical Collecting of Native Plants
If you love native plants and want them in your garden, the temptation to go into the woods and dig up a plant and take it home may arise. Don’t give in.
Over-collection of native plants in the wild has caused some plants to become extinct or threatened. In national forests and parks, it is illegal to remove any plant by taking cuttings or digging it up. The same holds true on most public land.
Many native plants depend on parasites, microbes, or other elements in the soil. These plants are likely to die if moved to soil that does not have these elements.
On private land, there is no law to stop you from taking cuttings or digging up a plant, but you had better ask permission of the owner. You should also follow some basic guidelines designed to preserve native plants.
- Never dig up a plant identified as threatened by extinction.
- Limit collecting to no more than one or two plants of a specific type in a single location.
- When possible, gather seeds or take cuttings rather than dig up the plant.
Check with local extension or the native plant society to find out if any organization in your community conducts “plant rescues” when undeveloped land is going to be logged, developed, or disturbed in any way to threatens the plants on that land. The plants collected by rescue teams may be available for sale.
If Federal land is going to be disturbed by logging or road building, you may be able to get a permit through the U.S. Forest Service to collect specific plants in a specific location.
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