Most of you know that I like native plants and use them in my garden, although not exclusively. For many years I have also belonged to a society that promotes native plants.
I got a letter the other day from someone in the society. It seems it is undergoing a bit of an identity crisis. When the organization started about 25 years ago, landscaping with native plants was a new idea and kind of far-out. Most nurseries didn’t even sell native plants and you had to go dig them in the wild or trade with other enthusiasts.
But now natives are mainstream. All the big-box nurseries carry them. Commercial landscapes frequently use natives. The local water company sends out brochures promoting them. I think that this is a sign that the native plant movement has succeeded at some level in its goals.
So is there any point in having a native plant society anymore?
If all landscapers are using native plants and all the nurseries sell native plants what is there to do?
I got involved when I moved into a old house with a big badly neglected yard. Up till then gardening for me mostly involved tending to a few vegetables. I had not lived in a place with a yard big enough to have anything more than a postage stamp plot of grass. The local chapter of the native plant society was sponsoring a class on landscaping with natives taught by a well-known author and I went and got hooked. I knew the names of a few plants from my hiking and scouting days and it seemed like fun to me to have the same plants in my yard.
I have stayed in the organization over the years out of support for the concept and because I still enjoy going to the presentations and seeing something new. Right now I am trying to learn to identify grasses to better manage a patch of grassland on my property and the monthly meetings are a place where I can compare notes with people with a similar interest.
But what do you think? I know most of my readers are gardeners and most of them use native plants at least some of the time. Can a native plant society serve any purpose anymore? What can or should it be doing?
Comments (7)
I think there are still plenty of people who don’t know anything about native plants, and there will always be a place for a group that can disseminate accurate information. Plus there is the fellowship factor–people you can talk to without them yawning or thinking you’re nuts.
I’m with Kathy on this: a lot of people still don’t know about the merits of native plants, or want to learn more, and want to learn how to incorporate them with other plants. Plus there’s just the joy of being able to say to another native plant fan, “Guess what? My Hepatica nobilis is in flower already!” and having them share your pleasure with you.
I think it needs to shift focus to explaining exactly which “native” plants are native to your area. There’s a big difference between native to the US, and native to your portion of Texas. Like Florida’s problem with introduced Lantana, which is native elsewhere.
Plus, there aren’t a lot of resources out there for prarie and grassland plants.
Yeah, what Kathy said! One local society here has a demo “garden” in a wild section of their park. They hold a plant sale every year both to raise money and (I think) to discourage people from digging stuff from the wild.
I think our local group is trying to find an identity too. We are doing rescues, but mostly the plants are just ending up in people’s gardens. We’ve been saying we need to do more — just not sure what. We’re still new! Unfortunately in this county I’m afraid folks would try to dig up the demo garden… seriously! People try to dig up the bedding plants at our park.
Although it is good that native plant awareness has increased over the years, I don’t think the native plant society is obsolete. It can provide information on natives to people moving into the area from elsewhere.
Despite the growing popularity of native plants in gardening, there are still many left to inform. I was at was at Lowe’s the other day when I overheard a conversation where a couple were considering nandina…one of the invasive plants the City of Austin warns us not to plant. And yet almost every nursery in Austin still sells it.
Perhaps even longtime gardeners such as myself need a little more converting. I realized that in my GBBD post that not one of the plants I listed as flowering is a native. I love experimenting with exotics. Although I’m trying to replace my invasive plants (such as chinaberry and nandina), I certainly have a long list of non-natives in my garden. Two of my favorites, Tulipa clusiana and oxblood lilies aren’t even from this continent.
hmm, I see the challenge, but surely there is still purpose for these groups?
Maybe free lectures for school kids? Quick and easy horticulture lessons and projects?
I was going to suggest that native plant societies might help study and keep some species from extinction, but I suppose TAMU probably does a good job of that…
Just because a plant is native to an area, doesn’t always mean it’s easy to know where to plant it or how to propagate it.
The Native Plant Societies are the people who can answer these questions. And NO ONE at a Lowes, or any other big box store is likely to even know a plant is native to the area in which it’s being sold.