Beautiful Native Flowers

Not long ago, Western New York was completely covered by a thick sheet of glacial ice, miles deep and thousands of miles wide. As the Ice Age glaciers receded, their melt waters fed streams, rivers, lakes and marshes that provided habitat to an increasingly complex variety of creatures. Temperatures warmed, rich and fertile soils formed, and new plants and animals co-evolved as new opportunities for survival arose. The plants that we consider native to our area quickly took hold.

Although there are different ways to define what makes a plant “native”, they are generally considered plants that develop, occur naturally, or have existed for many years in an area. Even if a plant is native to an area it will require a specific habitat, like a marsh or meadow, to grow. And, like all things, what’s native to an area will change with time as climate and habitats change.

Native plants have important ecological functions. They provide habitat for wildlife and are the nutrient source at the base of the food chain. Many animals developed to rely on specific native plants for survival. For example, certain butterflies lay eggs on only one type of plant; without that plant, the hatched caterpillars will have no source of leafy green to feed on. Some birds need specific types of trees for their seeds or berries, and without those trees, the birds will simply go elsewhere. Beavers seem to chew through any type of vegetation, but they prefer native willows, aspens, cottonwoods and alders. Without these trees, beavers will move on as well.

Unfortunately, human development threatens our native plants.  Many native plant and animal species are now extirpated from our area. Few old growth forests remain. Most marshes have been drained. Our meadows have become mowed lawns or monoculture crops. And our native plants continue to disappear as our urban areas grow.

The destruction of habitat for human use is often intentional, but sometimes not. Introduced disease wiped out the American Chestnut Tree. Deer, now overpopulated as a result of the killing of their natural predators, so rapidly eat the understory of forests that few plants survive, including tree saplings and plants like trilliums or Jack-in-the-Pulpits. Other introduced plants out-compete native plants for habitat. Purple Loosestrife and Phragmites are “invasive” plants that are overtaking cattail marshes across the northeast, driving out native vegetation.

Each spring, many thousands of Western New Yorkers become gardeners. Our unconscious connections with our ancestor’s agricultural heritage, to the “family farm”, draw us to gardening. It is in the spring when we carry out our planting plans formulated during the long winter when our imaginations transformed blankets of white snow into tall trees, bushes and wildflowers.  When the sun shines, we find a way to garden, with or without the space for it. Our front windows are filled with green, our porches overgrown with potted vegetables and hanging flowers, and our front walkways wind and disappear through meadows of color.

Native plants are and should be an increasing part of our gardens. And using native plants in your garden is no compromise. Native plants are adapted to our climate and, if given the right planting conditions, can survive with less maintenance than non-native plants and return year after year. If you use native plants, you will be more likely to see many of our native birds and butterflies fluttering through your yard, or making their home there. Above all else, native plants will be a beautiful addition to your garden.  They have fragrant and colorful flowers, and different varieties will bloom at different times during the spring, summer and fall. There are native plants appropriate for sunny and shaded conditions, wet and dry soils, and even water gardens. There are even orchids and carnivorous plants native to our area.

If you have a lot of sun, try using a variety of native liatris, a pink blaze of feather flowers, or a species of milkweed like the orange flowered Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberose) or Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca). If you have sun and moist soils, try planting Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis), a tall spike of brilliant red flowers, or Joe Pye-Weed (Eupatorium purpureum), an even taller cluster of pinkish flowers. Native asters can add color to your garden throughout the fall. All of these flowers are great sources of nectar and pollen for hummingbirds, butterflies, and other insects. There are many species of native ferns and flowering trilliums appropriate for shade gardens. Blue-flag (Iris versicolor) is a native iris that can survive in partially submerged in water or in moist soils.

If you do use native plants in your garden, it is important not to collect them from the wild. Many native plants have declined because of over collecting from natural areas and some are protected by law. They should be bought from local nurseries that do not collect them from the wild either. Most local nurseries sell versions of our own native plants, called cultivars, or plants deliberately selected and bred for specific desirable characteristics like flower color or size. You’re likely to find cultivars of Black Eyed-Susans (Rudbeckia hirta), Beebalm (Monarda fistulosa), or Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea). (The Latin names in the parentheses are of the true native plant, not the cultivar.)

I use native plants in my garden to try to restore what we’ve lost. I know I have won some small battle when a beautiful butterfly rests on one of my flowers. But gardening can also be part of the regeneration of our communities as we try better to coexist with nature. With some patience, gardening with native plants can help transform our backyards, indeed our cities, back into waving meadows and even thick, deep, life sustaining forests.