Let's Go Native

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This booklet represents the inspirational work of many people. We are especially indebted to Sue Webb, Naturalist and Native Landscape Consultant at Petals from the Past Nursery for her botanical expertise and knowledge. Also special appreciation to Mark Partain for his technical and creative insight and his graphic contributions. Also appreciation is expressed to the Mt Laurel Garden Group who sponsored this effort and especially to members, Rick Tice, Renee Prescott, Ginny Randolph and Ward Tishler whose diligent effort helped put this booklet in the hands of Mt Laurel residents. It has been truly a labor of love.

Remembrance and appreciation is expressed to the late Rob Gardner, late curator at the North Carolina Botanical Garden, his work “Going Native” was originally published in the April 2000 issue of the magazine Wildlife in North Carolina and was the inspiration for this booklet. His professional works provided a wonderful source for defining native plants.

Thanks to the North Carolina Botanical Garden at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for giving permission to use Rob Gardner’s article as a professional and inspirational resource for this booklet.

And finally appreciation is expressed for the printing of this
booklet by EBSCO.

Click here to download the Booklet as a PDF

More And More Nurseries Are Encouraging Gardeners To Use Native Plants, And Why Not?

Purple Dome

Natives not only add sizzling colors to gardens from spring to fall, but also restore lost connections between plants and wildlife.

Alabama is one of the most diverse states in the country and the most diverse of those east of the Mississippi. From the coastal plains in the south, to the hills and mountains of the north, and the well over 200,000 miles of rivers and streams in between, our "natural gardens" nurture hundreds of plants-delicate ferns, exotic orchids, beautiful lilies, weird insect-eating plants and some of the most stately and graceful trees and shrubs in the world. Because Alabama’s treasure trove of native plants is so diverse, we have a wonderful array of beautiful and interesting plants to choose from for our gardens. Gardening with native plants is no longer the domain of a select few wildflower  enthusiasts but has become a mainstream activity for all gardeners. We have become increasingly aware of the importance of native plants in the survival of birds, bees, butterflies, and other wildlife.

These plants which are well adapted to live with our soils, climate, rainfall, and so on, are the very foundation of our ecosystems providing the food for butterfly larva, nectar and pollen for bees, and a variety of essential insects that birds feed to their babies. Where native plants have declined, there are fewer birds, butterflies, and other wildlife. As cities, suburbs, and agriculture has grown, we have reduced the available native plants that support our wildlife and ultimately ourselves.

Planting more natives in our gardens is a way to compensate for that increasing destruction of natural areas. In the following pages are just a few ideas on what plants you can grow, depending on the proportion of sun and shade in your garden. There are many colorful plants to choose from and combinations that will keep your garden flowering from spring to fall.

Gardening With Shade-Loving Native Plants

trillium

It is important to understand that Alabama natives have largely evolved in a woodland setting, making many if not most of them able to thrive in part shade/part sun situations. With less sun, blooms may decline. With full sun, many will require more water and some will burn. In light of this, it is a good idea to begin by determining how much sun you have in your garden at different times of day. If you have a lot of shade throughout the day, you’ll want to choose plants that will not just tolerate but look great in that amount of shade. Alternatively, there may be low hanging branches that can be trimmed back to let in more light, twiggy and/or weedy growth of small volunteer saplings and suckers that can be thinned out, and invasives such as privet or non-native honeysuckle that should be removed. Foliage is at the heart of all shadier gardens. Spring brings a flurry of wildflowers before the tree leaves come out: phlox, bluebells, bloodroot, crested iris, columbine, mayapple, trillium and many others seem to bloom all at once. It is a beautiful early spring show not to be missed but one that will soon pass as the new leaves begin to shade the area.

southern fern

As the growing season wears on, it is the contribution of foliage that then carries the shade garden through the summer and into autumn. Plants like ferns, sedges, wild ginger, tiarella, columbine, coral bells, and bleeding heart are a few of the Alabama natives that add texture, background and definition to shade gardens. Interest is also provided by the contrasting color of the different foliage from deep emerald green, chartreuse, bluish green, gray green, purple, to forest green. All blend to create a beautiful tapestry that is a variation on a single color theme.

Easy-to-acquire and easy-to-grow native plants that are beautiful choices for any shady garden.

Coral Bells (Heuchera Americana)

coral bells

Coral Bells are stars in a shade garden because of their striking foliage with color variations that have been selected in various cultivars. Coral Bells are valuable in the front or middle of the shady border individually, in mass, or in combination with other plants. This native usually produces five lobed, coarsely toothed leaves. New spring foliage may be washed in silver, pewter, or purple markings, which often persist. Mature plants usually grow 6 to 8 inches tall. Small white to purple or greenish purple flowers usually appear in late spring on long, wiry stems rising 12 to 15 inches above the foliage.

The flowers are interesting but not especially showy; the evergreen leaves are the real attraction. Tiarella are the coral bells first cousins and add more choices of color and leaf shape. Coral Bells and tiarella are easy to cultivate and can be grown in average to moderately dry soils if well established. They are doubly useful because they retain their foliage through the winter months, adding interest to the garden every day of the year. It is a great companion to many other shade- loving wildflowers, including creeping phlox, native sedges and ferns.

Eastern columbine

eastern columbine

Eastern columbine (Aquilegia Canadensis)

One of the most widely recognized of our native wildflowers, eastern columbine is also one of the most beautiful with its nodding red and yellow flowers. The delicate, fern-like foliage provides beauty and interest throughout the summer as long as the plants are consistently moist. Its ease of growth and ability to reseed also makes columbine one of the best of our native wildflowers for shady to partly sunny gardens. It is tolerant of a wide range of cultural conditions and combines well with many other shade-loving plants, especially ferns.

Plantain leaf sedge

plantain leaf sedge

Plantain leaf sedge (Carex plantaginea) has bold evergreen leaves that grow 8 to 10 inches tall and 1 inch wide. The leaves have very pronounced, raised parallel veins that give them a distinctive corrugated look. This sedge like most sedges benefits from consistent moisture. Plantain-leaf sedge is one of our most distinctive and desirable native sedges.

Woodland sedge

woodland sedge

Woodland sedge (Carex flaccosperma) is another very attractive native sedge with relatively wide evergreen leaves. This southeastern native is especially valuable because its leaves have a very beautiful bluish green cast to them, making it unique among the commercially available native sedges. Sedges look great on their own or combined with other natives like American alumroot, green and gold, creeping phlox and small-to-medium-sized ferns like northern or southern
maidenhair fern.

Other Shade-Loving Native Perennials

Anemone (Hepatica americana)
Creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera, Phlox subulata) white or shades of pink/purple
Deciduous wild ginger (Asarum canadense)
Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia)
Geranium (Geranium maculatum)
Great blue lobella (Lobelia siphilitica)
Green and gold (Chrysogonum virginianum)
Indian Pink (Spigelia marilandica)
Jack- ln-the-Pulplt (Arisaema triphyllum)
Jacob's ladder (Polemonium reptans)
Little heartleaf, Little brown jug (Hexastylis minor, Hexastylis arifolia)
Northern maidenhairfern (Adiantum pedatum)
Solomon's plume (Mianthemum racemosum)
Southern lady fern (Athyrium asplenoides)
southern maidenhair fern (Adiantum capillus-veneris)
White wood aster (Aster divaricata)
Woodland phox (Phlox divaricata)
Woodland stonecrop (Sedum ternatum)

Native Shrubs for Shadier Gardens

Coastal leucothoe (Leucothoe axillaris) –short evergreen shrub good for foundation, needs morning sun
Flame azalea (Rhododendron.calendulaceum) Native azalea, shades of yellow
Florida anise (Illicium floridanum) –evergreen, good for back of border and hedges
Florida flame azalea (Rhododendron.austrinum)—Native azalea with yellow blooms in early spring
Florida hobblebush (Agarista populifolia)—evergreen, good for back of border and hedges
Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia) Evergreen with white to pink flowers
Oak- leaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) –prefers morning sun for great blooms
Piedmont azalea (Rhododendron canescens) –Native azalea pink blooms in early spring
Plum-leaf azalea (R.prunifolium)—Native azalea with red blooms July – Aug
Spicebush (Lindera benzoin) yellow flowers early spring, needs consistent moisture
Smooth Hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) e.g. Annabelle –part shade to part sun
Sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia)—great in a wet area of your garden. Both short and taller cultivars.

Native Perennials For Sunny Sites

Whether your idea of sunny perennial gardening involves a very small planting along the sidewalk or a full blown perennial bed that blooms from spring to fall, native plants fit the bill. The basis of wildflower gardening in sunny situations is the same in any case: six to eight hours of direct sunlight, soil that is enriched with organic material and adequate moisture during dry periods. Sun-loving plants that don't see sufficient light tend to be uncharacteristically lanky. As they stretch for the light, they are much more likely to flop in the wind and rain. Remember that plants are very strongly oriented toward the light, and their flowers almost always face the sun. Place your native perennial bed where the flowers will be facing the direction from which they will be viewed most often.

To grow healthy perennials, you must provide healthy soil. When starting a new sunny native perennial bed, it is important to add organic material in the form of rotten leaves, compost, topsoil or other amendments that are rich in organic material. This kind of organic material increases soil fertility and attracts a multitude of beneficial soil organisms. It also acts like a sponge that can retain moisture and make it available to the roots of your plants during dry periods. Here is a sampling of some of the many garden-worthy, sun-loving native wildflowers.

Asters

Peachies Pick

Few perennials are easier to grow and more beautiful than the ones we call asters. There are a variety of species of showy native asters that differ in their color, their bloom time, and their height making the asters some of the more versatile native perennials available. Some like Peachies Pick, light lavender aster, (Stokesia laevis) bloom from late spring through summer whereas others like Bluebird (Symphyotrichum laevis) and Purple Dome (Sympyotrichum novae-angliae) both dark purple and both bloom in fall. Bluebird is up to 3’ tall and Purple Dome under 2’. Once established, asters are drought tolerant and too much water is their main enemy.

Blue wild indigo

blue wild indigo

Blue wild indigo (Baptisia australis)

Beautiful flowers, attractive foliage and longevity all recommend this very Alabama native wildflower. Spikes of bluish purple flowers rise above the foliage and bloom in mid-to late May. Pealike flowers attract the attention of our native bumblebees, which are the primary pollinators of these beautiful blooms. The durable and attractive trifoliate leaves have a definite blue green color. Not only do they make a perfect background for the flowers, but they also give the plant a dense, rounded shape that is very attractive the entire growing season.

One of the longest lived of all perennials; blue wild indigo is also one of the easiest to grow. All that it asks is to be planted in a sunny site and be given a year or two to settle in before it returns the favor with beautiful flowers and attractive foliage. Other garden-worthy Baptisias include white wild indigo (Baptisia alba), yellow wild indigo (Baptisia spherocarpa), and the beautiful hybrid

Blazing Star

Blazing Star (Liatris spicata)

A beautiful addition to anyplace in your garden, blazing star sends up 3-4’ spikes covered in purple or white flowers in summer. It is easy to grow and attracts butterflies, hummingbirds and bumble bees.

blazing star

Purple Coneflower

purple cone flower

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

A real workhorse for our southern gardens, echinaceas bloom in summer and now can be found in a variety of colors from purple to pink to white, yellow and orange. Depending on the cultivar they can get from 2’ to 3.5’ tall and thrive in poor, unamended soil. In fact, for these
beauties, rich “good” soil can make them short lived.

Rough leaf goldenrod "Fireworks”

goldenrod

Rough leaf goldenrod (Solidago rugosa) "Fireworks”

This is a stunning fall blooming perennial and the cultivar “Fireworks” is well behaved. Refreshingly graceful for a goldenrod, "Fireworks" forms delicate arching sprays of flowers interwoven into a netted yellow dome when it reaches maturity. The general form of this outstanding named variety of goldenrod is reminiscent of the golden spidery arms radiating from exploding aerial fire· works, expressed in delicate flowers sparks. "Fireworks" forms a tight, spreading clump of evergreen foliage and can grow 3 or 4 feet tall. It is one of the most deservedly popular new native selected perennials on the market today. Easy and fast to grow, graceful and very durable, "Fireworks" deserves a place in every sunny fall border.

Butterfly Milkweed

butterfly milkweed

Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)

Clusters of bright orange flowers bloom on butterfly milkweed in the early summer. This very durable wildflower also attracts monarch butterflies which sip nectar and lay their eggs on the foliage. Butterfly milkweed is 8 to 12 inches tall and usually has dark green lance-shaped leaves that exude a sticky, milky sap when damaged. Thick, fleshy roots enable butterfly milkweed to survive dry conditions in the wild, but it is equally at home in the wildflower border.  Fleshy roots are an excellent survival strategy (on dry sites, but they also make this native wildflower difficult to transplant once established in the garden. It prefers to stay put once planted. The front of the wildflower border is the best place for this tough and beautiful native. It looks best when grown in combination with thread-leaf coreopsis, purple coneflower and lance-leaf coreopsis. Butterfly milkweed is usually late to begin growing in the spring and it is a good idea to mark its location so as to prevent accidentally digging it up or planting something on top of it.

Other Native Perennials for Sunny Sites

Blue Star (Amsonia tabernaemontana)
Beard tongue (Penstemon digitalis) "Husker Red"
Bee balm (Monarda fistulosa, Monarda braburiana)
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida Goldstrum)
Blazing star (Liatris spicata)
Boltonia (Boltonia asteroides "Snowbank")
Climbing aster (Aster carolinianus)
Culver’s root (Veronicastrum virginicum)
False Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides) Summer Nights, Summer Sun
Garden Phox (Phox paniculata) David—white, others purple
Ironweed (Vernonia gigantea)
Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium purpureum, Eutrochium maculatum)
Lance-leaf coreopsls (Coreopsis lanceolata) Mouse Ear (Coreopis auriculata)
Lantana urticoides Hayek
Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
Pink (Silence virginica, Silene caroliniana)
Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium)
Rose mallow (Hibiscus coccineus, Hibiscus moscheutos)
Stoke's aster (Stokesia laevis)
Swamp sunflower (Helianthus angustifolius)
Thread- leaf coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata) "Zagreb", “Moonbeam”

Native Grasses for Sunny Sites

Bushy bluestem (Andropogon glomeratus)
Muhly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris)
Little bluestem (Schizachy scoparium "The Blues")
Switch grass (Panicum virgatum “Dallas Blues,” "Heavy Metal")

Resources

Petals From the Past

Many of the plants in this booklet are referenced in the these web sites:

• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, wildflower.org
• Alabama Plants, alabamaplants.com
• North Carolina Botanical Garden at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, ncbg.unc.edu
• MT Laurel Garden Club mtgardengroup.blogspot.com
• Dunnavant Valley Greenway Trail, dvgblogspot.blogspot.com
• Mt Laurel Arboretum (Shade Plants section)
• Mt Laurel Community Garden (Sunny Plants section)
• Birmingham Botanical Gardens  bbgardens.org
• Alabama Wildflower Society  alwildflowers.org

Where to Buy Native Plants

· Petals from the Past—petalsfromthepast.com
16034 Co Road 29, Jemison, AL 35085.
info@petalsfromthepast.com, 205-646-0069

· Mulberry Woods, 330 Warrior Trail, Hayden, AL 35079

· Biophilia Native Nursery,  biophilia.net,12695 C.R. 95, Elberta, Alabama 36530, 251-987-1200

· Birmingham Botanical Gardens —Spring and Fall
Sales a wonderful place for plants.