Georgia Magazine - March 2010 - (Page 40)

Go native! Gardening with indigenous plants COURTESY OF SHERI GEORGE BY LYNN COULTER re you ready to “go native” this year? If you want a low-maintenance garden filled with beautiful plants that attract wildlife, your answer should be an enthusiastic “yes”! That’s because Georgia gardeners have so many wonderful, easyto-grow native plants available to them. “Native” simply means that a plant is indigenous, or it lives or occurs naturally in our area. Ellen Honeycutt, president of the Georgia Native Plant Society (GNPS), explains that some plants are native to large regions, like the Southeastern U.S., while others live in smaller areas, such as along the coast. Natives can be trees, shrubs, vines, ground covers or even the tiny wildflowers you see when hiking through Georgia’s woodlands. “They’re great choices,” says Honeycutt, who lives and gardens in Cherokee County, “because native plants are part of an entire ecosystem.” They provide food in the form of fruits, nuts and seeds for every- thing from insects to foxes and raccoons, while other natives offer shelter for wildlife, helping attract desirable butterflies and birds. Organic gardeners already know how useful Bloodroot, or Sanguinaria canadensis, opens its small native plants are since most white blossoms in early spring in Georgia’s woods. can be grown without using Each pretty, delicate flower has a golden-orange cenpotentially harmful chemi- ter, but beware, the plant’s roots and leaves have cals and fertilizers. Give sometimes been used for herbal cures, and they can them what they need, and prove toxic or even deadly. natives will reward you with years of carefree beauty. But what do landowners to transplant them from their property before heavy equipthey need? “It is always important to ‘site’ ment moves in. Finally, some native plants correctly,” says Honeycutt, plants have simply been crowded out who became convinced that growing and overgrown by the invasive, nonnatives was the right thing to do 10 natives we grow. If you’re ready to go native, read years ago. on for plant suggestions provided by “Put them in the place that best suits their natural conditions. I Honeycutt and the GNPS. You don’t encourage people to research plants have to uproot what you’re already to understand if they like sun, shade, growing; it’s easy to add to existing moist or average conditions. In plantings. “I know many people have Georgia, it is important to consider favorite plants,” Honeycutt says. the hot afternoon sun and to only “Gardenias are not native, but neither plant things that can handle full sun are they invasive; I have a couple in conditions there. Another my garden that bring back sweet consideration is organic memories when they bloom.” Just mulch, which helps retain make sure that whatever you add has moisture and keeps roots the same growing requirements as cool while slowly feeding what’s already there. the soil as it decomposes.” Growing native plants Recommended native plants for also gives us the satisfaction Georgia gardeners Trees: For deciduous trees, try of helping preserve plants white oak (Quercus alba); scarlet oak that might otherwise disappear, as unthinking hikers (Quercus coccinea); and red maple have dug from the wild and (Acer rubrum ‘October Glory’ is depleted natural popula- especially colorful, Honeycutt says). Rhododendron prunifolium, or native Plumleaf Azalea, tions. Others are threatened Other choices include American grows sparsely in the wild. Fortunately, it’s easy to proby overdevelopment. That’s beech (Fagus grandifolia), river birch pogate by seeds or cuttings from reputable nurseries why the GNPS often “res- (Betula nigra), serviceberry (Ameor mail-order sources.The orange to bright red flowcues” indigenous plants by lanchier sp.) and sourwood (Oxyers open in late summer. getting permission from dendrum arboretum). For evergreen www.georgiamagazine.org GEORGIA MAGAZINE COURTESY OF ELLEN HONEYCUTT http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - March 2010

Georgia Magazine - March 2010
Contents
Viewpoint
Mailbox
Picture This?
Georgia News
Calendar
Currents
Special Energy Report
Rising Stars
Surviving Well
Around Georgia
Georgia@Home
My Georgia
Georgia Gardens
Georgia Cooks
Light Weight Cooks
Cookbook of the Month
Snapshot

Georgia Magazine - March 2010