We had a nandina show up, too. I think it must have been from birds scattering the berries. Anyway, I've never been a big fan of nandina either, but that one just seemed to fall from the heavens. So I did the only logical thing a gardener can do...I went and bought a couple more nandinas to keep it company! :)

Last year I noticed spiderwort blooming during my early morning walks. I've read the horror stories about its invasiveness, but I've watched it closely for the past year and 1/2 and it's only made two nice size clumps so I've let it stay so far. Hope I don't regret that in the future.

I'd love to have the extension office people out here to show me what might be a desirable native and what needs to go before we clear behind our wet weather creek. Hmmmm. Maybe I'll call them today for an appointment.

I usually let them stay, since I live on an old farmstead out in the country (5 acres) I get a lot of them. The one I am constantly pulling is called Harebell. While I like it, if left to it's own devices it will take over! I do let it grow along the edges of the yard, and in the tree line though.

Jenny P

I have a pot sitting in my stream with an iris pallida in it. Been there for a year. Right now, there is this huge cattail growing out of the pot! Our stream is manmade and we don't ahve cattails. There are ponds in the neighborhood...but how did it happen to get in that one pot in our stream? Go figure! LOL

We're trying to decide what to do with it.

Cameron

I have lots of wild flowers on the property, and bushes, too. I leave a lot of them be. However, as been mentioned, some of them will take over if not managed. I've learned to pull the spent plants and burn them to cut down on how many seeds get spread. The ones I can identify are asters, globe mallow, desert primrose, spectable pod, broom dalea, yucca glauca and salt bush.

Lorna

Virginia Creeper grows wild just beyond our fence line, and I don't know if there is anyway to control it once it gets a foothold. Plus, it grows incredibly fast!

I've learned to accept and live with it. I believe one great thing it's doing is choking out poison ivy since I haven't noticed nearly the amount we used to have.

Marilyn

I tend to let the natives into the garden - many of them are beautiful. The one thing I could so without though, is the sumac - it is all through my lawn!!

Nancy.

I let sassafras and sparkleberry and paw paw stay when they venture around the edges.

I'd have let the ladies tresses stay, if they'd lasted more than the one season they showed up.
I moved sisyrinchium from pasture's edge; it's a permanent little iris like edging.

Ebony spleenwort ferns have planted themselves here and there, welcome plants.

Nell

I let the natives stay but most don't seed because my beds are too well amended and irrigated for them. I live on the northern slopes of the San Gabriels with the High Desert spreading out below me. It's mostly native oaks, pinon pine, juniper, sages, chaparral and loads of spring wild flowers, things that thrive on little summer water and will even die with too much water. The CA. poppies are an exception. They reseed everywhere and are easy to transplant if done when small. They don't mind the amended beds, despite what most of the native gurus say. I love them and consider them a must in a CA. cottage garden. : )

I have 5 acres and leave most of it native. I am slowly converting most of my back beds to native and drought tolerant plants. I find I really like transitioning from the more lush and traditional garden in front and on the sides of the house to the less thirsty gardens in back. Kind of like having the best of both worlds.

Bama, I notice spiderwort seems to be more of a problem in areas with lots of rain. It is a very well contained plant in my gardens. It does sulk a bit when it gets hot but bounces right back with some water and cooler temps. I love the deep purple color of its blooms!

Diana

I had hoped this Thread would have more discussion of natives -- and what's introduced, not really native.

Spiderwort is a thug, but can be managed to good effect in a large garden.
I use it as an edger on the back side of an island bed and cut it to the ground when it looks ratty.
Mrs. Coppinger, one of my garden gurus, says thugs are not bad if you keep a shovel handy.

Nell

Here is a link that might be useful: More than you want to know about Nandina -- skip to last paragraph.

I love wildflowers and in fact did my best to recreate a prairie meadow right in the median between my neighbor's house and mine. It certainly is very different and has attracted a lot of attention.

Here are a few natives I've allowed to stay where they planted themselves. The first is a Four-wing Salt Bush, which will soon burst into flower. The long-lasting flowers look much like Bells of Ireland, but are a light mustard yellow color.

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I don't know what this yellow flowered wild flower is. I was afraid to pull out the other plant in case the roots were too entertwined.

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These are wild asters. They will be covered in hundreds of small purple blooms come fall. I have volunteer groups of these all over the driveway and house yard. I've been watering these.

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This is Spectacle Pod. If I water them, they become bushy. This one is young yet.

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I also have a lot of Snakeweed, which I like very much. I didn't get a photo, because they are all too immature yet to show their true beauty.
Lorna

I have a few big, beautiful mullein plants (with pink rather than yellow flowers - something I hadn't seen before) I've let set up shop in my perennial border.

Interesting point, Nell. Maybe what I'm assuming are natives really are not. Could you please define "native" for me? And do you know where I could find more information on what would be considered natives for my area?

Thanks,
Mary

Mary, native plants in a particular area are those that were growing naturally in the area
before humans introduced plants from distant places outside the country.

Many exotics (plants from some other country) have established themselves and are mistaken for natives.
Examples are the orange daylily called 'ditch lilies' by some, and Japanese honeysuckle.
There are many lists online of plants that have escaped cultivation and now considered invasives in some areas.

I'm embarrassed to admit I've forgotten which zone 7 state you live in, so I'm attaching a link that has links to Native Plant societies in all states.
Funny, the part of Georgia in which I live is so different to the part nearer Atlanta that the GA Native Plant Society has given us to North Florida.

Nell

Here is a link that might be useful: Native Plant Societies

I leave any little wilding that blooms in blue.
Two little ones in spring:
Venus's Looking Glass (Specularia perfoliata)
Blue Toadflax (Linaria candensis)
Blue Curls (Trichostema dichotomum) blooms August to frost.

I'm in Mississippi, Nell. Thanks for the link. I have another question. I'm in the process of doing my research about what bulbs will work here so I can go ahead and order them now. I keep running across references to heirloom bulbs. Does heirloom mean the same for bulbs that native does for plants?

Thanks,
Mary

Mary, heirloom means old-fashioned, as in before people began hybridizing. Over the years many vegetables, fruits and flowers have been changed a great deal through hybridization--scientific intervention.

Heirlooms are usually very sturdy varieties and may look, smell, and taste, quite different from what modern people have become accustomed to. You can get an idea of what I mean by looking up heirloomseeds.com Check out, for instance, the heirloom varieties of tomatoes and squash and you will see that they look quite different from modern varieties.

Lorna

Heirloom bulbs are the old, old bulbs that were planted at old homeplaces many years ago and are being 'rescued' by various people. They are considered 'naturalized' but are not native.

They are frequently cultivars that are no longer imported from the Dutch bulb companies. Some people collect and plant them for that reason.

Heirloom bulbs tend to be really sturdy, by virtue of having survived for decades in a particular environment. On the other hand, many old, dependable cultivars are still being imported by bulb merchants.

It's a good time to make lists of fall-planted bulbs while it's too hot to go outside, and not too early to start to order. I have trouble getting past the tulips in the catalogs to the pages of bulbs that I know will return when planted here, LOL.

Nell

Thank you, Lorna and Nell. I think I'm going to give preference to heirloom bulbs. I enjoyed looking at that website heirloomseeds.com, Lorna. I love the names of some of the plants, such as Kiss Me Over the Garden Gate and Love Lies Bleeding. I may have to start a thread about plants with descriptive names, because I sure would love to see pictures, too.

Mary