Back in the 70's we lived in Grand Junction, CO. The valley there is bordered on the east by the Grand Mesa, a large, flat-topped mountain. On the northwest corner of this mountain, just off the top on the slope, the winter snow drifts hang in the shape of a goose/swan type form. All the valley old-time gardeners AND serious crop farmers would tell anyone never to plant corn 'til the snowgoose was gone from the Mesa. My father-in-law followed this guideline religiously, and always had a great crop. This was a very localized example, to be sure, I would imagine there are others around the world.

Update- I planted a root from my fathers work. They ripped up a no id perennial flower that grows several feet high and spreads quickly. I also planted my tiger lily bubil/bulb form my Bubby's tiger lily produces on it's stem. The bulb is still just one leaf. Nothing exciting this year! Photos- The perennial tall no id flower root with small pink bud. Most of the root is underneath the soil. Here is a Black-eye-susan clump, easter lilies, small gladiolus (can't really see) in between lily and Peach/salmon coloured daylily. More Black-Eye-Susans, Virgina Spiderwort, White coloured iris. Yellow daylily & unknown coloured iris. Another Black-Eye-Susan clump with some daylily on the side. Just a few seedling hosta ventricosas. I have a ridiculous amount of these! Some clumps of pink and lavender tall garden phlox, bearded iris', and a daffodil dieing back. That's my mailbox I'm planting around. My new (from last night) columbine plant. Has some kind of borer or worm in a few of its leaves. View of plantings from across the street. You can barely see my plants. I hope the flowers will show up more than the plants do. T.J.

Kaylee: I will concur with the response so far and again emphasize that (1) it will be very helpful to note what zone you're gardening in; (2) I will second the suggestion to obtain and/or read the Michigan Gardener's Guide; (3) contact the folks at MSU or your local county extension service; and (4) visit some of the public gardens within the state, such as the Dow Gardens in Midland, the Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids; and a few others. In addition to the books noted in one response, I would also highly recommend the reading and/or purchase of both "The Fragrant Year"by Helen van Pelt Wilson & Leonie Bell and "Green Thoughts: A Writer in the Garden" by Eleanor Perenyi. The former is a little dated, but still one of the best books on fragrant plants in the garden and it is the only book that I've found to date that sensibly discusses the making of both the dry and moist form of pot-pourri. The later book is a gardening treasure and should be in every gardener's library. The chapter on "Failure" in a real gem and is a must read. The former book, "The Fragrant Year" is, unfortunately, out of print, but copies in excellent condition can be found at either abe.com or alibris.com - both excellent sources for books; the later book, "Green Thoughts" is still available in paperback, but hardbound copies can be found at either or the bookseller sites previously noted. In addition to these sources, I would highly recommend that you make use of the "PlantFinder" section of one of the most beautiful gardens in the Midwest - the Missouri Botanical Gardens in St. Louis, MO. The Meijer Garden pales in comparison! You can access their home web site at this address: http://www.mobot.org. and then search for their PlantFinder section. However, if you wish to have a direct link, I listed the PlantFinder link below. Once you arrive at this gem of a site, you can search by botanical names; by common names; you can search for plants in a particular zone and then for height, width, bloom time, foliage, suitable for butterflies, hummingbirds, etc. and so on and so forth. So that you and other reading this post will have an idea of what's there and what information can be obtain, I'll provide you with a few example below. One of the more interesting plants that I "discovered" while meandering through a rural, small, but exceptionally wonderful garden place north of Manistee was Geranium sanguineum 'Max Frei' What caught my eye was the color of the fall foliage on this plant. During my late spring through mid summers to this unique garden center, my eye's didn't note much of anything - mostly because, I suspect that the flower wasn't in bloom during my visits and/or had been deadheaded to produce additional bloom. Since this Geranium is hardy throughout all of Michigan, I decided to add it to our garden. Of course, this prompted a search for other varieties that had interesting fall colors and I found another variety and also added it to our garden. So for you and others reading this post, here's the link to Max Frei http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=B466 And here is the link to the other Geranium that I found, which also had a nice fall color, but is only hard to zone 4. Geranium sanguineum 'Album' http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=C880 The unique features of the "PlantFinder" section of the Missouri Botanical Garden came to fore a few weekends ago when Sue and I stayed at one of the most wonderful B & B we've "discovered" not to far from our neck of the woods. It the "Hoods in the Woods" B & B in the general Gaylord, MI area. Here's the link for those so interested. http://www.hoodsinthewoods.com/ In our visit/stay with this most interesting couple, we found out that they were originally from the State of Ohio where they grew a variety of roses and have been rather disappointed in not being able to grow roses in their neck of the woods due to the fact that they are essentially in zone 3/4 - confirm by the "fact" that when we arrived they still have a nice pile of snow that was about 4/5 or more feet tall and the lake/large pond on which they reside was still largely frozen over with only the edges having open water. So I introduced Jan to the PlantFinder section at the Missouri Botanical Garden, bookmarked it for her and briefly showed her how to search for plants suitable for a zone 3 area. She was amazed at what was available. Well, I do hope that this small dissertation is most useful in your gardening endeavors. Best wishes! Bill & Sue Here is a link that might be useful: PlantFinder Search page at the MBO

* Posted by: Sam_MD z7 MD on Sat, Jul 27, 02 The question "What is native?" comes up often. Since this is a garden forum, most gardeners approach this word very casually. Environmental plantings often have guidelines that are more strict. Restoration and reforestation work are likely to use only species historically found in that area. There is no single way to define native that suits every purpose. If you want to know about native flora in your state you might consult your state's flora or atlas. We have a 30 year old reference for Maryland that I use almost every day. For my purposes, I am not interested in species exclusively native to other areas of the country * Posted by: Waplummer Z5 NY on Sat, Jul 27, 02 Probably, strictly speaking, but not zealously so, to me a native plant is one which, although it may not occur in my county, occurs north east south and west of my location, i.e. it's natural range overlaps my particular latitude and longitude. I may use "native" to include plants which probably occurred here pre-glaciation, but were pushed south during the glacial periods. * Posted by: lrobins z6b MD on Sat, Aug 3, 02 I think there's an important point to be made about the East/West vs. North/South distribution of native plants (in the continental U.S.). As you go from East to West, there are several major climate zones / ecosystems. (1) Eastern deciduous forest (from coast approximately to Mississippi River). (2) Great plains (prairie). (3) Rocky Mountains. (4) Southwestern desert. (5) West coast. On the other hand, going from North to South, there aren't such distinct zones with geographic barriers, only a gradual incrase in average summer and winter temperature (without much change in average rainfall, at least in the eastern half). The result is, there are lots of eastern U.S. native plants that have a large North-to-South geographic range, perhaps from New England / Minnesota to Georgia / Texas. (There is likely some North-to-South genetic variation within each of these species.) But far fewer plants with a natural geographic range from East to West Coast. If you look at field guides to trees and wildflowers (I am looking at some Audubon guides now), there are almost always separate guides for "North America - eastern range" and "North American - western range". But **not** separate guides for "northern range" and "southern range". I conclude from this that if you live in Pennsylvania, your garden has a more southern microclimate (maybe next to a south-facing wall with little shade), and you have some eastern U.S. native plants that don't grow north of Virginia according to the official range maps, then it's reasonable to argue that these can be considered part of the "native habitat" in your microclimate. On the other hand, if you live in California, and grow mainly eastern U.S. plants whose natural range ends somewhere around the Mississippi River, then it's "stretching" to claim that you have a native plant garden. (To see that these distinctions aren't just arbitrary, it's important to look at the plants as part of a community of living species: insects, birds, mammals, soil organisms, with each species having its own native range.) * Posted by: Linda_8B on Sat, Aug 3, 02 In a general sense, any plant originally found growing in my state during the time before people (and their livestock) started actively importing plants..might be called natives. But you have to have common sense. A swamp plant isn't very appropriate in a very arid environment. An acid-loving azalea isn't very appropriate in a very alkaline environment (like my property). I live in a BIG state, with lots of different environments. There are lots of natives I can grow without daily watering or application of toxic chemicals and nonorganic fertilizers. I love to explore natural area parks, roadsides, etc., in my area and that way I can also see what environments the natives require. Adding a little bit of sand to a bed for sandy soil-loving plants is not a big deal, for example. Getting together with others who garden with natives in your area really helps you, plus some usually share what seeds and plants they have. * Posted by: NYC_Native z7a? NY on Sat, Jul 27, 02 In my garden I would like to use plants from other parts of the US. I can do this and still consider it a native-plants garden. What tempers my choices oftentimes is my soil, the relative humidity of NYC summers (mildew on leaves) and our current drought of 3 years. I help the new plants and those of the woodland variety but the others must make it on their own. .. If you type a plant's name (common or scientific) into Hortiplex (there's a link on the main page of each forum) and it has a link to "plants database" you can see a map of what states that plant is represented in. If a plant is a wetland plant there is a list of the regions and how that plant presents in wetlands (needs it or 50/50, e.g.)