If it is a natural area, please DO NOT spread seeds willy nilly. You will likely introduce invasive non native weeds that may spread and choke out the native plants. There are few native plants for wet, dense shade that bloom in the summer. A number of wetland plants bloom in the spring before the trees leaf out. Trillium, mayapple and marsh marigold are some. Some native orchids may bloom in early summer. Ferns, false solomon's seal, baneberry, blue cohosh, wild currant and other leafy plants will provide texture and various shades of green, short lived white flowers and colourful berries. Watch the area and learn to appreciate the subtle beauty of a native wetland. Birds, bugs, butterflies provide interest and they feed on native plants. Lillies are a bad idea. First of all, both daylillies and bulb lillies are non native and do not belong. Secondly, they require light and will not grow well in dense shade. If you do want to add plants, please get permission from the landowner. If it is a conservation area or park, they may be happy to supply you with suitable plants if you do the work of planting. Finally, check out Lorraine Johnson's books (The Ontario Naturalized Garden, 100 Native plants) for lists of native plants suitable for damp shade.

Great pics, folks! The Sabal Minor is one of my favorites as well. They grow down here in the wild... I have some growing from wild stock as well as some other varieties. venezuela: Sabal Minors usually grow in the wetlands, but they will do just fine in your yard as well. I have several out in full sun, in sandy soil and they grow like rockets. I water them well and keep them well fed... they don't really need any more care than most other palms, but they do tend to grow faster with more water from what I have seen. Here's a wild one growing in Central Florida: I've seen much larger ones, but I only have a few pics of some growing out on a trail that I walked down a couple years back. There were lots of others, all about the same size or smaller.

Invasive Plants forum....YES!!! I wrote an email to Gardenweb forum staff just the other day to suggest this. Keeping each other informed about invasive species, and through us, possibly public officials, has a "higher purpose" than just our own backyards. It would be wonderful if we could make more informed choices and hopefully stop the spread of some of the more pernicious offenders. If only communication possibilities like this had existed years ago, perhaps our natural areas wouldn't be severely degraded by the likes of Japanese honeysuckle, bush honeysuckle and kudzu. While I agree that many problems are regional, I think it would be important to be aware of what is invasive and "on the march" in regions other than one's own, and because of global warming/climate change, particularly to the south. Is kudzu headed my direction? I want to know well in advance. An Invasive Plants forum would also help facilitate dialogue on best practices in eliminating non-native invasives, as Gardenweb members could offer each other advice and success stories. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I believe it is almost irresponsible to NOT have an Invasive Plants forum on the Gardenweb site. There are plants that may be encouraged by those with no idea that it is an invasive, or worse, those who know and don't care.

The only instance I can think of where I would side with the litigators is in a situation where there is a prepurchase agreement that lawn/landscaping follow certain guidelines. If you choose to move into a community that has rules about property upkeep then I think you are obligated to follow those bylaws. And this is strictly in regards to the yard area, not issues with the general upkeep of the house itself. There is a very large house which was built around the turn of the century in a town about 30 minutes from here. This property takes up most of a city block and it recently sold after sitting empty for several years. Well,during the last few years, every time I went by there I noticed flags and markers around certain trees and things getting shuffled around outside, and all the while I realized there was less and less lawn. At first it looked like complete chaos and that the new owners were just slobby, especially since the house itself never had work done on it that I could see. Then recently I took a closer look as I drove by and it dawned on me that they were in the process of naturalizing the place. There are now lots of shade loving plants and wildflowers and the old hedge with its artificially pruned shapes is gone and replaced with low native shrubs. It has the beginnings of a stratified forest-type setting, with layers of growth. And the funny thing is that every time I have had someone with me in the passenger seat, there is usually a comment about how the people have "let the property go to pot". Strange how trees and trumpet creeper and anything other than neat carpet from a sod farm is seen as undesirable and ugly. No, there's no sacks of garbage spilling over onto the sidewalk, no broken bottles in the grass or peeling paint on the walls, but it's still trashy?