Buying your weeds: Mistakes Beginning Gardeners make Part 7
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- techwrit
- Carol Wallace
- AmberH
- Carol Wallace
- Diana_Pederson
- TravisS
- Carol Wallace
- AmberH
- Diana_Pederson
- AmberH
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» techwrit - I have also been mystified by this aberrant behavior. Why do peo
I have also been mystified by this aberrant behavior. Why do people buy the very same plants that may be flourishing in abandoned sites. Many times you can save plants when they demolish an old building. All you have to do is ask. Recyle these plants!
-- posted by techwrit
» Carol Wallace - Recycling plants--what a great term! And you'd be amazed what i
Recycling plants--what a great term! And you'd be amazed what is out there to recycle. As you say, Ellen, a lot of abandoned houses and buildings have wonderful plants that are doomed to extinction unless someone rescues them. When a new development comes in, the bulldozers roll in and thousands of native plants are destroyed. It's not hard to get permission to go in and save these. Unlike collecting from the wild, where digging the plant could lead to its extinction, this is actually rescuing things from certain doom. And there are other ways to recycle plants and save money in the process. Watch what happens in municipal gardens when the spring bulb foliage starts to yellow. It usually goes to the dumpster. Rename your house "The Dumpster" and get a free spring garden. Carol(virtually gardening)-- posted by Carol Wallace
» AmberH - Wonderful article Carol! As a nursery owner I can attest to the
Wonderful article Carol! As a nursery owner I can attest to the fact that you are absolutely, one-hundred percent correct! I sell scads of several plants that are native here and given half a chance to grow are probably in nearly everyone's yard if they would let it grow up a little instead of spraying it or mowing it off. In fact, many of them I've quit propagating on purpose. I just dig up the seedlings, rinse off the garden soil and pot them up for sale. In the fields behind my home that are laying fallow in a crop rotation program, much sought after wild plants abound. I can walk out in the field and dig up the very same plants that I have for sale in pots. Don't get me wrong, I don't go collecting from the wild, just my yard and the fields that are scheduled to be plowed under anyway. Off the top of my head, we have the following wildflowers "weeds" growing in our yard and ditches:Achillea millefolium (wild yarrow),
Eupatorium coelistinum (hardy ageratum),
Helianthemum flexuosum (Helen's Flower),
Rudbeckia missiouriensis (An endangered Black-Eyed Susan), Rudbeckia hirta (Common Black-Eyed Susan) Echinacea purpurea, angustifolia and paradoxa (Purple and Yellow Coneflowers) Ratibida pinnata (Prairie Coneflower) Liatris spicata, pycnostachya and aspera (Blazing Star/Gary Feather) Baptisia leucantha (White False Indigo), Euphorbia corrolata (False Baby's Breath), Cephalanthus occidentalis (Buttonbush), Lobelia cardinalis and siphilitica (Cardinal Flowers)(Although I think I may have re-introduced these, Antennaria parviflora and plantagiana (Pussytoes), Tradescantia virginiana and ohioensis (Spiderworts), Polygonatum commutatum (Solomon's Seal), Veronicastrum virginicum (Culver's Root), Potentilla recta and quinquefolia (which you should not ever let loose in the garden, but people ask me for them because I have them in my prairie plot), Asclepias tuberosa, incarnata, verticillata, viridis, and speciosa, (Milkweeds, but don't use that name when you sell them or people won't buy them), Helianthus mollis and maximilliana sp? (Perennial Sunflowers), Chrysanthemum leucanthemum (Ox-Eye Daisy) Aster nova-anglaea (New England Aster) Aster ptarmicoides, ericoides, laevis, etc, etc, there are at least two dozen native species, Oenothera fruticosa and biennis (Evening primroses), Sisyrinchium angustifolium (Blue-Eyed Grass), just to name a few, and I haven't even mentioned the shade lovers.
What really gets me is that I can sell dozens of these plants, but can't get anyone to help me rescue them. They are putting in water lines across the county out in the rural areas and ripping out thousands of native species and I have permission to dig as many as I can rescue. The same with a local reservoir project that begins construction this year. It is going to be a huge lake and it will take out several local woodlands chock full of wildflowers and a couple of nice little prairie areas. But people either don't know that what they are missing or are just too busy and would rather buy things in pots. Or?? - I'm afraid I'll never quite understand it.
I'll let you in on a little selling secret. Never tell them it's native to your area when your trying to sell a plant. People around here simply amaze me at what they will and won't buy depending on what I say. For example: If I say that plant is Solidago canadensis, famous in English border gardens I'll sell the plant, but if I tell the same customer that it is a native plant, or call it Golden Rod he/she will sniff and walk away. Another case for doing your own research before you go shopping I guess.
But it makes for good business I suppose. :-)
Amber
-- posted by AmberH
» Carol Wallace - Amber, Your "weed patch" sounds magnificent! I have two areas t
Amber, Your "weed patch" sounds magnificent! I have two areas that I have let go wild, but they haven't shown nearly as diverse an assortment as yours. Lots of yarrow and ox-eye daisies. Potentilla, asclepias and some asters is about it. And a ton of orange daylilies.Have you ever read "Noah's Garden"? I read that, and am now reading the sequal, "Planting Noah's Garden" and believe me--after reading those, and seeing what wonders a garden made up of native plants can produce in the way of wildlife, color and beauty, I would probably be the first to volunteer to help you save those endangered plants. Maybe I need to do a review of those. I should have done it with this article, but haven't quite finished the second book. (Or maybe I shouldn't--wouldn't want to cut into your business. ;-) Carol (virtually gardening)
-- posted by Carol Wallace
» Diana_Pederson - You two must be very lucky. Those of us stuck in urban areas do
You two must be very lucky. Those of us stuck in urban areas don't have the places to go and just dig up wild plants. We have to pay sometimes exorbiant prices for what you can get for free. Maybe, I'll ask my neighbor to go exploring the tiny woodlot next to our complex and see what we can "dig" up.Diana Pederson
Indoor Gardening Editor
-- posted by Diana_Pederson
» TravisS - Up here in western Washington it can be hard to find natives...
Up here in western Washington it can be hard to find natives... in the wild. So I'm glad, Carol, you added the caveat about not advocating gathering them from native habitats.The worst feral invaders of our lawns and gardens, though, aren't native plants; it's the escaped exotics like Hedera helix (English Ivy) and Himalaya blackberry. The only really bad native I can think of right now is Equisetum (Horsetail), species of which are native to most places I believe.
I do like the bronze Ajuga reptans growing in my lawn, however; so I'm not consistent!
Travis Saling
Contributing Editor, Vegetable Gardening
-- posted by TravisS
» Carol Wallace - We've got that blackberry, too! It seems to pop up everywhere. I
We've got that blackberry, too! It seems to pop up everywhere. In one garden I attempted it got so bad I went out and pulled every day, and finally had to abandon the whole plot. Now I basically settle for cutting it to the ground to make sure it doesn't fruit and seed any more.I can't say strongly enough how bad it would be to collect from the wild. It may seem like there are plenty of plants there to go along--but that kind of thinking has led to a lot of endangered species. All too often what we carry home won't be as happy as it is in its native habitat and just dies. It's worth attempting to grow these plants if a bulldozer is going to wipe them out anyway--but not if they are happily growing in the woods and wilds. Carol (virtually gardening)
-- posted by Carol Wallace
» AmberH - Write to your heart's content Carol! I suppose it's not very bus
Write to your heart's content Carol! I suppose it's not very business-like, but I'd just as soon plants scheduled for bulldozing find homes in someones gardens. There are plenty of things for me to sell. Besides, most people that shop here at my nursery don't want to read about plants, they don't even want me to use the "high-fallutin" botanical names when I'm talking. I don't think you could hurt my business by writing about it. Besides, there are always people in other locations and across the ocean that are just itching to get their hands on our native species. The grass is always greener...Diana you don't live too far from me. If you ever decide to visit Illinois, look me up and bring your spade. We'll go plant hunting in my back yard. :-)
Amber
-- posted by AmberH
» Diana_Pederson - I just may take you up on that. How far are you from Chicago Bo
I just may take you up on that. How far are you from Chicago Botanical Gardens? If I can scrape together some money, I may be down in August.Diana Pederson
Indoor Gardening Editor
-- posted by Diana_Pederson
» AmberH - Diana, we're about 6 hours south of Chicago. Due South on Rt 57.
Diana, we're about 6 hours south of Chicago. Due South on Rt 57. But don't let the distance put you off, we'll load you up with plants while you're here. The offer is genuine if you decide to make the drive. :-)Grow well
Amber
-- posted by AmberH
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