(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Gardening With a Purpose: Going Native [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-01-04 Native Yellow-faced Bumble Bee collecting pollen on a California Poppy flower In 2022, I began to transform my small urban yard – just a tenth of an acre in size – from mostly grass to wildlife habitat in response to Doug Tallamy’s call to create a Homegrown National Park. https://homegrownnationalpark.org/tallamys-hub-1 I knew that meant I should replace lawn with plants endemic to my region, the Pacific Northwest. But, how to do that? Deciding which native plants to add to my yard, and then finding where to get them, was not so easy. I spent much time agonizing over what to plant. Not only did I have to figure out what would fit in my space – no super tall trees! – I had to consider the soil – clay, rocky, acid or alkaline, organic content; drainage – fast, medium or slow; and daily light level – full sun (six hours or more of direct sunlight), part sun/part shade (4-6 hours), or full shade (< 4 hours) for each part of the yard. I went to several websites for guidance on which plants to choose. - The National Wildlife Foundation has a native plant finder based on zip code. This site lists how many, and which, species of butterflies and moths use each plant as a caterpillar host. https://nwf.org/NativePlantFinder/ - Calscape lists plants native to California and the West Coast. The site provides known and suspected species of butterflies and moths hosted, as well as the plant’s growth habits and requirements – size at maturity, soil type, sunlight and water needs, and how easy it is to grow. https://www.calscape.org/ - The Xerces Society, dedicated to protecting native pollinators, especially bees, has a resource guide listing native plants providing nectar and pollen for specific regions of the United States: https://xerces.org/pollinator-resource-center - I found Gardenia.net useful. Although this site covers both native and non-native garden plants, it does give information on growing specific native plants, and on how the plant nurtures wildlife. https://www.gardenia.net/ Now I had to find a source for Northwest natives. Tallamy’s website offers links to nurseries that sell native species, although these cluster mainly in the eastern United States. I saw only two companies providing native plants for the West Coast. https://homegrownnationalpark.org/purchasing-native-plants/ There is a more comprehensive listing of native plant nurseries by state or region in the National Native Plant Nursery Directory: https://plantnative.org/national_nursery_dir_main.htm The native plant nursery closest to me was not even listed on the plantnative.org site! Fortunately, the company has a large inventory of native trees, shrubs, grasses, perennials, grasses and groundcovers. They will even deliver plants to my house for a small fee! Most gardeners should be able to locate nurseries providing native species in their area. A friend of mine in South Carolina says she knows three sources of native plants within a short drive of her home. For perennial flowering plants, seeds are definitely an option. - American Meadows sells lots of wildflower seeds, including many native perennials. https://www.americanmeadows.com/ You can find seeds for specific native plants from many sources. I bought a packet of California poppy seeds and had great success in the first year. So, what else did I plant in my yard? A landscaping company removed all the grass in the side yard, and put in a stone path, a trellis, and good garden soil. They also removed grass from part of the front lawn and planted serviceberry trees (which don’t get very big) in the side and front. From my local native plant nursery, I ordered shrubs and perennials, including red flowering currant, ocean spray, evergreen huckleberry, orange honeysuckle, asters, pearly everlasting, checkermallows, common yarrow, violets, and western columbine. From commercial nurseries I added non-native sources of nectar and pollen for bees and butterflies: lavenders, catmint, speedwell, Russian sage, and bee balm. This year I am determined to take out more lawn myself, and add more native plants. Goldenrod, kinnikinnick (a groundcover in the heath family), and maybe a willow – all of which provide nectar or pollen and host many butterfly and moth species - are on the top of the list. In the meantime, I am looking forward to spring blooms and watching birds, bees and butterflies come to my little eco-habitat this summer. Happy native gardening! [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/4/2145370/-Gardening-With-a-Purpose-Going-Native Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/