COUNTY LAKE LIFE | Water + Nature Health
The Hype About
Native Plants by Pam Schumm, WACF Education Officer
We’ve heard it for a few years now: “Plant natives!” My questions in response were: ‘How am I going to do that in my wellmanicured garden? And, won’t it look weedy?’ Perhaps you wondered the same. The short answer? No, it needn’t look weedy. Woodland Stonecrop
The longer answer explains that it takes some planning and research to achieve the desired look.
Purple Coneflower
stem indicates it’s in the mint family, so it’s a spreading plant with great purple and pink flowers. Cinnamon fern (Osmunda cinnamomea) and columbine (Aquilegia Canadensis) love the shadier areas of gardens.
Bee Balm
Need something a lot shorter, with a 3-inch ground cover? Try woodland stonecrop (sedum ternatum). This variety is a cute little sedum with white flowers in shade to part shade.
Size + Sun Wild Geranium
First, we need to find plants that are the right size for the beds, and we need to be attentive to how much sun the beds receive during the day. Sunny beds can accommodate taller varieties of natives like purple coneflower (echinacea purpurea or pallida) which not only provides flowers all summer long and is great for cutting, but it also feeds the birds in the winter. Another sun-lover is the wild geranium (geranium maculatum), a ground cover that blooms nearly all summer long. This plant has a maximum height of about 8 inches so it plays well with lower-growing plants in the garden.
Columbine
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LAKElife Magazine May 2021
If you want to attract bees and butterflies try bee balm (monarda fistulosa). Its square
Cinnamon Fern
Do your research before buying a native plant as certain species are truly native while others have been cultivated. A great source is INPAWS.org (Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society). Or, look for nurseries with a special section just for native plants.
