Go Native: Plant for Wildlife in Your Backyard

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Making sure your new plants are indigenous to our region can help assure their beauty, and their role as hosts.

Every spring my mailbox is brimming with seed and plant catalogs. Brilliantly colored annuals and perennials, textured grasses and shapely succulents, dense shrubs and meandering vines, and generational evergreens and trees all want a place in my yard. 

So how do I choose? This year citizen science will be my guide. I’ll select plants that are native to the local area because they will be the most successful. And, there’s a terrific benefit—they create bug- and bird-friendly environments; healthy mini-ecosystems right in our own backyards.

Talking to the experts

“For a homeowner to achieve satisfaction with native plants, they must become a student of the landscape,” says Richard Ledford, Certified American Tree Farmer and retired agriscience instructor. For the past 30 years, he’s operated his woodland tract under the best practices of a forestry plan. “Stewardship [even in suburban yards] protects and fosters wildlife while conserving water and soil resources.”

So prior to placing an order from the catalogs or running to the store, Tracie Jeffries (biology instructor at Catawba Valley Community College) says, “Plan! Plan! Plan! What is your USDA Hardiness Zone? (Simply enter your zip code on the USDA website.) What type of soil do you have? (Local agricultural extension offices have information on soil testing kits.) Is the soil well-drained? Is your property sunny, heavily shaded, or a mix? What are the measurements of the area you’ll be planting?”

For yard preparation, Lori McAlister, co-owner and grower at Tennessee Naturescapes native plant nursery, says, “Try to eliminate the invasive species like Bradford pear, privet, bush and vine non-native honeysuckle, and burning bush. The ones with berries are the worst since the seeds are readily spread.”

“Then, with a bit of research online, at the library, or at local botanical gardens, arboretums, and nurseries, you can develop your native plant lists,” continues Jeffries. “When purchasing, try to avoid the large chain stores. Many of their ‘native’ plants are look-alikes, and might even be harmful to pollinators by carrying parasites or blooming late (causing critical delays in lifecycle events, such as Monarch migration). Another example of why ‘native’ is superior is the popular and non-native Butterfly Bush (Buddleja davidii). It provides nectar for only a few species of insects and is not used as a host plant for native larvae. The native milkweed, however, supports over 400 different insect species as a food source and/or host plant.”

Let’s Plant Native

Blue Ridge hardiness zones are mostly 6a, 6b, 7a, and 7b with some fives in the upper elevations. To begin the transformation of your backyard into a haven for birds, bees and butterflies, our local experts offer the following suggestions for these zones. For your specific property, visit the Native Plant Database at Audubon.org for lists of plants, their attributes, ideal growing conditions, and the critters that love them.

Annuals

• Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta). Blooms from June to October. Seeds for birds, nectar for insects.

• Purple Phacelia (Phacelia bipinnatifida). Biennial. Blooms March to June. Special value to native bees.

Perennials

• Orange and Green-Head Coneflowers (Rudbeckia fulgida and Rudbeckia laciniata). Blooms throughout summer. Attractive to birds, butterflies, and caterpillars.

• Virginia Mountain-Mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum). Blooms July and August. Especially valuable to butterflies and bees.

• Sweet William (Phlox divaricata). Blooms early summer. Nectar for butterflies and hummingbirds.

• Sweet-Scented Joe-Pye-Weed (Eutrochium purpureum). Vanilla-scented blooms mid-summer through fall with winter seed heads. Beneficial for butterflies, caterpillars, and birds.

• Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis). Blooms bright red mid-summer to early fall. Hummingbird favorite.

• Anise-Scented Goldenrod (Solidago odora). Blooms mid-summer to early fall. Of particular value to native honey bees.

• Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa). Blooms May to September. Nectar for butterflies and hummingbirds; larval host for several species including Monarchs.

• Beebalm (Monarda fistulosa). Blooms May to September. Nectar source for birds, bees and butterflies.

• Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus). Blooms late summer into fall. Seed heads for birds; special value to bees; cover foliage.

END OF PREVIEW

The excerpt above is a preview from our March/April 2019 issue. For the rest – including tips on evergreens, grasses, succulents, trees, shrubs and vines – subscribe today or log in to the digital edition with your active digital subscription.