The New Natives

But not all American wisterias are equal when it comes to garden worthiness. 'Longwood Purple' flowers abundantly for me. The origins are lost but it was known to have been at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania since the 1950s. 'Amethyst Falls' flowers equally abundantly for me but about 10 days later and has lighter purple flowers. Both have been growing up my deck for years. I have not seen a seedling anywhere in my garden, and they have not pulled down the deck yet.

The native wisterias are remarkable in environmental tolerance. Kentucky wisteria (Wisteria macrostachya), grows from the bayous of Louisiana all the way to Minnesota, but if you want to be sure to get a good one for your climate, you should get a cultivar. Flowers are larger (18 inches) and more pendulous than those on American wisteria but still nothing compared to the four-foot chains of some oriental cultivars. Blue-flowered 'Aunt Dee' was found growing at the Bloomington Garden Center in Minnesota; it is Minnesota hardy. White-flowered 'Clara Mack' was spotted growing in a distinctly warmer garden near Columbia, South Carolina. Neither of these cultivars was found within the native range of Kentucky wisteria, but they had found their way to a new home. Gardeners recognized their merits and decided to share them.

Echinacea. A revolution is happening with the traditional coneflowers of commerce, Echinacea. Medicinal demand for this native genus have severely depleted natural populations of diverse species in the prairie states due to overcollecting. In other areas, habitat destruction has been consuming natural coneflower areas. Fortunately, many Echinaceas are good garden plants.

To be sure that every plant will look like every other, you need to work with clones. Some years ago nurserywoman Kim Hawks noticed some naturally dwarf coneflowers within a batch of Echinacea seedlings and kept working with them until she got a plant that was consistently shorter and flowered prolifically. In fertile soils, 'Kim's Knee High' may be thigh-high while some seedling Echinacea in my gardens have been taller than me in bloom (I am 6 ft. 2 in.) before they fell over. A few years later she and Sunny Border Nurseries introduced white-flowered Echinacea 'Kim's Mop Head'.

Pink and white flowers weren't enough for some gardeners and plant breeders. Dr. Jim Ault at Chicago Botanic Garden has been hybridizing multiple native Echinacea species for a decade. His first introduction, Orange Meadowbrite, has been described as true tangerine as well as blood-orange. In my garden, pink and orange sometimes appear in the same petal, and color seems to change with the light. At first I didn't think this hue would work in my borders, and I also worried how it would handle red-clay soil and abundant rainfall. Fortunately, rather than clashing, Orange Meadowbrite's color blends with a mixed border, and the plants have gotten stronger each year. Another Echinacea from Dr. Ault, Mango Meadowbrite, is the perfect golden yellow to blend with blue flowers like the catmints.

Richard Sauls of ItSaul Plants in Georgia has been creating coneflowers with a different look. His plants appear more robust, with broader petals and sometimes very large flowers. 'Sunset' and 'Sunrise' aren't in my garden yet, but they should be well adapted since they have even more purple-coneflower parentage than Dr. Ault's plants. 'Sunset' is reported to open coral-orange and mature to tangerine-orange. 'Sunrise' opens deep yellow and matures to a lighter buttery yellow with four- to five-inch diameter flowers.

Are these hybrids still natives? All of their parents are natives. The difference is that man moved the pollen between plants rather than bees. Accelerated evolution? Who knows? What I do know is that these are just the beginning when it comes to exciting new coneflowers. There are other colors, forms and even a dwarf on the horizon. Stay tuned!

Are native plants better? Native plants are often the only logical solution when it comes to planting. If you are gardening where there has been little building or soil disturbance, they might be right for you. Certainly, if you're restoring an ecological community, you'd want to pick site-specific and well-adapted natives. But when I hear someone say that natives are the only choice for gardens, I have to wonder what is meant. For example, native plants certainly have some pest resistance, but often pests have evolved right along with a native plant, or an exotic pest has been introduced. All natives are not pest-resistant.

A pest-resistant native plant--such as a powdery-mildew-resistant garden phlox or bee balm--may need to be a named variety (cultivar) because seedling grown plants have proven to be mostly highly susceptible to this disease. If you have a particular color in mind for your garden, larger flowers or a particular form like weeping or a plant with variegated leaves, a native that has been selected for these characteristics, a hybrid of a native or even an exotic plant may be just what you want. It is your garden, so plant what works for you!

--Dick Bir is a horticulturist and conservationist as well as faculty emeritus from the Department of Horticultural Science at North Carolina State University. He serves on the North Carolina Plant Conservation Board and was a pioneer in the revival of native plants education and research. In retirement he reads, gardens, lectures, writes, consults, does housework and meddles.