A year ago, I started a journey of incorporating more native plants in my garden. I am not a confident gardener, even though I grew up with a mom who lived in her flower and veggie garden. I always get nervous that I’m planting the wrong thing in the wrong place at the wrong time, and that the effort and money I put into a gardening habit will be wasted somehow.
Yet, last year, after doing some leg work to test my garden soil and finding some good native planting guidance, I took the plunge and bought some native plants. In the spring, I went to the annual Landscape Revival Native Plant Expo Market in Oakdale and it was a fantastic experience. The vendors laid out the plants by light needs (sun or shade) and drainage (dry or wet) and the prices were right. I chose plants that seemed interesting and fun to try and grow. Then, in the fall, I went to Landscape Alternatives, a local native plant nursery near Shafer, to find some more plants to replace a few ornamentals in my garden that kept getting diseased each season.
This spring, I’ve anxiously watched my garden, waiting to see what was going to come back up. To my surprise and delight, almost all of what I planted last year has re-emerged. One of the recommendations from Roy at Landscape Alternatives was to plant clusters of the same plant in an 18″ triangle shape to ensure proper plant spacing. Ever the teacher’s pet, I did so – even cutting out a cardboard shape to aid me in planting. That technique also helped me very much this spring when trying to determine whether what was coming up was intentional plant or a weed. Suddenly there were triangles of plants appearing everywhere!
Still, I keep waiting for that moment for the other shoe to drop. With the dry May and this sudden June heat, I’ve been worried that suddenly things will go south and my early success would turn into failure. In walking my garden with my very green-thumb neighbor last week, I noticed some pretty intense leaf damage in my pussytoes – a usually very lovely and lush green native plant groundcover plant that had doubled in size since I planted it last spring.
My neighbor bent over to take a closer look and found numerous caterpillars feeding on the leaves and wrapped up cocoon-like in others. My brain immediately went to ‘Oh no! Pests in my garden eating my plants!” and the look on my face must have mirrored what I was thinking because Karen looked at me and quickly said, “They might not be bad! Native wildlife uses native plants!”
I was taken aback by that realization. It might actually be a positive thing. In fact, it could be a truly remarkable thing. A significant factor behind my choice to incorporate more native plants is my desire for it to have a purpose – I want it to support and benefit nature. I envision my garden as an oasis for pollinators and native species, a haven separate from the typical meticulously manicured yard adorned with attractive yet non-functional plants and groomed lawns. I want the native species to find refuge and nourishment among the plants in my garden. What did I think it would look like when they in fact…did?
I took a picture of one of the many caterpillars and googled it. Sure enough, it’s a caterpillar for the native American Lady butterfly, and pussytoes is one of its host plants. And while yes, the caterpillars feed on and use the leaves, they do not kill the plant. Upon closer inspection I could see a new layer of leaves underneath all the caterpillar activity on my pussytoes.
I did it. I created habitat for a native species! I grew something that will help sustain life and support our local ecosystem. How cool!
And once I stopped panicking and started to get excited, I started seeing more life on other plants in my garden. Lovely large bumblebees were whizzing around my blue harebells and String Theory. I found a monarch caterpillar munching away happily on my butterfly weed. I squealed and giggled with my two young daughters as I showed them around, excited for our success and excited that they have a front row seat to learn about and see these amazing creatures.
As icing on the cake, this past Saturday, I worked a table for the Washington Conservation District at that same Oakdale Landscape Revival native plant market that I first visited a year ago to buy my native plants. I met so many people who in many ways are just like me – wanting to make a difference and a start, but just needing some confidence and cheerleading to continue them on their journey. I was so happy to share my experience thus far and offer what I could in terms of resources and access to the fine staff we have at the WCD.
And of course, it’s only made me excited to do more! Consider me hooked!
Are you looking to buy some native plants? The Landscape Revival Native Plant Expo will be in Shoreview THIS Saturday, June 10th from 9 am to 1 pm. Be sure to check it out! There are also some great native plant nurseries in our area!
Don’t forget about your local conservation partners! It’s still amazes me how many folks are unaware of the technical assistance that your local soil and water conservation district and/or watershed district can offer you as you get started. You can request a FREE site visit where a landscape specialist will come out and give you guidance and suggestions on how to move forward with your project. For our area, you can find contact information for our various WDs and SWCDs here.
knickpoints 