Steve Aitken’s intriguing article about naturalistic gardens in the October issue of Fine Gardening reminded me that a garden inspired by native plant communities doesn’t have to look like a hodgepodge of plants. It often contains blocks or “drifts” of a single species or cultivar. Grouping them together heightens our enjoyment of the colors, textures and shapes of the chosen plants.
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| A drift of blue sage makes a bold statement-photo filipvandamme.be |
Now in late summer, I’m noticing some of those big aggregations in undesigned areas. At the edge of a mowed playing field in my neighborhood, large clumps have developed where one native species predominates, and they’re looking good.
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| A big clump of Canadian goldenrod stands out |
But these colonies were not intentionally planted. They’re weeds. This made me wonder: could some of the plants we think of as weeds be developed as reliable, easy-to-grow natives for garden use?
Many weeds are nonnatives. But some that catch my eye do originate from eastern North America. There’s pale smartweed (Polygonum lapathifolium), with drooping chains of pink flowers at this time of year.
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| Pendulous flowers of pale smartweed |
The blooms offer nectar for visiting insects, and native caterpillars forage on the leaves. If pale smartweed’s flowers were twice as big and covered the plant densely, could you see growing a clump of this plant as a garden annual? The blooms aren’t too different from those of an amaranth I’m growing for cutting flowers.
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| Amaranth 'Red Garnet' |
I reflexively yank out yellow wood sorrel (Oxalis stricta), a native of both Europe and North America. It pops up all over the garden, and it’s easy to pull. But the yellow flowers are actually rather sweet-looking above fresh, tender clover-like foliage, and it blooms through the summer.
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| Yellow wood sorrel is a familiar garden weed-photo Dcrjsr |
Yellow wood sorrel is a pollinator plant, and birds eat its seeds. I could see intentionally growing a block of it and calling it an ornamental, especially if someone developed a variety with larger flowers.
A lot of my lawn used to be taken over by common blue violets (Viola sororia), also native to eastern North America (now the lawn is taken over by wood chips).
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| Violets took over where lawn used to grow |
Violets like shade, and they do better in acid soil with low calcium content than lawn grasses do--but then, lawn grasses are such prima donnas! Violet seeds are surrounded by fatty elaiosomes that make them popular food for ants, birds and small mammals, and fritillary caterpillars eat violets’ leaves.
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| With no work on my part, violets bloom in spring |
I’m thinking of tearing out the last tufts of grass in one remaining lawn area and leaving the violets as a native groundcover. They can certainly deal with being walked on, and the flowers are pretty in spring.
These are plants we see around us every day in New England. We know they’re strong growers that adapt to tough growing conditions. A lot of garden center darlings came into being because breeders recognized the potential of a modest wild flowering plant and made it more eye-catching through selective breeding. Breeders, have a look at our native weeds!
