Native plants are a great alternative to high-maintainance garden cultivars or exotic plants that require much care and maintainance in order to survive and thrive in our environment. Since native plants have evolved and adapted to grow in our environment, they will thrive with little or no special care once they are established.

 

Definition of a weed: Any plant that is not wanted in a growing space, for whatever reason the gardener decides, although usually weeds are unwanted because they are unattractive, bland, and/or invasive.

 

Many gardeners out there perceive "wildflowers" to be weeds. In fact, many deem the term "wildflower" to be analogous with "weed". However, "wildflowers" are simply plants that grow outside of cultivation. Wildflowers are tough, because they are used to our climate. They won't whither and die at the first frost, like a tender rose or a begonia, and they won't dehydrate in the hot sun, like petunias (as long as sun is their light preference!). While it is true that many weedy plants are wildflowers, many wildflowers are very attractive plants and can be controlled without much difficulty. Many, many classic garden perennials are derived from native species, and have been bred to eliminate any flaws that were present in that species. These garden cultivars are great choices for your yard. Still more come from areas outside our region, and require care to grow well here.

 

There are yet other wildflowers that have not been introduced into mainstream cultivation, but are gorgeous and care-free plants, such as showy aster (Aster conspicuus). Many of these are collected by wild-plant enthusiasts for their uniqueness. Consider getting into wild plant collecting if you like the unusual! You'll find that you will save money, time and energy with it as compared to buying exotic plants. It's also really fun.

 

On this page I will show you some of my own wild plants, which are part of a collection that is slowly expanding. Read on!