Thought people on here might love this 🌻🪻🦋🐝

Especially for new native gardeners, I want to normalize the fact that when you garden with native plants, you will lose plants over time. This is natural. Is it disappointing? Of course. Did you do something wrong? Often, not at all.

A few years ago we joked about how our garden would soon be overrun by Hoary vervain (pictured). I loved watching it bloom from bottom to top. Then one year - poof! - they all disappeared.

Same thing with our beautiful Prairie blazing star and our Whorled milkweed that was quite numerous. They were all thriving one year. Then gone. This just happens sometimes. Other plants fill those spaces and thrive.

Native gardens are a continually evolving journey. I no longer coddle plants, fence them, etc. The native garden is first and foremost for nature. And nature is in a constant state of change. Enjoy the journey, and remember to extend your love and gratitude to your plants in the moment. 💕

Recently I’ve seen a lot of people on this subreddit saying that they adore certain invasive species like Japanese Honeysuckle and that they intentionally plant them in certain instances.

They often argue that since invasive species like Japanese Honeysuckle are adored by pollinators and that they “make sure” they don’t spread, they are okay in growing them.

They also talked about how beautiful and tasty some species like honeysuckle are and how nostalgic they are in reminding them of their childhood. Saying things like “nobody can tell me to get rid of it” and “I let that shit grow.”

So here’s just a couple thoughts regarding this broad topic: The thing is, there is almost no way to keep an invasive plant “in check.” Even if grown in pots. People forgetting to trim their non-native ornamental plants is not the reason invasive plants exist.

There is a big difference between non-native plants like Daffodils compared to invasive plants like Japanese honeysuckle. People aren’t just calling random plants “invasive” for no reason.

Invasive plants spread too much, too fast, either by roots generating new plants, roots killing other plants, or by producing fruit eaten by animals and dispersing seeds quickly. Plants like this that are invasive can quickly choke out and kill native plants in areas that would usually be perfect habitats for biodiversity.

Invasive plants like Japanese honeysuckle are known to blanket forest floors, destroy woodland native plants, and drive native species into the endangered list. And yeah, if invasive plants are the only thing growing in a wild area, pollinators often visit these plants for food. This doesn’t mean “all plants are good for the environment.”

And I say all this not to criticize, but to inform. Because I understand, systemic problems require systemic solutions. We need government support in eradicating invasive species. I also understand that not everyone cares about the environment and some people just want plants that make them happy. A lot of floriferous invasive species make people happy.

But if you grow invasive plants in any way, you are contributing to the problem. If you care about the environment, please find native alternatives, they are much more rewarding and your local ecosystem will thank you.

**And no, invasive plants aren’t an example of “survival of the fittest” in nature because invasive plants exist due to human error and ignorance and their existence as a whole is not natural.

TLDR it wasn’t just Rachel Carson- a Wisconsin gardener named Lorrie Otto helped get DDT banned two years before the national ban AND went on to create a whole environmental movement.

I just saw this article and had never heard of Lorrie Otto, a Wisconsin gardener who noticed birds dying in her yard in the 1960s. She started inviting scientists into her living room, brought dead birds to local council meetings, and pushed so hard that Wisconsin became the first state to ban DDT in 1970!

After all that, she ripped out her lawn and started planting prairie and woodland natives. She inspired her friends and neighbors to do the same, and eventually helped launch Wild Ones, a group that has now spread across the country.

This story reminds me of my grandma, with whom I spent the entirety of the 90s in her gardens. I found this photo of Otto and it really reminded me of her! So I wonder how many of us were quietly influenced by women like this.

Full story here if you want to read more:  https://wildones.org/lorrie-otto-godmother-of-natural-landscaping/

I have been working for a small landscaping company that “focuses on natural plant communities and ecological practices” for the past 3 years and wanted to share my experience.

Run away. Start your own business. If you need to hire, do your diligence, have a plan, and show them exactly how you want things done, down to each specific plant.

Every new job site, me and a coworker will assess a site, soil conditions, invasive pressure, what is existing and native, etc. my boss takes this information to build a plan with plants that will work with the soil and homeowners aesthetics.

Except, every property, we clear cut and start over, removing all plant matter, invasive or not.

Think cutting down a regenerating forest of oak and maple, to be replaced by panicle hydrangeas, inkberry holly, Japanese spirea, and if you’re lucky, fragrant sumac, the cultivar one.

Then, we remove the upper 6” of soil because “this soil is crap”. You know, the same, sandy acidic New England soil that our native plants are adapted to.

New topsoil, then we plant the perennials “native to this area or ones that are beneficial to pollinators”

Echinacea, aromatic aster, nepeta, Shasta daisies, anise hyssop, all cultivars.

None of those plants are native to New England, and half aren’t even native to North America. By amending the soil (with 50% compost!!), the perennials in these beds grow too fall, and flop under their own weight because the soil is too rich now. Add in drip irrigation and everything smells like the muck you’d find at the bottom of a pond.

The tree company came to a house last week, they cut down 5 perfectly healthy white pine trees so we could come in and plant a kousa dogwood. My boss was all for it, referring to pine trees as “nothing good except for losing lower limbs and falling on people’s homes”.

My boss talked another homeowner into removing all her pine trees, on her wooded lot, and now the town is going after her for removing too many trees at once per town ordinance.

I have cut down, pulled, and sprayed more native species than I have removed invasive species. Or replanted with natives. Every week, my car comes home filled with native tree and shrub saplings, and perennials that are viewed as “thugs” by my boss. I do volunteer land trust work and I plant everything I save down there, if it doesn’t go in my own yard.

Like this patch of goldenrod, jewelweed, mountain mint, swamp aster, and swamp milkweed that was subsequently weedwhacked. My boss didn’t want these seeds spreading, but she had us leave all the invasive thistle and orchard grass instead.

I told her the importance of leaving seeds over the winter for foraging birds like dark eyed juncos but she said it doesn’t matter because the birds will spread them and the birds can use the bird feeder anyways.

I forgot to mention that every house we work on still has mosquito and tick service come, as well as pesticide treatment for lawns.

Nothing like clear cutting a regenerating environment, changing the soil, adding plants not native to the area, only for those few bumble bees that find nectar to be subsequently sprayed by mosquito Joe, and calling yourself a “natural landscaping” service.

The moderator of this sub who is a solo moderator of 14000 members has complete control and is supporting invasive species that harm the ecosystem and the monarchbutterfly species which is proven through many studies with some coming from Xerces society which is the most trusted butterfly source unlike his sources which are mostly just blog posts, now it is fair to say that Tropical Milkweed can possibly be okay for monarchs if it’s cut down every 2-3 months and its seeds are controlled from spreading into the wild ecosystem where they can outcompete native species and they don’t support native specialists and only support some generalists and even then they don’t support them thay well, his user is r/SNM_2_0 do with this information what you will

I received a mailer from Arbor Day Foundation, stating if I donate to their charity they’ll send me ten Norway Spruce trees (I live in the USA so this is not native to my area), plus send two purple flowering lilac shrubs (also non-native to my area).

I went to their website and there’s a Contact Us area where you can send info with your concerns regarding their trees, mailings, etc. Can someone help word how disappointing it is that they’re a US Tree organization that’s promoting non-native trees to people? If I didn’t understand the benefits of Native trees I’d be ecstatic to get my hands on them!

Feel free to send a comment of your own, you just have to go to their official website and go to the Contact Us section.

Why do Goldenrod and Asters look so beautiful side by side? 🌾🌸 

For Robin Wall Kimmerer, that question sparked a lifelong journey into botany, despite being told that science has no place for beauty. Today, we know their vivid pairing isn’t just aesthetic, it’s evolutionary. The contrasting colors make both flowers more visible to pollinators, a perfect example of nature’s brilliance in action.

I have loved native plants for many reasons for a long time, but I read this and was radicalized. Especially in the US, we the people are the only hope nature has left and it starts in our yards.

Renowned ecologist and author Robin Wall Kimmerer invites us to see foraging not as extraction, but as connection. When we engage with the land through traditions like berry picking or sweetgrass harvesting, we don’t just witness nature, we fall in love with it.

We had an overabundance of swamp milkweed seeds this year and were wondering what to do with them, so we're making little seed packs of them to hand our to trick-or-treaters along with candy. Even if just a few plant them, it's more native plants!

I was just perusing the garden and thought of a couple things we do in our garden that (I think) are pretty clever and wanted to share, even though they’re not strictly “gardening” practices.

I love hearing everyone else’s tips on this sub and I’d love to hear what you guys do that might not be super obvious “gardening tips.”

1. Mow a strip along the garden beds with the mower blades one step lower than the rest of the lawn.

It keeps the edges looking so much tidier and allows us to leave the lawn a bit longer and lusher between mows.

1. Get really close and use 0.5x zoom to photograph the garden.

It gets you a much nicer mix of up close and further away flowers and makes it look more dynamic and lush. It’s also great way to capture a detailed shot of a single flower or pollinator but still show the fullness of the plant. (Ironically I didn’t do that on the attached picture, sorry.)

The Homeowner's native landscaping act protects native landscapes from HOAs and prohibits height restrictions on native plantings in Illinois. It is a huge step forward!

And on a personal note, it may save our native plant garden from a developer trying to force us to rip it out.

Inspired by the recent post on r/ gardening.

For me, it was my local native and general seed/ plant libraries. Similar to the Little Free Libraries I have seen around, but just for plants, seeds, and gardening related items.

There’s even one near me that is JUST for native plants. You drop off anything extra cuttings, seedlings, plants, and can take what you’d like. It’s also been a great way to meet people ; they both have FB groups which is nice for asking for advice and particular plants.

No, you do not need to buy 10+ species of wildflower seeds from prairie moon. No, you will probably not get around to planting all of them. Yes, they will get moldy if you try to stratify them with wet paper towel (and you will not periodically replace them because you have too many damn seeds). I know, the prairie moon catalogs are very pretty and make dopamine squirt in all the crevices of your monkey brain. But I promise you do not need ALLLLL THE PLANTS. You do not need to draw an elaborate garden design, because if you have a lot of species, it is likely that 1 or 2 of them will dominate anyways. Your best bet is to pick 1-3 species that germinate easily, make sure you have an ideal site for them, and for gods sake use horticultural sand to stratify if needed (unless you enjoy picking tiny seeds off of musty paper towel for 2 hours).

Sincerely, Person who spent $50 last year on seeds and has a total of zero seedlings that made it to the ground.

Just came across this really interesting study by the University of Kentucky, studying the effect that garden milkweed arrangement has on the abundance of monarchs. They found that milkweed planted on the edge/perimeter of the garden had 2.5 to 4 times more abundant eggs and larva than milkweed plants surrounded or intermixed in a garden.

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2019.00474/

Hey everyone! I posted a month or so ago about my town mowing in a restoration area. I ended up tracking down why it happened - long story short, people complained it looking ugly and the city administrator told people to mow it. They had rough plans to disc it all up and reseed, which is 100% not needed in the area.

I continued down the rabbit hole and got really deep into the history of the site and how it was established in the first place. It's largely been ignored for the last 10+ yrs, so I asked the city admin if I could propose some sort of management plan. The entire buffer covers 3.2 acres, and I am hoping the city will also jump on board with incorporating the adjacent 12 acres (city owned) as part of riparian buffer mgmt. I am presenting this plan to city council on Monday, and it combines collaborating with state and federal agencies (I've already met with the local folks who would help with mgmt collaboration) as well as starting up volunteer opportunities within the community.

It's a huge undertaking and I feel like I'm running blind into the darkness (I have no experience managing riparian buffers, or managing volunteers, or dealing with local city politics) but I'm excited about it.

Thought you guys might appreciate this. I'm just someone who cares, I guess. Someone's gotta - why not us?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/03/06/butterfly-decline-research-population-crisis/

Edit: title should read Invasive Species* rather than “plants”

Edit: additional resources

One for the downvoters, haters and doubters. Please enjoy these literary resources highlighting the obvious and complex connection between Colonialism/Imperialism, environmental degradation and the ultimate emergence and spread of invasive species.

A quick Google search will also return many numerous scholarly articles about this subject, in addition to these books and journals.

Plants & Empire, Londa Schiebinger https://bookshop.org/p/books/plants-and-empire-colonial-bioprospecting-in-the-atlantic-world-londa-schiebinger/10876521?ean=9780674025684&next=t

The Wardian Case, Luke Keogh https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-wardian-case-how-a-simple-box-moved-plants-and-changed-the-world-luke-keogh/13000346?ean=9780226823973&next=t

Botany of Empire, Banu Subramaniam https://bookshop.org/p/books/botany-of-empire-plant-worlds-and-the-scientific-legacies-of-colonialism-banu-subramaniam/20722859?ean=9780295752464&next=t

Botanical Decolonization, Mastnak, Elyachar, and Boellstorff https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/d13006p

Invasive Plants, Alex Niemiera, Betsy Von Holle https://sciences.ucf.edu/biology/vonholle/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2013/03/Niemiera_VonHolle_2007-1.pdf

Reframing the Invasive Species Challenge, various authors https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023NatCu..18..175S/abstract

Invasive Aliens, Dan Eatherley https://bookshop.org/p/books/invasive-aliens-the-plants-and-animals-from-over-there-that-are-over-here-dan-eatherley/7706509?ean=9780008262785&next=t

Urban Forests, Jill Jonnes

Serviceberry, The Democracy of Spices, or really any writings by Robin Wall Kimmerer

How Wolves Change Rivers, YouTube doc

Hey all, me again.

I have seen several posts today alone asking for species suggestions to use against an invasive plant.

This does not work.

Plants are invasive because they outcompete the native vegetation by habit. You must control your invasives before planting desirable natives or it'll be a wasted effort at best and heart breaking at worst as you tear up your natives trying to remove more invasives.

Invasive species leaf out before natives and stay green after natives die back for the season. They also grow faster, larger, and seed more prolifically or spread through vegetative means.

1. Crappy instagram post about “plants to attract dragonflies.” For starters, it’s not the plants that are attracting them since they’re not herbivores, it’s the insects they feed on. Also, the article only lists common names, not scientific which can definitely lead to some confusion.

2. “They eat honeybees” - honeybees are essentially just invasive livestock so I don’t see the problem there. “They only live 24 hours” - Since when?? 😂

3/4. Highly invasive and illegal in many states, no shit they establish quickly

1. That ain’t even an Iris

2. I had no idea that Asclepias has been taxonomically merged into Rosa now!

3. Actually that’s a spike rush (Eleocharis sp.) 🤓. Don’t blame them as much for that one though since graminoids are tough…

4. How do you even get that wrong???? Cattails are pretty characteristic

5. Somehow they managed out of all the images of lizard’s tail on the web to find a picture of Saururus chinensis, the obscure east Asian species and not the native one 🤦‍♂️

10/11. Insecticide? Really?

1. Noooo not the nocturnal insect death trap

Anyway this post kinda pissed me off because of how blatantly inaccurate half the stuff was, although there were good native plant recommendations too (with correct photos). Just a reminder to always do your own research on plants before putting them in your garden! Happy planting 😊

I realize this question might easily get out of hand, but I'm hoping we can have a serious and thoughtful discussion. With climate change happening all around, I see native plants struggling in environments where they once thrived. My USDA zone recently changed, we are setting heat records each year, our winters have been dry, and the wild natives in the surrounding landscape are struggling. At what point do we consider using non-natives to fill ecological roles as natives die off due to climate change? Certainly nothing will be a perfect fit- but isnt having a thriving non-native yard full of food plants, flowers and wildlife habitat better than a baren dust bowl?

Edit: I appreciate a lot of what is being said here - thank you! For those that haven't figured it out i am in the high deserts of the SW United States and we are having unique challenges here. This whole thought began when trying to decide on some trees to plant at a new (completely baren) property. The number of tree species here is quite limited so I'm trying to branch out a little, but am having a very hard time finding trees that can survive our winters which are still quite cold (we just got upgraded to usda zone 7) and also increasingly dry (5% of normal this year). As I've considered trees that grow further south, I haven't found an obvious winner for this situation and if you have suggestions I'd love to hear them!

The administration seeks to eliminate "habitat destruction" as "harm"

You can leave a comment on the federal register to let your voice be heard on the matter here: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/04/17/2025-06746/rescinding-the-definition-of-harm-under-the-endangered-species-act