Creating a Sense of Place

VOLUME 25, ISSUE 4 JUL/AUG 2002 Creating a Sense of Place By David Salmon, High Country Gardens While native plants have always had a small but devoted following, both the general gardening public and mainstream horticulture have overlooked our native flora for years. Why is this so? Perhaps because familiarity breeds contempt, and people equate the plants they see growing naturally in the fields and roadsides with "weeds". Perhaps it stems from our infatuation with the English garden--borrowing heavily from English plant lists has resulted in their overshadowing our own native species. Whatever the reason for their omission, the past decade has seen an explosion of interest in native plants. As growers respond to this renewed interest by improving growing techniques and offering a larger variety of natives from all parts of the United States, these once-forgotten beauties are beginning to find their rightful home in our gardens and landscapes. We should start by examining the term "native" more closely. For many purists, "native" is defined as any plant found growing naturally within an arbitrary dis- tance of their home. Others would consider "native" JUL/AUG 2002 plants to be any plant found growing naturally within their state. But narrow definitions are limiting. Because plants don't read maps, decisions as to "native" or "non-native" Creating a Sense of Place based on these criteria can be artificial. I like to define "native" as any plant growing in North America. The Utah Heritage Gardens Come of Age Now that we have gotten the "is it native?" deci- sion out of the way, we can move on to more important Plant Profile: Globemallow information. I find that using natives in the garden works best by grouping plants according to the regions in which New Heritage Garden at Sego Lily Gardens they are found and then into subgroups according to their specific habitat within that region. For example, a certain group of plants could be referred to as Short Weeding the Clay Phacelia Grass prairie natives. Within the Short Grass prairie there are numerous plant habitats such as riparian The Tomahawk (stream side), limestone hills and outcroppings, sand hills and many others. Data as to the place of origin Events and Chapter News PAGE 2 VOLUME 25, ISSUE 4 Creating a Sense of Place (cont.) "adaptive plants" (plants from other parts of the world that grow equally well in their new home.) However you decide to incorporate natives into (state, county and altitude) gives the collector of native your garden or landscape, their use has numerous plants additional important information. By using this benefits. Many native plants are incredibly beautiful and broad definition as to what is native, geographic and interesting to grow. Using them in our gardens helps us habitat information can then be used to decide how to appreciate and understand our natural plant heritage. group native plants with compatible companions in the Native plants are adapted to difficult growing conditions garden. and are genetically programmed to survive in their native habitats or similar environments. When well How we incorporate native plants into our matched to their growing environment, their use will home or commercial landscapes is open for interpreta- create a more sustainable landscape that requires less tion. There are three predominant methods of land- maintenance and uses fewer chemicals and fertilizers. scaping with natives: "natural landscaping", "gardening Native plants also provide local birds, insects and other with natives" and habitat restoration (which won't be animals appropriate food and shelter. Gardening with discussed here). One increasing popular style is native plants can also help sustain the populations of termed "natural landscaping." This style is championed rare or threatened plants that may be disappearing in in the Southwest by authors Judith Philips ("Natural by habitat due to human activities. This concept is known Design"), and the husband and wife team of Sally and as "conservation through propagation". For example, Andy Wasowski ("Native Gardens for Dry Climates"). the spectacular Texas native, Salvia penstemonoides In the Mid West, Neil Diboll of Prairie Nursery in Wis- was though to be extinct, but the plant was recently re- consin has long championed restoring tall grass prairie discovered and introduced back into cultivation by the in commercial and residential settings. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. It is now becom- Each region of the country has a certain look ing more widespread as gardeners have anxiously wel- and feel to its native terrain. A natural landscape art- comed this beauty into their gardens. fully incorporates the native trees, shrubs and wild From the vast numbers of native species that flowers of the area in such a way that it enhances the can be found coast to coast, we need to distill out the beauty of the building or home while blending in with most ornamental and adaptable species for use in our its natural surroundings. When you stand in that yard gardens and landscapes. This has been a focus of the and look around, you should be able to identify the High Country Gardens catalog since its inception. This region in which you are standing based on the plants search has been facilitated by our location in Santa Fe, that have been used. This is what is often meant by located as it is at the intersection of three different re- "sense of place." On the other hand, the typical ge- gions: the short grass prairie of the Great Plains, the neric landscape of blue grass and clipped Yew hedges southern tip of the Rocky Mountains and just to the fails to convey a regional feel and seems more like a north of the vast Chihuahuan desert of Mexico, west national franchise than something with regional flavor. Texas and southern New Mexico. Being located in a Because gardening with native plants means USDA zone 5/6 area, the attribute of cold hardiness has different things to different people, it is helpful to spec- been at the top of our list of criteria when looking for ify your aims. For native plant enthusiasts this could outstanding plants from all three of these regions. We mean re-creating a native-only grouping of species are also finding many excellent species from high alti- from their immediate area. Re-creating regional groups tude areas of northern Mexico, the Sierras of eastern of native plants from different areas of the country is California and the Great Basin area of Utah, Nevada also popular. For example, in my rock gardens I've and Arizona. Natives from the Midwest and eastern planted small separate sections with groups of plants United States have demontrated excellent adaptability from UT, NV, eastern CA, and northern AZ. Garden- to our local growing conditions as well. ers with shady properties often love to garden with woodland native species. Serious plant collectors will collect all the species within a given genus, or use High Country Gardens has a full catalog of drought- plants of the same species collected from different lo- tolerant plants for the Western garden. Visit their site at cations as a way to study a given genus or species in http://highcountrygardens.com. To subscribe to the free more detail. Other styles of gardening like xeriscaping e-zine "Xeriscape Gardening News," send blank e-mail use native plants as part of the larger objective, which to [email protected]. is to achieve a regionally appropriate, low maintenance, low water use design. In xeriscaping, natives can be used exclusively or in combination with other PAGE 3 VOLUME 25, ISSUE 4 The Utah Heritage Gardens Come of Age! By Susan Meyer and Bitsy Schultz with Natives. This is just the beginning of our ex- panded Heritage Garden webpage. By the end of Back in the spring of 1998, the Heritage Gar- summer, we hope to post interactive materials on de- den Program was just a gleam in its mothers’ eyes. signing home landscapes using Utah native plants in We had a lot of very interesting plants that we’d never combination with the principals of xeriscaping, com- tried in a garden setting before, and a willing partner plete with some 'virtual front yards' to show how these with a fine site for a native plant demonstration garden, designs might actually look. teacher Darrin Johnson at Wasatch Elementary School in Provo. We planted the Wasatch garden four years For now, though, our best examples of land- ago this June, and just as the plants there have contin- scape designs using native plants are the heritage gar- ued to grow and prosper, so has the Utah Heritage dens themselves. Many of the older heritage gardens Garden Program that was founded with that first plant- are definitely worth a visit this June--these include gar- ing. The number of successful Utah Heritage Gardens dens at Wasatch Elementary School and at Rock Can- has increased each year, and the reach of the program yon Trailhead Park in Provo, on the University of Utah has extended now from Logan on the north to Hurri- Mallway, and at 46 East 300 South in Price. There cane and Bluff on the south, with a total of twenty- are also established heritage gardens at Jackson and three gardens to be in place by summer's end. And, to Ensign Elementary Schools in Salt Lake, at the Layton cap off a busy spring this year, the Wasatch Heritage Heritage Museum, and at Benson Grist Mill Historic Garden itself has undergone a major expansion, from Park in Stansbury Park, and in Park City. Gardens about 3,000 to almost 5,000 square feet.

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