Celebrate our natural heritage and Our natural heritage Natives vs. exotics protect native plant communities MIDDLE TENNESSEE The use of native plants in landscaping is a celebration of While many exotics are harmless, others pose serious our natural heritage and an awakening of a land ethic first threats to biodiversity. Exotics that escape and naturalize 1. Learn more about native plants. Central Basin and Highland Rim expressed by Aldo Leopold more than 50 years ago. change the floral composition of native plant communi- ties. Exotics that invade native plant communities spread, The natural processes from which natives evolve repre- 2. Buy nursery propagated plant material. out-compete, and displace natives. Other exotics are sent the cog and wheel of a healthy ecosystem sustained vectors for disease and exotic insects. Future introduc- 3. Don’t dig plants from the wild. by a complex web of biological diversity. tions can be prevented by using native species. 4. Protect native plant and natural area habitat. Native plants have many inherent qualities and adaptive Using natives also exhibits regional flora and promotes traits that make them aesthetically pleasing, practical, Promote responsible landscaping practices. our natural heritage. Natives have often been overlooked 5. and ecologically valuable for landscaping. and their aesthetic value ignored. Instead, many regions Plant native and not exotic plant species. 6. Using native plants contributes to the health and often look the same because overuse of the same exotics has the restoration of an ecosystem. Landscaping with created a monotonous, predictable landscape. natives in an urban setting helps restore regional charac- For more information ter and places fewer demands on resources. Basics about using natives Warner Park Nature Center When landscaping with natives match the right plants 7311 Highway 100 with the right site conditions. Consider using plants that Nashville TN 37221 occur together in their natural habitats. Do your home- 615/352-6299 work before planting; study the plants and the site con- Tennessee Dept. of Environment and Conservation dition information in this brochure. Visit a natural area (TDEC) and observe how plants occur and design your landscape Division of Natural Heritage accordingly. Buy nursery propagated plants. Remember, 401 Church Street, 8th Floor landscaping with natives is art imitating nature. Nashville TN 37243-0447 615/532-0436 Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council (TN EPPC) Benefits of natives P. O. Box 40692 Native ➤ Adapted to regional conditions and may require less Nashville TN 37204 maintenance and are cost-effective. 615/532-0436 species naturally occurring in a region (indigenous) ➤ Hardy, withstand extreme winter cold, do not suffer Tennessee Native Plant Society Exotic from die back. Department of Botany species introduced by humans, either deliberately ➤ University of Tennessee or accidentally (alien, non-native) Environmentally friendly, require fewer pesticides and Knoxville TN 37996-100 fertilizers because of natural adaptations. 615/532-0439 ➤ Promote biodiversity and stewardship. ➤ Provide food and shelter for native wildlife. What are natives? ➤ Restore regional landscapes. Natives are plants that evolved over geologic time and are ➤ Prevent future exotic introductions. distributed across the landscape largely in response to Text by climatic episodes and adaptation to site conditions Warner Park Nature Center related to land formation. Natives for wildlife Tennessee Natural Areas Program LANDSCAPING Using natives in landscaping helps sustain native butter- in the Division of Natural Heritage/TDEC Natives are generally defined as plants that occurred in flies, moths and other beneficial insects; native birds, WITH North America before European settlement. This distinc- Brochure made possible by reptiles, mammals, and other fauna. Fall migrating birds TN-EPPC tion is made because of the large-scale changes in the depend on high-energy fruits from flowering dogwood NATIVE flora that have resulted since European settlement and Co-sponsored by and spicebush. Spring migrants feed Through The Green Golf and Learning Center the introduction of “exotic” plants. Moore and Moore Garden Center PLANTS on insects that occur on oak trees. Friends of Warner Parks Exotics are plants that are directly or indirectly, deliber- Beech and other native trees provide Growild, Inc. ately or accidentally introduced by human action. To be nesting habitat, while Eastern red cedar, Tennessee Native Plant Society PROMOTES BIODIVERSITY more precise, natives are natural elements of a regional Tennessee Field Office of The Nature Conservancy Virginia pine, and American holly TDEC Division of Natural Heritage landscape. While some species are native to North provide winter cover and food. TDEC Bureau of State Parks and endorses a land ethic that America, they may be exotic to Middle Tennessee. Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency Tennessee Valley Authority celebrates our natural heritage ➤ Don’t dig plants from the wild. ➤ Buy nursery-propagated plant material. 100% post-consumer recycled paper 598 GRASSES Big bluestem Andropogon gerardii MIDDLE TENNESSEE Little bluestem Andropogon scoparius Native plant recommendations Broomsedge Andropogon virginicus River cane Arundinaria gigantea Central Basin and Highland Rim River oats, Spangle grass Chasmanthium latifolium Canada wild rye Elymus canadensis The Central Basin and the Highland Rim are uniquely LIGHT SOIL MOISTURE SOIL pH Bottle brush Hystrix patula K Switch-grass Panicum virgatum different physiographic provinces that make up Middle F = full sunlight H = hydric; wet, plants periodically or often inundated by water B = basic; prefers limestone P = partial shade M = mesic; moist, adequate soil moisture retention year-round A = acidic; prefers acidic soils Indian grass Sorghastrum nutans Tennessee. Site conditions for each respective province E S = shade S = sub-xeric; moist to dry, seasonally moist, periodically dry R = restricted to either B or A FLOWERS are determined by topography, soil pH, soil depth, aspect, Y X = xeric; dry & drought resistant, little moisture retention, excessively drained Doll’s-eye baneberry Actaea alba Thimbleweed Anemone virginiana availability of light, and hydrology. These site conditions Wild columbine Aquilegia canadensis support a mosaic of native plant communities. COMMON NAME SCIENTIFIC NAME LIGHT MOISTURE SOIL pH COMMON NAME SCIENTIFIC NAME LIGHT MOISTURE SOIL pH Wild ginger Asarum canadense Butterfly weed Asclepias tuberosa ➤ Dry upland sites support xeric oak-hickory forests. FPSHMSXBAR FPSHMSXBAR Swamp milkweed Asclepias incarnata SHRUBS SMALL TREES (continued) New England aster Aster novae-angliae ➤ Beech, tulip poplar, basswood, and sugar maple alder Alnus serrulata ●● ●● staghorn sumac Rhus typhina ●● ●● Bushy aster Aster dumosus indigobush Amorpha fruticosa ●● ●●● southern rusty blackhaw Viburnum rufidulum ●●● ●●●● Fall blue aster Aster patens (mixed mesophytic) forest communities occur on ●● ●●●● ● northern blackhaw Viburnum prunifolium ●●● ●●● Blue false indigo Baptisia australis black chokeberry Aronia melanocarpa Tall bellflower Campanula americana north-facing slopes. sweetshrub Calycanthus floridus ●●● ● Coreopsis Coreopsis major ➤ American beautyberry Callicarpa americana ●● ●●●● TREES Shooting star Dodecatheon meadia Floodplains and upland swamps support “wet feet” or New Jersey tea Ceanothus americanus ●● ●●● ●● red maple Acer rubrum ●●●● ●● ● Joe-Pye weed Eupatorium fistulosum ●● ● silver maple Acer saccharinum ●● ● Mist flower Euportium coelestinum hydric plants. buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis Wild geranium Geranium maculatum ●●● ●● ● ➤ silky dogwood Cornus amomum ●● ●● sugar maple Acer saccharum Woods sunflower Helianthus divaricatus Unique barrens occur in open grassy areas on the hazelnut Corylus americana ●●● ●● buckeye Aesculus glabra ●● ●● Small headed sunflower Helianthus microcephalus Highland Rim. leatherwood Dirca palustris ●●● ● yellow buckeye Aesculus octandra ●● ●● Liverleaf Hepatica acutiloba Alumroot Heuchera americana hearts-a-bustin Euonymus americanus ●● ●● river birch Betula nigra ●●●●● ● ➤ Rare cedar glades occupy thin soil, poorly drained Jewelweed Impatiens pallida swamp mallow Hibiscus moscheutos ●● ● bitternut hickory Carya cordiformis ●●● ● ● Spotted jewelweed Impatiens capensis limestone outcrops (winter wet, summer dry habitat) oakleaf hydrangea Hydrangea quercifolia ●●● ●● pignut hickory Carya glabra ●●● ●● Dwarf crested iris Iris cristata in the Central Basin. wild hydrangea Hydrangea arborescens ● ●●● shagbark Carya ovata ●●● ●●● Cardinal flower Lobelia cardinalis ●● ● ●●● mockernut Carya tomentosa ●●● ●●● Great blue lobelia Lobelia syphilitica golden St. John’s Wort Hypericum frondosum Virginia bluebells Mertensia virginica shrubby St. John’s Wort Hypericum prolificum ●● ●●●● yellow-wood Cladrastis lutea ●●● ●● ● Partridge-berry Mitchella repens common winterberry Ilex verticillata ●●●●● ● persimmon Diospyros virginiana ●● ●● Bergamot Monarda fistulosa STEWART MONTGOMERY ROBERTSON SUMNER MACON CLAY Virginia-willow Itea virginica ●●●●● American beech Fagus grandifolia ●●● ●● Prickly pear Opuntia humifusa OVERTON TROUSDALE JACKSON ●● ●● ●● white ash Fraxinus americana ●●● ●● Appalachian pachysandra Pachysandra procumbens mountain laurel Kalmia latifolia Wild blue phlox Phlox divaricata CHEATHAM ●●●●●●● HOUSTON SMITH spicebush Lindera benzoin ●● ● green ash Fraxinus pennsylvanica Beard-tongue Pentstemon calycosus