Native Only or Pollinator Friendly

Her initial text read, "I'd like to do my business parking lot in an all native garden." I immediately raised my brow. As a professional, I dig deeply into plant ecology and precise vocabulary. For most people, the word native is more of a catchall that could mean pollinator-friendly, adapted, low-maintenance, or even represent a certain style.

She sent me an address for her business, Jill Smith and Associates Counseling. I drove downtown to scope out the existing landscape. I wanted to make sure I could actually help her before I answered. At the city corner address, I was confused. The landscape was newish, contemporary, healthy, and very handsome. I couldn't take my eyes off the palmettos, our state tree, native to the coast, underplanted with a patch of breeze grass. That's the perfect plant for under palmettos, in a baking hot urban strip, I thought. It's a welcome immigrant from Australia, doing a great job that no native grass could do. I shook my head at the thought that the client may want to rip these out.

At the entry, gray-leaved false indigo, gold coreopsis, and black-eyed Susan made a handsome mat. And around the corner and back, I dreamed of adding Carolina jessamine, Texas sage, and Mexican muhly grass. The exising perennials and the new are all American natives but not local, Carolina natives.

Later, when I met Jill for a walk around her building, I told her she had a thriving, handsome landscape. She smiled in appreciation and said, something like, "But I'm all about pollinators. I want more special plants that do things for pollinators."

Relief came with her words. She'd originally said "native plants.” From my super-sensitive and sometimes too geeky science world that would have meant taking out every single existing plant in her space since none (including the state tree) are native to the Columbia area. What she meant was totally different. She wanted her landscape to function, to feed, to be a part of an ecosystem, and help pollinators — butterflies, bees, moths being a visual indicator of success.

The ecology term for this is species richness— which counts the number of species in an ecosystem. That’s a much more important and realistic goal.

In Jill’s parking lot, we could add to the species richness without taking anything out. And we could add things that do more that provide nectors for butterflies, bees and moths in their adult stage. We could add plants that the young, catepillars, need for food in their laval stage — that’s good for pollinators but also for birds who feed on catepillars.

The Myth of Native Insects Use Only Native Plants

We’ve all seen the memes like in the photo below. Here's the thing: if native insects could only survive on native plants, we wouldn't have Clemson and 65 other ag colleges spending the last century desperately trying to keep grasshoppers from devouring our wheat, oats, and soybean fields. Grasshoppers are native. Wheat isn't. Yet somehow they manage to eat it just fine, without checking its passport first.

And why do I field dozens of questions every year about caterpillars demolishing azaleas, aphids covering roses, and spittlebugs setting up camp in our lawns? Because insects adapt. They eat what's available and what works for them, regardless of where those plants originated. Yes, even monarchs use plants other than native milkweed.

Even Doug Tallamy, whose research gets treated as gospel by the movement, doesn't actually make this sweeping claim. His work focuses mostly on leaf-eating larvae and their evolutionary relationships with specific host plants. It does, in fact, sometimes demonstrate that the closely related non-native plants are occasionally preferred, even in these specialist larval relationships. His work does not encompass all plants and pollinators so logically and scientifically, it cannot support the broad generalization that all native insects need all native plants to survive.

That's a leap people made from misinterpreting research and falling for seductive oversimplification. Like this;

(Note in green added by me. This meme is typical of the seductive generalizations too often seen and liked on social media. These sort of myths lead to misunderstandings and even sometimes well intended, but ineffective planting policies and even laws.

The truth is more nuanced and more hopeful: insects are remarkably adaptable, and many non-native plants provide excellent resources for pollinators. The food web is resilient and more flexible than the memes and generalizations lead us to believe.

My plant list is below but Columbia folks, for a great deal on some select pollinator plants, check out Riverbanks Zoo & Garden staff picks. They’ve put together ten nice plants for sixty bucks — it’s a steal. I’ve order two packs for myself. Columbia folks get in on this

[LINK TO RIVERBANKS POLLINATOR PACK

Walking with Jill, I explained this quickly as the sunny, hot parking lot kept us on point. Later, I sent her proposed plants, including our state flower (Carolina Jessamine), sandhills yaupon holly, and plants from other hot, baking places. Red Mexican sage and muhly come from the baking deserts of another country. That border doesn't mean a thing to plants, beetles, or butterflies.

Evergreen clematis, which has been tested by centuries in Southern gardens, performs in dark situations that no Carolina vine can. It may be from Asia, but all sorts of pollinating insects and hummingbirds utilize it – clematis adds to the melting pot beauty, and doesn't threaten the ecosystem any more than your bagel does.

My Design Philosophy

My design philosophy starts with insisting on plants that live and thrive. Ninety percent of my design work is for people and places that will not get specialized, botanical garden quality care. The very first criterion is that a plant will survive where I plant it. To do that, understanding its evolution in certain environments is key. Adaptations that will help a plant thrive are the most important consideration in environmentally sensitive design. We've scarred this world. It's a cliche that is true; we've paved paradise. Getting anything to live in the minuscule bits of dirt in urban centers, on rooftops, and along interstates is a hell of a lot more important than whether that plant comes from within the political, man-made (European colonizer men) lines of our state and country boundaries.

In three current design projects: Jill's parking lot garden, a residential garden in Augusta installed this week, and in another huge transition garden I'm working on, nativity is important but not defining. These are mixed gardens that will thrive and will provide flowers for pollinators, leaves for larvae to munch on, diversity for wildlife, and hopefully attract attention.

I'm constantly trying new plants. The current horticulture and garden design trends bring cool new plants into the marketplace. Remember, horticulture and garden design started the native plant movement. It isn't new; it started with Jefferson and Madison and never let up.

But here's the catch: many plants I'd love to use simply aren't available. You can't design with plants that exist only in your dreams or in some remote woodland. That's why I push the limits and drive hours to specialty horticulture nurseries that bring new natives into the trade. By quick calculation, I can say that my garden team has planted well over 15,000 native perennials and grasses this year alone.

Hunt them down! Specialty nurseries need your support. I do that. Many of the plants in the list below came from either Woodlanders, Naturescapes Beaufort or a recent trip to Florida native nurseries. More about our current protect with Woodlanders below.

Tried and True Pollinator Plant List for the Deep South

• Many Beardtongue (Penstemon multiflorus)

• Starry Rosin Flower (Silphium integrifolium)

• False Rosemary (Conradina grandiflora)

• Evergreen Georgia Sage (Clinopodium x 'Desi Arnaz')

• Red Mexican aka Texas Sage (Salvia greggii)

• Mexican Muhly (Muhlenbergia dumosa)

• Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens)

• Evergreen Clematis (Clematis armandii)

• Florida Coontie (Zamia integrifolia)

• Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria)

• Florida greeneyes (Berlandiera subacaulis)

• Lyre Leaf Sage (Salvia lyrata)

• Conradina

We’re just getting started! We’ve been planning all summer to do a very cool project with the new owners of Woodlanders Nursery — the internationally acclaimed nursery whose curated selection of native and adapted plants has even been ordered by then Prince, now King Charles! We’re rethinking a classic Southern garden that was boring and had only four different plants (boxwood, holly, hydrangeas and grass). It will soon be a very cool species-rich meadow. Enjoy this sneak peek of our crew ripping out the old - the new comes in a few weeks!

Secrets of Southern Gardening Pro Tips for Success

In my new book, there’s a chapter on plants selection and a chapter on design. The book got a thrilling compliment this week — a reader said, “It is what we Southern gardeners have waited our whole lives to read and reference and enjoy.”

If you enjoy thoughtful, frank and real gardening information please check out my brand new book - it’s only available on www.jenksfarmer.com Click Photo to Order.