There most certainly is a place for natives. I did a design recently for a neighborhood park and included them in it. They definitely cross my mind when I know there will be extreme cultivation issues such as sunny and dry, shady and dry, wet and anything, or most importantly, minimal maintenance after establishment. Of course if there is a non-native available that is just as tough and prettier I have no problem going with it. Pretty always wins. Remember high school? I attempt to follow the “right plant, right place” mantra ignoring the individual plant’s origin. I want plants from everywhere and damn near every plant no matter where it’s from. As Divine said in Pink Flamingos “Get it all cracker. Get it all”.

Plus there is this whole debate of what is a native. Is it native to this country? To this region? To this state? To this county? To this site? If 10,000 years ago an animal transported the seed several hundred miles then pooped it out, is it native now? So what do you do? Seems like it boils down to individual preference. To one it’s a regional thing to another it’s a 50 square mile thing. How rabid do you want to be? There is a rhyme and reason for selecting germplasm from near you. The plants have evolved to survive your environmental conditions – your summers, your winters, your rain cycles. Red maples are hardy from New England to south Florida. All the same species but…… A red maple from south Florida is not going to be winter hardy in the Midwest. Those plants have changed over eons. Not enough to be a new species but enough to not be hardy just anywhere. Likewise a plant from Minnesota taken to Florida is going to say, “Where the hell is winter? And why doesn’t it drop below 80 at night?” Not going to be a happy plant. See the dilemma? It’s not all cut and dried.

But there are times when we want to use natives of some persuasion for a planting. One of those times is upon us now. As preparations go on for the opening of the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art + Nature Park in 2009 we have received the first plants for the area. A decision was made early on to replant with natives. This will not be a highly maintained site so the plants need to be able to take of themselves to some degree. For the reasons mentioned earlier natives should be better able to do this. With this in mind Chad studied Charles Deam’s Flora of Indiana and selected species found in the state.

First published in 1940, Deam’s book is considered THE reference manual on the plants of Indiana. Chad has been busy finding us a generous grant and the first (not the last) 600 trees and shrubs to plant. These range from 3 gallon container material to 2 ½ inch caliber balled and burlaped trees.

We are attempting to create a much more diverse ecosystem than what evolved on this site after it was farmed then quarried. To do this we have had to remove plenty of the invasive exotics with Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) being far and away the most common. This removal has created the greatest amount of planting space. We will also remove some invasive tree species and weedy native tree species. Yes Virginica, a tree can be a weed.

What will we plant back on the site? Glad you asked. For trees we have a mix of canopy and understory types. Here’s the selections for the first phase of planting: red maple (Acer rubrum, multiple cultivars), hybrid maple (Acer x freemanii ,a hybrid of the red and silver maple, A. saccharinum), Ohio buckeye (Aesculus glabra), paw-paw or Indiana banana (Asimina triloba), American hornbeam or blue beech or ironwood or musclewood (Carpinus caroliniana – see why I like scientific names?), shagbark hickory (Carya ovata), northern catalpa (Catalpa speciosa), redbud (Cercis canadensis), pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia), Kentucky coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus), cucumbertree magnolia (Magnolia acuminata), black gum or tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica), white oak (Quercus alba), swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor), chinkapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii), sassafras (Sassafras albidum), baldcypress (Taxodium distichum), American linden or basswood (Tilia americana ‘Redmond’). The shrubs are: red chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia ‘Brilliantissima’), black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa ‘Viking’), American filbert (Corylus americana), smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens, H. a. ‘Annabelle’, H. a. subsp. radiata ‘Samantha’), shining or flameleaf sumac (Rhus copallina var. latifolia ‘Prairie Flame’), staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina). This is just the first group to be planted and doesn’t even include herbaceous material. As you can see we have included cultivars of some species. This is partly because of their improved characteristics and partly because it can be very difficult to find the straight species of many plants (those of you about to email me all the sources you know – please don’t). The end result is going to be a much more interesting and healthy plant community. I would think the wildlife would be most appreciative as well.

For folks wanting more information about natives and invasives might I suggest the Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society – INPAWS. They are a group very active in the state promoting the native flora and educating the public about the importance of it. For more info on invasive species (plant, animal, and more) try the DNR and USDA sites. When you need a break from all that plant stuff and want to see something truly exotic, look at this. If I just had more time for my animal genetics work.