Missouri's natives: The beauty of local plants

Over the past few months I have become more aware of the interest in native plants.

This awareness is due to information provided by the Missouri Department of Conservation, articles in trade journals, news clips by the media and reading information in catalogues from nurseries that specialize in native plants.

Each of these sources does a good job of explaining the who, what, why, when, where and how of native plants. But still, for some reason, when I field questions from gardeners and customers I find that there seems to be a lot of misinformation in the public's mind about natives. Perhaps I can clear up some of these misconceptions.

The first misconception I have heard is that nurseries have not sold native plants in the past, but are now beginning to.

If you or your grandparents ever bought a pin oak, northern red oak, sugar maple, coneflower or rudbeckia, all common plants found in most garden centers, then you bought a native plant. There was just no sign hanging on the plant that said, "This is a plant native to Missouri."

Another misconception is that any plant native to Missouri will grow anywhere in Missouri. Unfortunately this is not true. Just west of here shortleaf pine, the only pine native to Missouri, does pretty well on rocky soils. But if you move this plant to northern Missouri, or to an area where soils are high in clay content, you will find that shortleaf pine doesn't do quite as well. It may survive, but it will not thrive like it does around Poplar Bluff.

A third misconception is that all non-native plants require more moisture than native plants. Certainly, native plants such as black-eyed Susans and coneflower thrive along droughty roadsides. On the other hand, non-natives such as Colorado blue spruce also need dry, gravelly soils in which to thrive. Blue spruce, if planted in the moist clay soils common to Southeast Missouri, will at best survive.

A fourth misconception is that non-native plants do not thrive as well as native plants. Unfortunately no one told multiflora rose and Japanese honeysuckle that they can't thrive in Missouri.

Don't get me wrong, I love to use native plants in landscape situations. To me, the landscape looks more natural. But the landscape situation must satisfy the requirements of soil type, moisture regime and temperature range that the native plant thrives in. Otherwise, native or not, the plant will not do well in a landscape.

Unfortunately native plants don't always provide us with the characteristics that we want in a landscape. It is hard to find a native plant that blooms profusely all summer long.

In addition, in Missouri we only have two native evergreens, shortleaf pine and eastern red cedar. Yet most gardeners want some year-round green color of different sizes and shapes. Shortleaf pine and eastern red cedar will not fulfill all of these requirements. Therefore there is a need and place for non-natives in the landscape.

Don't think that I am discouraging the use of natives in the landscape. On the contrary, I think that their use is great. It's just that I think gardeners need to look at the environmental conditions in their landscape plot and make wise decisions on which plants to cultivate, native or not.

Send your gardening and landscape questions to Paul Schnare at P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63702-0699 or by e-mail to news@semissourian.com.