Here is the entire interview with the authors of The Midwestern Native Garden, Charlotte Adelman and Bernard L. Schwartz. Part of it appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times' garden column on August 17, 2011. Their book should be available by the end of August 2011.
By: Charlotte Adelman
Question: Why is it smart to replace non-native plants with native ones in
our Midwestern landscapes and gardens? How does this help our eco-system?
Answer: The native plants of the Midwest are those plants that grew here naturally before explorers and settlers introduced nonnative plants from faraway places. The native Midwestern trees, shrubs, flowers, sedges and grasses that thrive today in our region are the long term survivors of a grand endurance test that lasted for thousands of years. The results are in and today’s gardeners and landscapers are the lucky beneficiaries.
This region’s native plants endured and survived repeated bouts of freezing winters, broiling summers and killing droughts. The result is native Midwest plants that provide us with beauty, ease of maintenance and environmental benefits that cannot be matched by plants that have been introduced from Europe, Asia and even distant North American regions. Those plants spent their time adapting to the requirements of those distant locations and co-evolving with the butterflies and birds native to those distant locations. Choosing regional Midwest plants confers on today’s Midwest gardeners and landscapers the benefits of eons of their adaptation to the Midwest’s climate and native butterflies and birds. Midwest gardeners and landscapers have the benefit of nature’s trial and error that produced native plants that are the most practical, smart and aesthetic choices for Midwest landscaping of homes, schools, parks, businesses, public spaces, and places of worship.
Because they are perfectly adapted to the region, it is smart and makes practical sense to choose Midwestern native plants because they are reliable, cost effective, vigorous, long-lived and hardy, as well as beautiful/ornamental and fragrant. When planted in the right location (dry, wet, medium, shady, sunny) and once established, native Midwestern plants require no watering or fertilizing. Native plants are resistant to most pests and diseases and never require applications of pesticides or herbicides. This is why native plants are appealing to the gardener/landscaper, who is interested in "low-maintenance" gardening and landscaping.
Explorers and lonely pioneers came to our region bearing plants and animals native to their homelands. New to the Midwest, settlers sought to landscape with plants that reminded them of home. The plants were not accompanied by competing plants and the insects and other wildlife that kept them in check back at home. Studies show that nonnative plants dominate our Midwestern planting choices, a circumstance that can be seen by the informed observer,. The results of selecting and imposing nonnative plants on the Midwestern landscape speaks to some of the most important reasons for choosing native Midwestern plants:.It is the extinction of our native plant and animal species.
I) Butterflies:
A) Butterflies - Flowers: Though we all love butterflies, some of us notice their presence in our gardens has diminished and that many butterflies that once appeared regularly never show up any more. But, few of us link our own gardening and landscaping practices with the increasing scarcity, endangerment and extinction of butterflies, but our practices play an integral part.
The survival of Midwestern butterflies is inextricably linked to the survival and presence of native Midwestern plants. Like most insects, most species of butterflies require regionally local native plants as “host” plants in order to achieve successful reproduction. Without their native host plants, they simply fade away. Let’s look at the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), the Illinois state insect, which is 100% dependent on the availability of native Midwest milkweed plants for survival. When faced only with expanses of nonnative landscapes, however beautiful and costly to create or maintain, the monarch will die.
The female monarch butterfly’s host plant is limited to the various species of native milkweeds (Asclepias) including common milkweed, Sullivant's or prairie milkweed, butterfly weed or orange butterfly milkweed, purple millkweed, and Swamp Milkweed also called Rose Milkweed, Swamp Silkweed and White Indian Hemp and green milkweed. These and many other native milkweed species are available commercially.If a female monarch cannot locate milkweeds, she will not lay her tiny white eggs. When the tiny monarch caterpillars (or larvae) hatch, they can only consume native milkweed foliage; without it they starve and never reach chrysalis (or pupa) stage, which precedes their emergence as new born monarch butterflies. Bottom line: If monarch butterflies cannot locate milkweed plants for reproduction, they will go extinct. Midwestern landscapers and gardeners who want the monarch butterflies to succeed will emphasize the many species of beautiful native milkweeds in their plantings.
No introduced plant from Asia, Europe or elsewhere can provide our native monarch butterflies with successful reproductive opportunities.
B) Butterflies – Grasses and sedges: Illinois was dubbed the “Prairie State” by pioneers who emerged from the dark eastern forests into 22,000,000 acres of sunny, flower-filled native prairie grasslands. Today, due to farming and construction, only 1/10 of 1% of the original Illinois prairie survives, though people can visit fragments, restorations and recreations. The ecosystem we call prairie is dominated by grasses and interspersed with flowers, shrubs and trees. But, few gardeners or landscapers realize that many of the beautiful adult butterflies, skippers and moths that visit our native flowers for nectar, lay their eggs (reproduce) on native grasses. Hundreds of our native butterflies are dependent on native grasses for reproduction. For example, the cobweb skipper (Hesperia metea) lays her eggs on big and little bluestems grasses. The golden byssus butterfly (Problema byssus kumskaka) favors gama grass.
C. Butterflies: Trees and Bushes:
Native oaks and maples (among other native trees) host sphinx moths and luna moths. Native oaks host butterflies such as hairstreaks and skippers as well as the waved sphinx moth, which also reproduces on the now-infested ash trees. Butterflies that reproduce on native hackberry trees include the eastern comma, mourning cloak, snout butterfly, tawny emperor, and hackberry butterfly; some native moths also reproduce on sweet gum trees. Many other native Midwestern trees and shrubs serve as host plants for a variety of native beautiful butterflies and moths. Imported trees do not serve this vital function. So, rather than plant a nonnative Norway Maple or a Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba; in Chinese and Japanese) choose trees that grew naturally in the Chicago region, such as native oak, shagbark hickory, buckeye, and black walnut.
II.) Birds:
Besides serving as host plants for many species of butterflies and other beneficial native insects, the trees listed above and other native trees and shrubs provide many species of our native birds with nesting sites and nuts, berries, seeds and other food, including the insects the trees support. Because native plants co-evolved with native wild birds, they invariably provide a mix of foods that provide birds with nutritious food that is the right size and at the times the birds need it. Some people assume the abundant fruits of the nonnative invasive buckthorn are good for birds. But buckthorn only provides food at the one time it fruits. Because this introduced invasive shrub/tree takes over vast areas, and kills out native plants that fruit at a variety of times, buckthorn deprives the birds of needed food for during all the time that it is not fruiting.
Nesting Birds: When it comes to nesting birds, the importance of native plants cannot be overstated. Studies by eccologist/entomologist, Douglas W. Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home, show that all North American birds other than seabirds -- 96 percent -- feed their young insects, so if the insects are eliminated so are future generations of birds. Even nectar loving hummingbirds feed insects to their offspring, though goldfinches are an exception; their babies are fed partially digested thistle seeds. Tallamy compared native plants and nonnative or alien plants in terms of their production of caterpillar stage insects eaten by insectivorous birds. “The native plants in the study supported a whopping 35 times more caterpillar biomass than the aliens.”i Growing native plants is a meaningful way to encourage healthy populations of native birds and butterflies.
III.) The survival of Native Plants – Are we really willing to sit back and permit our native flowers and other plants to go extinct?
Studies by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center conclude that as a result of mostly ignoring and not planting our native plants and flowers, almost 29 % are at risk of becoming extinct. More than two hundred species have already vanished! We can help turn this around by planting native species in our gardens and landscapes.
Being Invasive is not a nonnative plant’s only deficiency: Even if an introduced plant has not (yet) become naturalized or invasive, and even if it never does, as we continue to build over open spaces, each nonnative plant takes up increasingly scarce space that would be best used by a native species. If we ignore our native plants, they face becoming endangered or extinct, and this harms the native butterflies, other insects and birds that rely on them for reproduction and food.
IV.) Helping stop the onslaught of nonnative invasive plants: Are we really willing to sit back and permit invasive nonnative plants take over our forest preserves, wilderness areas and public parks?
There are nonnative plants that grew here for decades without becoming invasive, but a federal study determined, “The longer nonnative plants are sold commercially, the greater the chance they will become naturalized and potentially invasive.”ii “Many decades often pass between the first introduction of a plant and its eventual rapid spread. In other words, species that rarely spread today may turn out to be troublesome 40 years or more from now.”iii Many ecologists agree that, “a foolproof system for predicting invasiveness has proven elusive.”iv The impact of nonnative invasive plants is reduced by putting regional native plants into mainstream use in our gardens and landscapes. The New England Wild Flower Society puts it this way, “By using native plants, we can avoid invasive plant species....that harm natural areas.”v For those who wish to avoid planting a future invasive nonnative plant, states the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, “the most prudent prevention measure is to choose a regionally native species.”vi
Regional native plants never (or very rarely) become invasive. Why? Each native plant species is a member of a community that includes other plants, animals and microorganisms. The natural balance keeps each native species in check, allowing it to thrive in conditions where it is suited, but preventing it from running amok. In the case of nonnative plants, the opposite is true.
Garden columns offering advice about avoiding mistakes, or attracting butterflies and birds, sometimes suggest using your neighbor’s tried and true “Old Favorites.” But too often, the result is yet another garden or landscape dominated by nonnative garden plants, thus aggravating the problem of decreasing populations of native plants, butterflies and birds. Another byproduct of choosing nonnative plants that “are often found in ornamental plantings and landscapes,” is they may have become naturalized or invasive. “In fact, many non-native plants introduced for horticultural and agricultural use now pose a serious ecological threat.”vii “The economic cost of invasive plants is estimated at more than $34 billion per year, and the costs continue to grow.”viii
VI) Clean air and global warming or climate change:
When it comes to trapping carbon dioxide, our native Midwest flora excels at this environmental benefit. In response to our region’s semi-arid climate, prairie flowers and grasses developed extremely deep moisture-seeking roots that trap, hold and sequester carbon dioxide. Prairie’s ability to trap pollutants outshines even deciduous trees and tropical forests. The deep rooted native Midwest prairie plants also help clean the water and prevent erosion.
VII) Reality vs Theory:
Children: In his 2005 book, Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv coins the term Nature Deficit Disorder, referencing what seems to be the trend of children spending less time outdoors resulting in what he claims are undesirable behavioral problems. Many parents attend his lectures, some buy his book, and some even read it. Responses by parents to his message include purchasing butterfly raising kits for their children (which many butterfly experts consider harmful to the natural butterfly population) and taking them on expeditions to the forest preserves, museums and nature centers.
An excellent, direct and realistic response to providing children with exposure to nature, is to choose native plants for home and school (and other) landscapes (from backyards, to roof tops to window boxes to plants in a tin can) where the children can observe them every day, gaining awareness of the natural world. Creating local landscapes that enable children to observe the comings and goings of butterflies, bees and many other insects, birds and small animals in the real world, and not in a purchased kit, enables them to enjoy, understand and learn to value their interaction with each other and their response to the climate and the site’s specific conditions (wet, dry, sunny, shady). Creating a mini-ecosystem dominated by native host plants that local butterflies use, such as milkweeds for monarchs, enables children and adults to observe the reproductive process in nature. Because host plants invariably do double duty, and also serve as sources of nectar and/or pollen, they provide many natural functions that can introduce children to a lifetime of enjoyment and feeling of kinship with and responsibility for the natural world.
Lawn: The millions of acres of lawn that fill the Midwest are actually acres of nonnative invasive grasses which spread by underground runners and provide no benefit to any birds, insects or other animals. Lawns owe their perfection, including the exclusion of dandelions to costly high maintenance such as watering, fertilizing, edging, mowing, and applications of deadly pesticides and herbicides which kill insects including butterflies, bees which are vital to our food supply and birds and are linked to numerous human diseases, to which children are especially vulnerable. Doesn’t it make sense, health wise and economically to replace the monoculture of lawn with beautiful landscapes of native grasses, shrubs, flowers, trees and sedges?
VII) A sense of place:
Locations as far apart as Los Angeles, Chicago and New York all share virtually identical landscaping consisting of plants from Europe, Asia and annuals from Central or South America. Landscaping with introduced flora offers travelers and residents a monotonous and generic ornamental landscape.
Creative planners refuse to accept this boring experience and insist that streets, roadways, air ports, hotels, and other landscapes be designed to showcase the regional landscape. Of course, choosing native landscaping also benefits regional insects and other wildlife.
Midwestern residents can be part of the solution by choosing beautiful native Midwestern plants for their gardens and backyards and public spaces, thus providing recognition of our regional heritage and its history and culture, as well as helping to fulfill the needs of our regional flora and fauna.
i Douglas W. Tallamy, Bringing Nature Home-How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens, (Timber Press, 2007), 54
ii Stephanie Yao, Longer Marketing Time Increases the Risk of Naturalization by Horticultural Plants (United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. February 24, 2009) http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2009/090224.htm
iii Hohn M. Randall & Janet Martinelli, editors. Invasive Plants: Weeds of the Global Garden. (Brooklyn Botanic Garden Publications, 1996), 12.
iv Janet Marinelli, Preventing Plant Invasions, Colston Burrell, Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants (Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, Inc 2006), 5,7
v Why should I grow native plants in my garden? Protect Conserve, Native Plants & Sustainability – New England Wildflower Society (January 15, 2009) http://www.newfs.org/grow/why-grow-native-plants.html
vi Janet Marinelli, Invasive Plants, Questions and Answers. Colston Burrell, Native Alternatives to Invasive Plants (Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, Inc 2006),7
vii Invasive Plants of the Eastern United States – Identification and Control. Invasive.org is a joint project of The Bugwood Network, USDA Forest Service & USDA APHIS PPQ, The University of Georgia - Warnell School of Forest Resources and College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences - Dept. of Entomology; http://www.invasive.org/eastern/,Last updated on Thursday, December 11, 2003.
viii Why Should I Care About Invasive Plants, Midwest Invasive Plant Network, MIPN.org.
Question: What are the first steps in turning a non-native ornamental garden into a native one?
Answer: First, identify the plants that are growing in one’s garden and determine if they are native or introduced. Our book is designed to assist in the process. Some nonnative plants (some are invasive in the Midwest) that can be immediately identified include bachelor’s button, daylilies, butterfly bush, purple loosestrife, ornamental onions, pachysandra, oriental poppy, dame’s rocket, queen of the meadow, oriental lilies, oriental poppy, Chinese anemone, chrysanthemum, periwinkle or vinca, hosta, Oxeye (Shasta) daisy, crown vetch, Queen Anne’s Lace, daffodils, tulips, peonies, and purple loosestrife. Even if nonnative plants have grown here for a long time, and we are accustomed to them, this does not transform them into native plants.
Some nonnative plants may be confused with their native counterparts, including Oriental bittersweet, wisteria, and many species of aster.
Some people may assume that the popular nonnative ornamental grasses that have become ubiquitous (and for many, also invasive) are native prairie grasses. These nonnative grasses include plume or hardy pampass or Ravenna grass; Chinese or Japanese silver grass, eulalia, maiden grass, zebra grass, Amur silvergrass, autumn red, flame grass; feather reed grass, Korean feather reed Grass and Japanese fountain grass.
The Midwestern Native Garden is a book geared to help people identify many of the popular nonnative plants that may be growing in their gardens; the book provides native alternatives.
Other resources to help identify the plants growing in one’s yard or garden or landscape, include:
A Field Guide to Wildflowers by Peterson and McKenny (The Peterson Field Guide Series); Newcomb's Wildflower Guide; Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers by Ladd/Oberle, Wildflowers of the Tallgrass Prairie –the upper Midwest by Runkel and Roosa, and other excellent books and guides. Assistance can be sought from the Chicago Botanic Garden – Plant Information, the Morton Arboretum’s Plant Clinic, from other arboretums, from internet websites and from native plant organizations and garden clubs. One should contact the seller of the plants in question. One can read nursery catalogs that offer to sell and describe both nonnative plants and native plants. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center website http://www.wildflower.org/ provides material about identifying many plants. Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes, located in Wisconsin, with branches in various states, including Illinois can be a source of information. See http://www.for-wild.org/ The Midwest Invasive Plant Network, MIPN, http://mipn.org/ has a website and written materials to help identify the culprits at http://mipn.org/InvasivesBrochure.pdf. USDA Plants tells whether a plant is native or introduced (I). The Plant Conservation Alliance’s Alien Plant Working Group’s Least Wanted: Alien Plant Invaders of Natural Areas can be accessed at http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/fact.htm For photographs and information about native Illinois wildflowers, trees, vines and shrubs and insects, access Illinois Wildflowers at http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/ The Illinois Department of Natural Resources provides materials about native Illinois species.
Second, one can decide how much of a project to take on and what to do now and what to do at a later date. Will one replace specific nonnative plants now, or wait until they die or decline or disappear? Will one decide to zero in on the many known invasive nonnative plants and replace all of them with the native alternatives that suit the site’s planting conditions? Will one decide that to provide reproductive plants for butterflies and food and nesting sites for birds, it is necessary to install specific native plants, such as various species of milkweed for the monarch, and remove all the nonnative plants (even those that are not currently known to be invasive) that fill the spaces that are needed to achieve this objective? Will one decide to create an entirely native plant garden, but wonder about handling one’s attachment to some nonnative species? To deal with this dilemma, The Midwestern Native Garden suggests plants which look exactly alike or look similar or provide a similar look, and that have the same cultivation requirements.
The Midwestern Native Garden’s data about the butterflies and birds that employ specific native plants for reproduction and/or nectar, pollen or seeds (food), assists people seeking native plants that will benefit and attract local butterflies and birds. The book also identifies native plants that are endangered or having survival problems, that one can include in the garden to help the species survive. The book also identifies nonnative plants that have become naturalized or invasive in the Midwest, their places of origin, and provides native alternatives.
Third: If one is purchasing native plants or hiring someone to create a native landscape, it makes sense to locate purveyors that are expert in the native plant field. Tell the seller your objectives, be they creating a butterfly garden, a rain garden, a prairie, a wetland, a rock garden, a roof garden, a window box, or a colorful, fragrant, hardy garden composed of beautiful native regional Midwest plants. Gently reject offers of excess plants from kind friends or neighbors unless you know that these plants are in fact native plants. Tell the seller the conditions of your space and if possible have him look at it. Is the garden all or partly wet, dry, sunny or shady? To achieve success, choose flowers, trees, grasses, sedges and shrubs that suit the requirements of place they will be planted. Install plants whose ultimate size is what you desire and make sure to provide the plants with adequate room to grow. Create a plan that will help you achieve your objectives. Follow the seller’s instructions as to care and maintenance and it won’t be long before you are delighted by visits from local butterflies, bees and birds.
QUESTION: Could you give us a list of alternative native plants that might
replace the non-native favorites?
Note: Some of these nonnative plants are naturalized and or invasive in parts of the Midwest.
Spring:
1) Nonnative: PERIWINKLE, VINCA, MYRTLE. Invasive. Origin: Europe. Native Alternatives: BARREN STRAWBERRY, GREEK VALERIAN, WILD BLUE PHLOX, WILD GERANIUM, WILD GINGER, WILD STRAWBERRY, WATERLEAF.
2) Nonnative: Bradford Pear tree. Invasive. Origin: Korea and China. Native Alternatives: FRINGE TREE; JUNEBERRY, AMELANCHIER; REDBUD; NATIVE HAWTHORNS.
3) Nonnative: HYACINTH. Origin: Asia. Native Alternatives: WILD HYACINTH, EASTERN CAMAS, ATLANTIC CAMAS; PRAIRIE, SOUTHERN WILD HYACINTH.
Summer:
1) Nonnative: DAME’S ROCKET. Invasive. Origin: Europe, Central Asia. Native Summer Alternatives: BEARDTONGUES, BLAZING STARS, FIREWEED, GREAT BLUE LOBELIA, OBEDIENT PLANT.
2) Nonnative: DAYLILY. Origin: China, Korea, Japan. Native Alternatives - to Orange Daylilies. Invasive: BUTTERFLYWEED, ORANGE BUTTERFLY MILKWEED; ORANGE CONEFLOWER; PURPLE CONEFLOWER (Orange centers
3) Nonnative: LADY’S MANTLE, ALPINE LADY’S MANTLE. Naturalized/invasive. Origin: Eurasia. Native Alternatives: ALUMROOTS; BISHOP’S CAP; COMMON CINQUEFOIL; GREEK VALERIAN; SEDGES; SKULLCAPS; WILD BLEEDING HEART; WILD BLUE PHLOX; WILD GINGER; WILD STRAWBERRY.
Fall:
1) Nonnative: PLUME GRASS, HARDY PAMPASS GRASS, RAVENNA GRASS. Naturalized/Invasive. Origin: Europe. Native Alternatives: BIG BLUESTEM, TURKEY FOOT, BEARDGRASS; CANADA WILD RYE; EASTERN GAMAGRASS, GAMMAGRASS, WILD CORN; INDIAN GRASS; SWITCH GRASS, TALL PRAIRIE GRASS.
2) Nonnative: ASTERS (blue/purple) including ALPINE ASTER; FRIKART’S ASTER; ITALIAN ASTER; EUROPEAN MICHAELMAS DAISY; THOMPSON’S ASTER, TATARIAN ASTER –Invasive/naturalized. Origin: Europe, Asia. Native Alternatives: AROMATIC ASTER; NEW ENGLAND ASTER; PINK NEW ENGLAND ASTER; SHORT’S ASTER; SILKY ASTER, SILVERY ASTER; SMOOTH ASTER; SKY BLUE, AZURE ASTER.
3) Nonnative: CHRYSANTHEMUM, GARDEN MUM; FLORIST’S DAISY – naturalized/invasive. Origin: Asia, Europe. Native Alternatives: FALSE SUNFLOWER, SMOOTH OX-EYE; WESTERN SUNFLOWER; SHOWY, NOBLE GOLDENROD; STIFF, HARD LEAVED GOLDENROD; BLUE STEMMED GOLDENROD; ELM-LEAVED GOLDENROD; ZIG-ZAG GOLDENROD.
QUESTION: Would you name a few native plants that are particularly attractive
or necessary for specific butterflies and birds?
ANSWER: A Milkweed (Asclepias) species: Prairie or Sullivant’s Milkweed; Orange or Butterfly Milkweed, Whorled Milkweed, Short Green Milkweed, Purple Milkweed, Red or Swamp Milkweed, White or Verticillata Milkweed and Tall Green Milkweed, Oval-Leaved Milkweed,
Specific butterflies: Milkweed is necessary for Monarch butterflies, because they only lay their eggs on milkweeds and cannot reproduce if they are not available. The monarch larvae only eat milkweed foliage and starve if none is available. Milkweeds are essential nectar sources for numerous species of adult butterflies and support many other interesting species of insects.
B) GOLDEN ALEXANDERS; HEART LEAVED GOLDEN ALEXANDERS; MEADOW PARSNIP; PRAIRIE PARSLEY; YELLOW PIMPERNEL; PURPLESTEM ANGELICA; HAIRY ANGELIC; SWEET CICELY; BLACK SNAKEROOT; COW PARSNIP and RATTLESNAKE MASTER belong to the parsley/carrot family.
Specific butterflies and bees: The parsley/carrot family is the sole host for the Missouri/Ozark woodland swallowtail (Papilio joanae) and the parsnip or black or eastern black swallowtail (Papilo polyxenes asterius). A variety of native carrot/parsley species extends the breeding season for these butterflies. Like many native plants, Golden Alexanders have their own specialist bee, the oligolectic inconspicuous tiny black bee, Andrena ziziae.
C) Native VIOLETS such as TRIANGLE-LEAVED VIOLET; COMMON BLUE VIOLET; ALPINE, LABRADOR VIOLET; BIRDSFOOT, PANSY VIOLET; PRAIRIE VIOLET; DOWNY YELLOW VIOLET; MISSOURI VIOLET and other species of native violets.
Specific Butterflies: Wild perennial, native violets are the sole host plants for many butterflies including the Aphrodite fritillary, regal fritillary (Speyeria idalia), silver-bordered fritillary (Boloria selene and meadow fritillary (Clossiana bellona) which is attracted to gardens that are near wet meadows, and great spangled fritillary. Violet nectar attracts many species of adult butterflies. The cobweb skipper (Hesperia metea) (Photograph B13) prefers birdsfoot violet nectar.i Like many native plants, Violets are pollinated by their own little oligolege bee, Andrena violae, a specialist in violets and wood sorrel Ants carry violet seeds to new locations, fulfilling the vital role of seed dispersal.
Specific Birds: Migrating Birds feed their young enormous quantities of the tiny insects violets attract. Hummingbirds visit violets for both nectar and small insects.
D) PURPLE, EASTERN PURPLE CONEFLOWER; PALE PURPLE CONEFLOWER; OZARK CONEFLOWER.
Specific butterflies: The Echinaceae genus hosts the silvery checkerspot butterfly (Chlosyne nycteis). The Xerces Society recommends purple coneflower for feeding adult butterflies At least 22 species of adult butterflies are attracted to this flower, including red admiral, painted lady, American lady, variegated fritillary, tiger swallowtail, spicebush swallowtail, giant swallowtail, viceroy and pearl crescent. Specific Birds: The tiny insects the Echinaceae genus attracts attract hummingbirds. Coneflower seeds are very attractive to goldfinches, juncos and other seed eating birds.
E) BLUE WILD INDIGO, BLUE FALSE INDIGO; WHITE WILD INDIGO; WHITE FALSE INDIGO; CREAM WHITE, PRAIRIE, LONG-BRACTED WILD INDIGO; SMALL YELLOW WILD INDIGO, RATTLEWEED.
Specific butterflies: Indigos are members of the pea family. Indigos host the wild indigo duskywing butterfly (Erynnis baptisiae) orange sulphur (colias eurytheme), marine blue (leptotes marina) ii and frosted elfin (callphrys irus). The pea family hosts, among other butterflies, the grey hairstreak (Strymon melinus), silvery blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus), and eastern tailed-blue (Everes comynts). The larvae of gray hairstreak and eastern tailed-blue, and the pupae of the orange sulphur (and occasionally the adults) and frosted elfin over winter on their host plants. Eastern tailed-blue adult butterflies emerge in April. The pea/bean family hosts many other species of butterflies including the whites and sulphurs (Pieridae) families and the gossamer-wing butterflies (Lycaenidae) family and subfamilies including blues (Polyommatinae), hairstreaks (Theclinae), spread-wing skippers (Pyrginae) and true brushfoots (Nymphalinae). Specific birds: Hummingbirds seek the nectar and the small insects the flowers attract. Some seed eating birds consume the seeds. Other insects: Bees visit. The pea family naturally fertilizes the soil by combining nitrogen fixing bacteria that dwell in their deep rooted roots’ nodules with nitrogen from the air, explaining its tolerance of infertile soils.
F) Big Bluestem grass and Little Bluestem Grass: Specific Insects: Host plants for the cobweb skipper (Hesperia metea), among other butterflies which need native grasses for reproduction areas on which to lay their eggs. Birds: Native grasses also provide seeds that birds eat and opportunities for cover.
5) A brief summary of the book and why it should be on every Midwest gardener’s bookshelf.
The Midwestern Native Garden should be on every Midwest gardener’s bookshelf because 1) it is the only book directed specifically to the Midwest gardener and landscaper (no pages are devoted to other regions) that provides gardeners and landscapers with illustrations and comprehensive information about choosing native alternatives to nonnative plants, and 2) the only book that informs Midwest gardeners about the specific butterflies, other beneficial insects and birds that specific native plant alternatives attract and also provide with reproductive sites and food sources. The book also supplies information about the native plant’s status in the wild; 3) the only book that provides extensive information about the nonnative plants that are not generally well known for being naturalized or invasive in the Midwest.
Description of the book:
The Midwestern Native Garden — 2011 · Native Alternatives to Nonnative Flowers and Plants, an Illustrated Guide.
By Charlotte Adelman and Bernard L. Schwartz
Midwestern gardeners and landscapers are becoming increasingly attracted to noninvasive regional native wildflowers and plants over popular nonnative species. The Midwestern Native Garden offers viable alternatives to both amateurs and professionals, whether they are considering adding a few native plants or intending to go native all the way. Native plants improve air and water quality, reduce use of pesticides, and provide vital food and reproductive sites to birds and butterflies, that nonnative plants cannot offer, helping bring back a healthy ecosystem.
The authors provide a comprehensive selection of native alternatives that look similar or even identical to a range of nonnative ornamentals. These are native plants that are suitable for all garden styles, bloom during the same season, and have the same cultivation requirements as their nonnative counterparts. Plant entries are accompanied by nature notes setting out the specific birds and butterflies the native plants attract.
The Midwestern Native Garden will be a welcome guide to gardeners whose styles range from formal to naturalistic but who want to create an authentic sense of place, with regional natives. The beauty, hardiness, and easy maintenance of native Midwestern plants will soon make them the new favorites.
Charlotte Adelman and Bernard L. Schwartz are the authors of Prairie Directory of North America – US and Canada, winner of the 2003 National Garden Club Illinois Tommy Donnan Certificates Publications award and the 2003 Garden Clubs of Illinois’ Award.
QUESTION: Where are the best local sources for purchasing native plants:
ANSWER: Mail order nurseries that sell native plants offer wide selections in catalogs that show what the plants look like and provide excellent information about how and which to choose to fit the environment into which they will be planted and how to care for them. Perusing native plant nursery catalogs is a wonderful way to spend many a cold winter’s evening. In addition to providing visual images of the native plants they sell, and sometimes about the butterflies they support, native plant catalogs are terrific sources of basic information about why and how-to garden/landscape with native Midwest plants.
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center located in Texas compiled a nation wide directory to make it easier to find businesses that sell native plants or seeds and provide professional landscape or consulting services. See: http://www.wildflower.org/suppliers/
Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes has a home office in Wisconsin, and branches in various states, including Illinois. Wild Ones promotes environmentally sound landscaping practices to preserve biodiversity through the preservation, restoration and establishment of native plant communities. Wild Ones is a not-for-profit environmental education and advocacy organization. It provides a list of its native plant purveyor and landscaping advertisers.
Many nurseries and landscape services in the Chicago area have begun offering native plants for sale and some specialize in native plants. The web holds listings of many excellent Midwest based native plant nurseries and landscape services. Obtain their catalogs and peruse them to locate plants you want to include in your garden or landscape.
Customers visiting nurseries or hiring landscaping services should ask them to offer the specific native plants they want to purchase, and should ask them to create a much wider selection of native plants for sale. As popular demand for native plants become obvious, retailers will react by increasing their inventories of native regional Midwest plants.
The Lake County Forest Preserves Annual Native Plant Sale: Lake County Forest Preserves · 2000 N. Milwaukee Ave. · Libertyville, IL 60048 · 847-367-6640 –
QUESTION; What garden practices do you recommend for sustaining a successful
native garden that will attract butterflies, bees and birds?
ANSWER: Choose Midwest native plants that are suitable to the requirements of your site and follow the directions provided by the sellers to achieve the best performance. Be mindful of the plant’s ultimate size and give it adequate room. B) Choose specific native plants needed by specific Midwest butterflies as host plants for successful reproduction. C) Eliminate the use of pesticides and herbicides because these chemicals kill butterflies, bees and other beneficial insects and kill or sicken birds and human beings. D) Modify spring and fall clean up procedures to take the requirements of butterflies and birds into consideration. For example, don’t remove all the fallen leaves, but enable them to remain in appropriate places on the ground. Why? Fallen leaves harbor insects in various life stages which are needed as food by migrating and stay at home birds and they decay and become mulch which provides sustenance to the plants. Some insects including butterflies over winter in various life stages in leaf litter and throwing it out kills the insects. Refrain from early cutting plants down that may harbor butterfly larvae and/or provide birds with seeds and shelter over the winter. Leave some dead wood in place (Ex: snags) because woodpeckers and other cavity nesting birds rely on them for food and reproduction. E) Create thickets and tangles of native vines and shrubs as this may induce nesting by cardinals and catbirds. F) Don’t be shy about seeking advice from native plant purveyors and other experts. G) Include clean water sources. For serious butterfly gardening, check publications about butterflies which suggest other butterfly-supportive techniques.
i Opler, Paul A., Harry Pavulaan, Ray E. Stanford, Michael Pogue, coordinators. 2006. Butterflies and Moths of North America. Bozeman, MT: NBII Mountain Prairie Information Node. http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/
ii Bouseman & Sternburg, Field Guide to Butterflies of Illinois, 120.
