by Chuck Hubbuch
Frequently, catalogs and other plant sellers say that a plant is native because it is native to some part United States. If your intent is to grow native plants to support native wildlife and our native environment, native to the U.S. is not good enough. You want to grow plants that are Upstate South Carolina natives. Among the benefits, local natives support our local wildlife and are well-adapted to our local climate and soils.
At the Upstate Native Nursery (UNN), we strive to provide a wide assortment of legally collected, local native plants that excite native plant beginners and experts alike. At the same time, we work to provide correct, up-to-date plant names. Specifically, we use Dr. Weakley’s Flora of the Southeastern United States and NameThatPlant.net as our references for scientific names and plant ranges.
The biggest challenge for us is finding local seeds, divisions and cuttings of native plants. A few of you generously donate from your homes and properties.
Native Plants We’re Seeking
Below is a list of species that we have not received recently that we would like to be able to share with SCNPS members. Please contact us if you have legal and ethical access (such as property owners’ permissions) to any of these and can share seeds, seedlings or cuttings. If you have suggestions for other plants that we should add to our list, please let us know at unn@scnps.org.
- Jack-in-the-pulpit and its relatives (Arisaema species)
- poke milkweed (Asclepias exaltata)
- red-ring milkweed (Asclepias varietata)
- yellowwood (Cladrastis kentukea)
- vasevine (Clematis viorna)
- dwarf huckleberry (Gaylussacia dumosa)
- yellow star grass (Hypoxis hirsuta)
- yellow jewelweed (Impatiens pallida)
- yellow honeysuckle (Lonicera flava)
- Fraser’s magnolia and other deciduous magnolias (Magnolia fraseri and relatives)
- Piedmont Barbara’s buttons (Marshallia obovata)
- Piedmont rhododendron (Rhododendron minus)
- other native azaleas and rhododendrons (Rhododendron spp.)
- fire pink and royal catchfly (Silene regia and S. virginica)
- mountain camellia (Stewartia ovata)
- horse sugar (Symplocos tinctoria)
- golden banners (Thermopsis fraxinifolia or T. mollis)
- sparkleberry (Vaccinium arboreum)
- deer berry (Vaccinium stamineum)
- other native blueberries (Vaccinium spp.)
