by Jesse Freeman
As a newcomer to the native plant world, the idea of transforming my landscape with natives feels a little overwhelming. Unsure of where to start, I decided to focus on something manageable: filling the planters around my house. If you’re in a similar situation, my advice is to start with the “low-hanging fruit” and pick something small and easy. When you’re uncertain about what to plant, attending your local SCNPS plant sale in person can be incredibly helpful. Not only do you have the opportunity to see a variety of plants up close, but there are also plenty of knowledgeable folks available to guide you.
I was fortunate enough to attend the Upstate SCNPS Spring Plant Sale, where I received valuable advice from Pam Barbour, our Upstate President. With her guidance, I selected several plants that would thrive (or at least have a decent shot of making it) in my planters.
Here’s a rundown of the natives I brought home:
- sweet Betsy trillium (Trillium cuneatum)
- pale yellow trillium (Trillium discolor)
- southern green-and-gold (Chrysogonum virginianum v. australe)
- indian pink (Spigelia marilandica)
- golden Alexander (Zizia aurea)
- dwarf crested iris (Iris cristata)
- Stoke’s aster (Stokesia laevis)
- spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiana)
- frost aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides)
- blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium)
- blue vervain (Verbena hastata)
- wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)
As you begin with native plants, it can indeed be intimidating, but the important thing is to get started and get your hands dirty. It’s perfectly okay if not all the plants work out in the locations where you initially place them. Gardening is often about trial and error—trying out plants and making adjustments as needed.
Regardless of how things turn out, these plants already look great on my porches and front entry. I have asked my daughter, Sara, several times if she’d like to look up the bloom times of each of these to see when we should start looking for some color out the windows. She just laughs and laughs when I do and says, “no.” Oh well, I guess I’ll need to stick with the low-hanging fruit for now. I like surprises anyway.
We would love to hear about your experiences with native plants purchased from our recent sales. Please drop me a line at upstatemedia@scnps.org and share how you are using your new native plants. Don’t forget to send some pictures too! We’d love to feature them in upcoming editions of our newsletter.
Happy planting!
