Suburban Ecology: Not-so-Common Natives for your Garden

We are all now no strangers to the fact that we should be using more native plants in our landscapes. I’ve said before that the goal is to have 80% of the biomass of your landscape plants be native, and as nurseries are carrying more and more of them it is easier to do now.

The easiest ones to find in local nurseries, the ones we all know and love, include Black-eyed Susan, Cardinal flowers, Butterfly weed, and Purple coneflower (actually not a NJ native), but there are many more cool native plants I’d like to introduce you to. 

Some of the best perennials for supporting the eco-system are less familiar and may be a little harder to find, but worth seeking out; Baneberry, Jack-in-the-pulpit, Turtlehead, Wild Geranium, Beebalm, Beardtongue, Solomon’s-seal and Trillium. These workhorse perennials support insects, bees and birds, with berries, seeds, pollen and nectar.

Two of my favorite local growers are Toadshade Wildflower Farm and Wild Ridge Plants. One mail order, one pick up only. These are great resources and by buying from them you can support a NJ business and the ecosystem at the same time.

Toadshade Wildflower Farm is in Frenchtown, but is mail order only. Owner Dr. Randi Eckel is an entomologist so is in a unique position to offer insights on pollinators and the plants they prefer. She is growing over 500 species of native plants in her suburban back yard. As it is not zoned for commercial use she sells mail order. 

You could also arrange pick up your plants at her local hardware store in Frenchtown, which is a good idea for a larger order as shipping can get expensive. I recently ordered a few hard to find plants for a total of 28.25 and the shipping was 27.97. 

If you register for  one of the many lectures Dr. Randi gives for the Native Plant Society of NJ, the Frelinghuysen Arboretum or a local garden club, she generally brings a good supply along to sell. If you are up to it, Toadshade also carries seeds for even more unique native perennials, and these are all locally sourced in New Jersey and nearby Pennsylvania.

Randi says asking about her favorite underused native plant, is ‘a bit like asking a parent to name their favorite child’. But she did give me a few ideas.

Strawberry Bush and Boneset

American Strawberry Bush, (Euonymous americanus), is the native version of the invasive Burning Bush (Euonymous alatus). This stunning 5’ tall plant sometimes called Bursting-Heart, is super showy in fall with scarlet fruit capsules opening to show orange seeds inside.

Late Flowering Boneset (Eupatorium serotinum) is a 5’ tall plant covered in small white flowers from September through November. Its long narrow leaves are a beautiful gray-green color. Its a great source of nectar late in the season for bees and butterflies. Salt and deer tolerant too.

Another great pollinator plant, Flat-Topped White Aster (Doellingeria umbellata) has big clusters of white flowers with chartreuse green centers in August and September. It is the host plant for several butterflies and moths including the rare Harris’ Checkerspot. It gets up to 4’ tall. 

One of my favorites, Pasture Thistle (Cirsium discolor) is just what you think, one of the thistly purple plants seen growing along roads. This genus contains many pernicious weeds but this one is a good one. Find the right spot for this, and you’ll be rewarded because this tall purple fall bloomer is the host plant for Painted Lady butterflies, is a bird and bee magnet and the seed ‘fluff’ is used by goldfinches for nesting material. Grows just about any sunny spot, but its thorny so put in in the back of the border. The thorns keep the deer at bay.

The not so subtle giant Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum) gets to 7’. Perfoliatum means the leaves surround the stem, in this case forming ‘cups’ that catch water. You’ll find birds drinking from this after a rain. This hefty plant needs space, but in return will give you flowers all summer long. Attracts butterflies, skippers and bees and provides seeds for birds in fall.

When mine outgrew my small garden I dug it up, split it in two. Now one is thriving at mom’s house and on at a friends in Easton.

Wild Ridge Plants in Pohatcong Township, Warren County, is owned and operated by Rachel Mackow and Jared Rosenbaum at their farm. Rachel teaches foraging and has an herbal practice. Jared is a botanist and Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner. 

Their native plant nursery is on their farm, but please make an appointment. They are an all natural, chemical free business, and source all their seeds locally. They were certified ‘River Friendly’ by North Jersey RC&D in 2018. They recognize farms that protect our shared natural resources through responsible land management.

Asked about his favorite underused native Jared said ‘The more wildflower gardens I plant and the more wild areas I restore, the more I want to include native sedges in every planting palette. Sedges are grass-like plants with long leaf blades and a mounding or vase-like habit. Underground, they do remarkable work, weaving loose soil together with their fibrous roots. Sedges are the matrix into which I want to do my plantings, to build an undisturbed soil so the wildflowers feel at home, and reduce niches for weeds to recruit. Plus they have a beautiful architecture of their own’. 

Broadleaf Sedge and Purplestem Angelica

I agree. Basically use sedges as ‘green mulch’, in-between all your other plants. There is a sedge for just about every habitat. Sunny wetlands to shaded woods. Jared favors Appalachian sedge (Carex appalachica) with fine leaves, and Rosy sedge (Carex rosea) for shaded woodlands and edges. Broadleaf sedge (Carex platphylla) and Spreading sedge (Carex laxiculmis) for their wide leaves. 

A favorite of mine I spotted in the farms meadow is Purplestem Angelica (Angelica atropurpurea). A native cousin of Angelica gigas, an annual found in most nurseries. This girl gets 6’ tall and blooms in June with white balls that turn into super interesting seed heads. Great in a wet area or the back of a border with other giants like Joe Pye. 

It’s hard to believe Turk’s Cap Lily (Lilium superb) is native, with its exotic looks and name. Orange flowers facing down, with their petals curled up like a…. turk’s cap, this beauty gets up to 6’ tall. Moist to wet soils, sun to shade. 

This spring, plant more natives, interesting ones.

Social Distancing? Take a Closer Look Outside

Now is a great time to learn something about your own back yard, while you’re social distancing at home. Since there is no yeast to be had, instead of baking bread, meet the flora and fauna in your garden. Since fall I’ve been working on learning wildflowers, or weeds to some of you. But if you’re not into weeds, choose birds, trees, or insects. 

Research has shown that when we know the name of the animals and plants we come across we tend to be more connected to them. In her book Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer says “Names are a way we humans build relationships, not only with each other but with the living world.” Not knowing “would be a little scary and disorienting–like being lost in a foreign city where you can’t read the street signs.”

The easiest way to start is just get curious. We have all the knowledge of the world in our back pockets. Think about that. With an app called Pl@ntNet I can identify a plant I’ve seen all my life but never learned the name of. Snap a photo, choose an identifying part: leaf, flower, fruit or bark, and almost instantly the common and botanical names pop up along with hundreds of other photos of it. It’s fantastic. And it works for trees too!

This week on a walk in the woods I found Virginia spring beauties (Claytonia virginica), and Woods Anemones (Anemone quinquefolia). From the road, the flowers are almost the same. It’s the leaves that give them away. Snap, snap, just to confirm my ID. The spring beauties have a grass like leaf while the anemones have a whorl of three heavily dissected leaves, a bit like poison ivy. 

Left: Virginia Spring Beauties, Right: Woods Anemones

Then I come across an emerging leaf I’m not familiar with. Snap. Maianthemum canadense. I’d never recognize it from this tiny leaf; I only recognize it in flower, Canada mayflower or sometimes False Lily-of-the-Valley. With a super cool fall fruit. Now I know it’s spring look. 

I’ve got a great wildflower book, two in fact, but mostly I use my phone app. Pl@ntNet is a free app, it’s part of a larger citizen science project so if you share your photos when using it, you are helping scientists, researchers, and conservationists use this crowdsourced data to look at climate change, migration patterns, and to monitor species and sensitive ecosystems. If you love this app like I do, consider making a donation to the organization.

You know the chickadees and cardinals at your backyard feeder but do you know that slate colored cutie with a white belly?  Probably a Dark-eyed Junco. Another free app, Audubon Bird guide: North America, will help you identify the birds at your feeder and also let you hear their calls. You just punch in size, color, then type, and photos of possible birds keep narrowing the choices until you see the one you are looking for.

A hawk I saw recently in my back yard had a reddish belly and I assumed it was a red tail hawk. With this app I was able to identify it as a Cooper’s Hawk, and listened to its call. The app then showed me a map of recent sightings in my area. Very cool. It’s also got a built in field guide so you can study up from the comfort of your own couch. I love this because it’s so easy to use and I almost always come up with the right bird.

Last week I took a photo of an unusual bee feeding from a quince. When I got home and did some research to ID it I found out it was actually a Drone Fly. Yes, even a bee-keeper makes mistakes. The cool thing I discovered as an easy way to distinguish bees from flies is that bees have 4 wings and when landed keep them folded over their backs, while flies have only 2 wings and tend to keep them splayed out while feeding. 

Bee on the left, Drone Fly on the right

I should have just used my InsectID app. A quick analysis of the photo I took and InsectID named it in seconds! Unlike the other two apps, this one costs $39.99 per year. I like it for its simplicity. Alternatively, you could get iNaturalist for free and become a citizen scientist with it.

If you are like me, and will lose that name quicker than your walk back indoors, try your hand at a sketchbook. Get a small spiral bound sketchbook to draw in. The act of drawing forces you to really study your subject and will help you remember it later. I’ve recently begun a weed sketchbook and besides the drawings I add notes to the margins. 

When you’re finally back at a barbecue later this year you will impress your friends by knowing the trees in your yard, birds at your feeder and even the weeds under your feet.