ON THE GARDEN PATH

by Carolyn Herriot

Each month, Carolyn writes about what she is doing in the garden, with seed saving and soil building. She helps gardeners of all levels realize they can have the most healthy, productive and beautiful garden without resorting to harmful substances. That way, humans, pets, wildlife, plants and the myriad of soil-dwelling organisms all benefit.
Putting the right plant in the right place is the key to sustainable gardening. No plants are better adapted to an area than the native or indigenous plants that grow there. Having adapted perfectly to their native habitat, indigenous plants are both drought-tolerant and resistant to pests and diseases.
It’s strange that we do not value the native plants that grow so successfully, a fact made apparent by their removal, often along with the topsoil, during property development. Urban gardeners, therefore, don’t become familiar enough with the plants, which originally grew in their gardens.
However, attitudes toward native plants are changing, as we come to appreciate their value, beauty, diversity and suitability. If you have ever seen the flush of pink from a bank of kinnickinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) in spring, you know what a great groundcover it makes. With glossy, evergreen leaves, it spreads into a dense carpet, in either sun or shade. The best part is that kinnickinnick’s flowers also attract butterflies and bees in spring, and in fall and winter, the red berries are an excellent food source for wildlife.
A North American native plant is one that existed in the region before European settlement. Not all wild plants are native. We can thank European settlers for introducing Queen Anne’s lace, dandelion, Scotch broom, English ivy and Himalayan blackberry, which are all invasive and sometimes habitat-destroying.
Have you ever noticed the heady fragrance of the creamy-white flowers of the Indian plum (Oemleria cerasiformis), which herald spring?
Did you know that Indian plum also produces clusters of plum-coloured berries in summer, which are surprisingly sweet to eat?
For a shrub that thrives in shade, try the evergreen huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum), which also has attractive evergreen foliage and pink flowers, followed by edible berries. If it’s fall colour you’re after, plant highbush cranberry (Viburnum opulus), which has stunning red leaves in fall, along with orange-red fruit.
The greatest benefit of integrating native plants into a home landscape is their great value to wildlife. They provide habitat and forage – berries, seeds and nuts – for mammals and birds, and flowers that feed insects.
Native plants also attract hummingbirds to the garden year-round. Anna’s hummingbirds (Calypte anna), which overwinter on southern Vancouver Island, lay two clutches a year, starting in February. They have been sighted in many places in BC, but nest mainly in Victoria, although there are a few in Nanaimo and Greater Vancouver. It is estimated that there are 500 breeding Anna’s hummingbirds around Greater Victoria.
From March to April, hummingbirds are lured by the bright red flowers of the red flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum); from April to July, it is the fragrance of twinberry (Lonicera involucrata) and salmonberry (Rubus spectabilis) and the cerise-red colour of Pacific bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa); from July to October, the pink flowers and red pods of fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium) keep them humming.
Selecting the right native plant for your garden is important if you want it to thrive. Right plant, right place means not planting a moisture-loving plant in a dry spot, or one that needs well-drained soil in a wet spot.
Initially, like any other introduction to your garden, you’ll need to water native plants to establish them. Once established, they are low maintenance and do not require watering. Native plants thrive in native soils and do not require feeding, but they do benefit from a yearly application of leaf mulch and compost.
There are native plants for every garden. It’s just a question of looking at them with new eyes and appreciating them for the perfectly adapted plants they are.

Excerpted from A Year on the Garden Path: A 52-Week Organic Gardening Guide by Carolyn Herriot. $29.95. Earthfuture Publications, Victoria, BC. Available at Banyen Books, Duthie Books or at www.earthfuture.com/gardenpath