Native Plants

Have you heard of native plants?

We all have different reasons for doing gardening, but if you would like to have a garden with plants in it that grow naturally, are attractive, benefit the local environment, and take minimal effort to maintain - sometimes we just don’t have the time to take care of flowers, water them, and keep insects and weeds away. Then a really good solution is to plant quality native in your garden!

As their name states, a native plant is native to the area, region, or country, and has been living there for many years, maybe even for centuries. Plants that have been growing in their natural surroundings for this long have had plenty of time to adapt and to spread throughout the land.

Plants that are well established over long periods of time have adapted to the climate, to other plants, to insects, and so on.

Native species bloom and grow without any human intervention, they keep away pests and weeds all by themselves, and they don’t need irrigation or fertilization.

In a nutshell, you never have to do anything with these plants and they will be still there blooming just a beautifully as they would have in their natural surroundings. Doesn’t that sound good?

How to Choose Native Plants

They grow wildly in fields, but they can make your garden beautiful with their vivid colours. Before you plant them into your garden, do some research to see which plants and flowers are the most common in your specific region or area.

There are some resources that can help you with this. For example:

Old Farmer’s Almanac Frost Chart will help you in finding the most suitable flowers for your garden, and also give you information about the growing season.
If you want to know more about the weather and other relevant factors that can influence flowers and plants, you can find a lot of information form Hardiness Zone Map by the Arbor Day Foundation. They can tell you anything about your region, such as the overall precipitation and temperature.
To choose the right plants, look for information at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s Database where you can see which flowers are ideal for your garden.
Virtual Plant Tags shows you what conditions certain plants require. With all these sources you will be sure to find native flowers and plants that will thrive happily in your garden or yard.

Planting

After choosing the plants and planting them, you don't have to do much more because:

They don't need irrigation
They are not dependent on you for getting their nutrients
They have a natural methods for fending off plant pests
They have their own methods of successful propagation that does not need humans to intervene
They are more likely to be tolerant of drought and/or cope with climatic conditions throughout the seasons

You can just enjoy their beauty whenever you have the time and stop worrying about gardening.

Plants that grow in the wild are more familiar and they will make you feel more at home. You can save a lot of money if you plant quality native plants as they don't need anything extra.

Books and Native Plants

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Some of the most exotic and beautiful are Australian and Californian plants. They have vivid colours and a strong fragrance.

Some of the most beloved Australian includes trees that can grow really big, like the eucalyptus, or stylish shrubs, like the Banksia Ashbyi, with beautiful large orange coloured flowers, that have a quite unusual shape.

Californian includes perennial flowers like Columbine, a very popular flower with colors varying from purple to pink. These flowers resemble tiny little bells and they grow wildly in fields and gardens.

No matter which native plant you decide to grow in your garden, you can enjoy their beauty without much effort and time.