For those regular readers who have followed the progress of the proposed park on East Houston, I wrote a post for Garden Rant about the plant choices I made for the planting design...In general, in life, I am one of those Everything in Moderation people. For this park I wanted to plant North American flora, and draw as much as possible from the Northeast. So my foreign introductions posed a bit of a dilemma.
Many informed gardeners are tired of the native versus exotic debate and ask, understandably, what is native anyway? Then I visit local nurseries, and find them selling highly invasive species, such as barberries, lythrum and Russian olive. There is a big disconnect between the world of selling, the average 'landscaper' and the world of discussion, and until the selling and landscaping world catch up (I am generalizing), this remains a pertinent issue.
I am at heart a plant collector, like my mother, but on a necessarily teenier scale. So that means I am always going to want roses, and lilies, or something New. But I am also excited by the challenges of native gardening and the possibilities it affords.
OMG you got The Four Quartets in there! Very impressive. This is an issue I deal with all the time. While I shun the proven invasives, I am decidedly non-dogmatic about plant origins. A good plant is a good plant and deserves to be cultivated.
ReplyDeleteSing it, sister!
ReplyDeleteAnd, for those of us in countries of widely diverse regions,"native" simply cannot be a blanket term in all regions. Even in this State (Qld) some plants are endemic in one county and banned a few miles away.
This just came in;perhaps you've seen it?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thisblogrules.com/2010/01/green-graffiti-giving-brooklyn-eco.html
What a lovely garden plan - can't wait to see some photos of the finish [what garden project is ever "finished"?]product in a summer or two. Native plants certainly have their place and should be used when one can, but there is too much beauty and fragrance out there in non-native plants to pass them by. I plant the colors and scents that speak to me, and enjoy them all. As long as there's a little something for the birds to eat.... the rest is for me to enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI shall endeavour to see it when I visit NY in late September/early October. If I'm lucky, I hope to see it many times in the future.
ReplyDeleteEllen - too true, too true ^^
ReplyDeleteDinahmow - la-la laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Thanks for the link - I haven't seen it and am keeping an eye out. or open?
Webb - well, I speared myself in the foot by deciding to do a native garden and then back tracking...
Thursday - you've picked the best time of year!