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What are natives?
Natives are plants that evolved over geologic time and are distributed across the landscape largely in response to climatic episodes and adaptation to site conditions related to land formation.
Natives are generally defined as plants that occurred in North America before European settlement. This distinction is made because of the large-scale changes in the flora that have resulted since European settlement and the introduction of “exotic” plants.
Exotics are plants that are directly or indirectly, deliberately or accidentally introduced by human action. To be more precise, natives are natural elements of a regional landscape. While some species are native to North America, they may be exotic to Middle Tennessee.
Natives vs. exotics
While many exotics are harmless, others pose serious threats to biodiversity. Exotics that escape and naturalize change the floral composition of native plant communities.
Exotics that invade native plant communities spread, out-compete, and displace natives. Other exotics are vectors for disease and exotic insects. Future introductions can be prevented by using native species.
Using natives also exhibits regional flora and promotes our natural heritage. Natives have often been overlooked and their aesthetic value ignored. Instead, many regions look the same because overuse of the same exotics has created a monotonous, predictable landscape.
Basics about using natives
When landscaping with natives match the right plants with the right site conditions. Consider using plants that occur together in their natural habitats. Do your homework before planting. Visit a natural area and observe how plants occur and design your landscape accordingly. Buy nursery propagated plants. Remember, landscaping with natives is art imitating nature.
Benefits of natives
➤ Adapted to regional conditions and may require less maintenance and are cost- effective.
➤ Hardy, withstand extreme winter cold, do not suffer from die back.
➤ Environmentally friendly, require fewer pesticides and fertilizers because of natural adaptations.
➤ Promote biodiversity and stewardship.
➤ Provide food and shelter for native wildlife.
➤ Restore regional landscapes.
➤ Prevent future exotic introductions.
Natives for wildlife
Using natives in landscaping helps sustain native butterflies, moths and other beneficial insects; native birds, reptiles, mammals, and other fauna. Fall migrating birds depend on high-energy fruits from flowering dogwood and spicebush. Spring migrants feed on insects that occur on oak trees. Beech and other native trees provide nesting habitat, while Eastern red cedar,Virginia pine, and American holly provide winter cover and food.
➤ Don’t dig plants from the wild.
➤ Buy nursery-propagated plant material.
Tennessee Coneflower
Echinacea tennesseensis
nowhere else in the world except the Central Basin counties of Davidson, Rutherford, and Wilson. The consistent upward or forward pointing ray flowers aid in the identification of this species as they rarely, if ever, appear reflexed or bent backward as do the ray flowers in other species of Echinacea. The plants are generally 2-3 feet tall and the flower heads measure 2.5-3.5 inches across. The ray flowers are usually a medium purple and the disk is very dark purple, almost appearing black. The leaves are long and narrow and the whole plant is covered in coarse hairs.
Passionflower, Maypops
Passiflora incarnata
The state wildflower of Tennessee, passionflower is a climbing or trailing vine to 30 feet with deeply three-lobed leaves. It is widespread throughout the state occurring in fields, fence rows, and roadsides. The flowers are 3 inches in diameter with the 5 sepals and 5 petals serving as a backdrop for the strikingly beautiful corona of thread-like fringes that form circular bands of purple and white. In late summer and fall, the edible fruits ripen with a sweet gelatinous substance covering the seeds. The plant gets its common name from the arrangement of the reproductive parts of the flower resembling a crucifix, which early missionaries used as a visual to explain the Crucifixion to Native Americans. The genus Passiflora is a mainly tropical group of plants, however, two species can be found in Tennessee.
American Beautyberry
Callicarpa americana
Sometimes a plant is showier in fruit than in flower, and few of our native species can rival the American Beautyberry in terms of its attractiveness when in fruit. In September, the tightly packed clusters of fruits in the leaf axils ripen to a lustrous amethyst purple. The contrast with the chartreuse leaves is especially striking. This shrub can be found scattered across the state in dry, rocky woods and openings. It exhibits a multi-stemmed growth habit attaining a height and width up to 10 feet. The small lavender flowers appear in late spring, but it is the berries that command attention well into the winter when they are eventually eaten by wildlife or fall from the plant.
Flame Azalea
Rhododendron calendulaceum
This mountain shrub sports amazingly brilliant yellow to deep orange flower clusters that are favorites of wildflower enthusiasts. The colorful flowers have also made it a mainstay in hybridization programs of commercial horticulturists. Normally growing as isolated individuals or small groups of plants, these shrubs can reach heights of 10 feet. Each flower is 2 inches across and they occur in clusters of 4-7 blossoms at the ends of the branches as the leaves are unfurling. The genus Rhododendron is divided into two groups; "azaleas" which are deciduous and "rhododendrons" which are evergreen. This species is deciduous as implicated by the common name. In late April and early May, this beautiful wildflower can be found blooming in the mountains of East Tennessee, always making an unforgettable impact on those lucky enough to see a showy specimen.
Tulip or Yellow Poplar
Liriodendron tulipifera
This Magnolia family member is the Tennessee State Tree. Found across the state, it favors moist woodlands and ravines and can grow to 100 feet tall. In late spring the tree is covered with striking flowers that are 2.5 to 3 inches in diameter and cup-shaped. The greenish-yellow petals are emblazoned with bright orange chevrons. The center of the flower is dominated by the conical female parts surrounded by numerous stamens. The beauty of the flowers often goes unnoticed because they tend to position themselves high in the tree's canopy. The 4-lobed leaf is uniquely shaped, making the tulip poplar one of the easiest of our trees to identify.
For more information visit: http://www.tnps.org/native_plant_photos.html
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Ladybug McGreen's Blog 
