[MAIPC] Native Garden Friend Challenge

[Muth, Norris (MUTH)]

Good conversation here. I think the age old advice of not letting perfect ion be the enemy of the good is very relevant here.

Many people view directly interacting with the natural world around them as complicated and daunting. Fostering awareness and appreciation of native plants will most often be incremental. Avoiding planting invasive species can be an early step. Avoiding using non-native species in general can be another step. If we fail to plant native species because we don't have local seeds, the invasive species won't wait for us to find the perfect seed. Tree and park commissions will still be required to plant something, regardless of species or provenance. I always encourage them to do the best they can, and I try to help them understand the benefits of each small step they can make.

Best,
Norris


—

Norris Z. Muth, Ph.D.

Professor of Biology


Juniata College

1700 Moore Street • Huntingdon, PA 16652

Office: 814-641-3632 | 1054 VLB

muthlab.org<http://muthlab.org/>



________________________________
From: MAIPC <maipc-bounces at lists.maipc.org> on behalf of Nathan Hartshorne <nshartshorne at gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 11, 2020 9:51 AM
To: MARGARET L CHATHAM <margaret.chatham at verizon.net>
Cc: MAIPC Listserve (maipc at lists.maipc.org) <maipc at lists.maipc.org>
Subject: Re: [MAIPC] Native Garden Friend Challenge

CAUTION: External Email

Good point.  There's always a bit of controversy about that.  I have seen people say never to collect because then there are fewer seeds in those wild areas, and I've seen people say to collect the local seeds so you have local genetics.  Another issue is that it is very common that the places we know to collect seeds (aside from very common plants like goldenrod) are derived from bought seeds, so I'm not sure there's much difference.  I have done both methods, but I do know that the "wild" seeds I have collected were from plants seeded by someone else with the exception of milkweed, goldenrod, and some trees.

On Sun, Oct 11, 2020 at 9:38 AM MARGARET L CHATHAM <margaret.chatham at verizon.net<mailto:margaret.chatham at verizon.net>> wrote:
Lovely idea — but where did those boughten seed evolve? How much better to collect locally native seed for this practice.

> On Oct 11, 2020, at 9:28 AM, Nathan Hartshorne <nshartshorne at gmail.com<mailto:nshartshorne at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> We all have friends who would be interested in a native garden, but the effort and cost feel prohibitive, even though they really aren't.  Last year, I decided to start experimenting with growing the plants myself and giving them away, even planting them at friends'.  Obviously we don't want to take business away from the local native nurseries, but this creates a push that many people need.  And once they see the bees going nuts over bee balm, goldenrod, etc. they can really get into it and then support the native nurseries.
>
> So now that we're well into fall, consider buying seeds online and preparing for next spring.  Packets can have a couple hundred seeds and cost a couple dollars, so it's not difficult to get started with a wide variety.  Just make sure that the native seeds you purchase are native to your region, some local regions can be very specific.
>
> If you do decide to do this, please let me know.
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