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American Elderberry
Purple Coneflower
(A. incarnata), or white milkweed
(A. variegata) all make lovely
additions to the home garden.
Using butterflies for still
another example of wildlife’s
continued need for native plants,
consider the common effort of
plant breeders to create “showier"
flowers. Starting with a simple,
open blossom, breeders will
manipulate the plant until the
blooms are double or triple-petaled
and ruffled and elaborate in
structure.
These are lovely to behold and
may certainly have a place in your
garden, but they are useless to
the butterfly.
In order for a butterfly to land
and get its curled tongue into the
nectar, the flower must be fairly
open and flat, or tubular without a
lot of extra petals to block the
entrance.
You can incorporate many
different kinds of native plants in
your landscape, thus attracting a
wide range of wildlife.
Fruiting shrubs such as
elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)
will draw birds, as will native
evergreens and vines such as
Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus
quinquefolia).
To attract mammals, you can
plant nut trees like native oaks
and hickories. Whatever native
plants you choose, you can be sure
that you will be benefiting some
species of wildlife because they are
so closely interrelated.
When allowed to flourish in the
wild, native plants provide the
diversity that wildlife needs. Food
sources are produced at a variety
of heights, and at different times
of the year.
Some berries are eaten
immediately, while others languish
on the branch. These less-favored
fruits will still be there in winter
when most other food sources
have disappeared, and can mean
the difference between survival and
starvation.
Every part of a native plant has
value, whether it be the nectar of
the flowers, the bark for winter
consumption or for hiding insects,
or the leaves for forage.
The roots loosen the soil,
creating space, and sometimes
food, for underground creatures.
Different growth habits create
shelter to suit every species. When
we clear natural areas and plant
only lawn grass and a variety of
exotic plants, the results may be
“Native plants are an integral part of all ecosystems.
Each species belongs to a carefully balanced system
that supports other species.
In a healthy ecosystem, plant and animal species
interact to keep the system working properly. Birds feed
on berries from shrubs; seed from the berries are
deposited by the bird, thus dispersing the shrubs.
Earthworms churn up the soil, aerating it and improving
plant growth; the plants drop their leaves, providing the
earthworms with organic matter for food.
The intricacy of ecosystems – each with thousands of
species of plants, animals, insects, and bacteria –
boggles the mind. There is no way to know beforehand
what the loss of even one species will mean to an
ecosystem and, subsequently, to species such as
humans who rely on that ecosystem."
– Lisa Fox and Peggy Olwell
Plant Conservation Alliance
