DIVERSITY!!! (OR DIE TRYING)

So I was talking design with a biologist friend of mine a few weeks back and and he said something along the lines of "it's funny, you guys think you can one up nature." The comment took me a back a bit, and rather than trying to defend or explain, I took the easy way out and did my best to change the subject. While I may have superficially seemed to brushed it off, it actually hit quite a nerve. So I chewed his comment over a bit after, and then sat with it for a while (and "for a while" I mean a few weeks) and formulated my thoughts. But just to clarify, before I get carried away, I definitely DO NOT think that designers can "one up nature." Should we aspire to? Yes. Has anyone done it? Not that I'm aware of. Not even close. Landscape architecture/design, at its best, mitigates human disturbance and, when possible, adds value back to the landscape through active intervention. To say that we could ever replace nature is beyond naive.

While I'd like to use some of my recent professional work to help demonstrate the "added value" part, I'm afraid that would only help prove the contrary, so in an attempt to not go in a totally negative direction I figured I'd use my own personal garden (in progress) to help illustrate a few points. Before I got started the area was more or less 1/4 natives, 1/4 escaped lawn grasses, 1/4 phragmites, 1/4 glossy buckthorn, and a few patches of poison ivy sprinkled in for good measure (technically poison ivy would be part of the native group, but I think it deserves to be in a class all by itself). If I had let things take their "natural" course the natives probably would have been out competed within a couple of years and it would have been mostly a "monoculture" (or bi-culture?) of these 2 species. So I did my best to turn the tide. I drew a line in the sand (or in this case very wet heavy clay) and went about eradicating the offending species. After knocking the phragmites and buckthorn back some, I then added a few additional regional natives, and preserved and propogated those that were already present.


PHRAGMITES LOOMING IN THE BACKGROUND...

The question is, if you assume existing conditions as a baseline, with all my effort have I really changed anything for the better? Despite the bad rap, both of the invasives I worked so diligently to remove from the area actually do provide valuable ecological functions. Phragmites sequesters nutrients, heavy metals and carbon, builds and stabilizes soils, and persist in places where most plants wouldn't stand a chance, while the glossy buckthorn serves as forage for pollinators, birds, and small mammals. So, at least from an ecological services standpoint I probably haven't moved the needle much, I might have even affected things negatively (hopefully that will change as the plants get established and spread over time). So what value, if any, have I added? Answer: Diversity. If I hadn't intervened it is probably conservative to say that at least 80-90% of the existing natives would have been lost. This is where I see design professionals having the biggest potential to "add value." We may not be able to fully replicate the ecological services of the species we're displacing, but we can provide stand-in plant communities that would otherwise be displaced by introduced invaders... ecological zoos if you will.

When we talk about "value", we need to look at things holistically, in context, otherwise we can over-emphasize the importance of certain aspects, while underestimating others. And relative to context, if we begin to look at the ways people negatively affect the environment around them (encroachment, fragmentation, and degradation) any intervention that keeps at least 2 of these factors constant, while improving at least one is more than worthwhile. So this week, to celebrate diversity, I'm picking three obscure (at least to those who call the northeast home) native-ish plants that you most likely haven't heard of (or at least probably aren't very familiar with). So if any of these happen to be endemic to where you live please give them a try!!!

*DISCLAIMER: I HAVE NO PERSONAL EXPERIENCE GROWING THESE PLANTS IN THE LANDSCAPE, SO DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE PURCHASING!!!


Synandra hispidula - Guyandotte Beauty
Zones 5-8
One of our spring woodland ephemeral biennials of the appalachains. Self-seeds when happy. Wants a rich, woodsy, evenly moist soil. I'm assuming a closely allied relative of the european woodland wildflower, Melittis melissophyllum aka Bastard Balm.
Purchase from: Enchanters Garden, Izel Native Plants


Thalia dealbata - Powdery Alligator-Flag, Water Canna, or Powdery Thalia
Zones 6(5)-10
A tall (6'-10') semi-aquatic, decidedly tropical looking, very architectural plant. You got a sunny spot with some shallow water and wanna impress you dorky gardening friends?...give Powdery Alligator-Flag a try! There's another less hardy species (to zone 7) Thalia geniculata or Red Stemmed Thalia/ Bent Alligator-Flag.
Purchase from: Niche Gardens, Missouri Wildflower Nursery, Secret Garden Growers, Maryland Aquatic Nursery


Zenobia pulverulenta - Dusty Zenobia
Zones 5-9
If the literature on this is correct, I don't understand why this southern (yet cold hardy) ericaceous shrub isn't more widely grown. Evergreen (or mostly evergreen). Beautiful fall foliage. Tolerance of wet, poorly drained soils. White, bell-shaped, fragrant flowers. I'll find some room for this plant if it kills me. Many selections of forms with silvery blue foliage including 'Woodlanders Blue,' 'Misty Blue,' and 'Blue Sky.'
Purchase from: Rarefind Nursery, American Beauties, Almost Eden, Bluebell Nursery, Broken Arrow Nursery, Nearly Native Nursery, Forest Farm, Panoramic Farm

IMAGES SOURCES: S. HISPIDULA (RIGHT, LEFT); T. DEALBATA (RIGHT, LEFT); Z. PULVERULENTA (RIGHT, LEFT)