Why Plant Native Plants?Ī native plant community, left undisturbed and incorporated into a landscape, is low-maintenance and self-sufficient. Today, nurseries and garden centers offer a wide variety of native plants, and some even specialize in native plants exclusively. Harvesting native plants from the wild for landscape purposes is no longer acceptable and is illegal in some areas. Early settlers transplanted dogwood, redbud, oak-leaf hydrangea and other plants with appealing qualities from the woods into their landscapes. Even the federal government published an "official" definition in the Federal Register, defining native plants as those that are "naturally occurring, either presently or historically, in any ecosystem of the United States."īefore the development of the nursery industry, native plants were the only choice for landscape plantings. Others say they are plants that have inhabited a particular region for thousands of years. Other references place a historical timeline on native plants, saying they are plants that were present in a particular area prior to European settlement of that area. Several references say native plants are those that grow naturally in a particular region without direct or indirect human intervention. There are many definitions for native plants. We also express appreciation to the Georgia Native Plant Society for providing funds for technical support. Any use of these images beyond this publication is discouraged and will require permission from the photographers. Many of the images are copyrighted and have been used with special permission from the photographers and/or the organizations providing them. We also extend sincere appreciation to the following individuals who provided images of the plants described in this publication. Neal Weatherly Jr., Kim Coder and Darrel Morrison. We would like to acknowledge the following University of Georgia faculty who wrote the original manuscript for this publication: Mel Garber, E. "A thing is right if it tends to preserve the beauty, integrity and stability of the biotic community it is wrong when it tends otherwise." -Aldo Leopold, "The Land Ethic," A Sand County Almanac Acknowledgments Our native landscape is the inspiration for this guide to native plants for Georgia gardens. Reviewed by Bodie Pennisi, Extension Floriculture Specialist By Gary Wade, Ph.D., Extension Horticulturist (Retired) Elaine Nash, Naturalist Ed McDowell, Master Gardener, Amateur Botanist and Wildflower Photographer Brenda Beckham, Master Gardener and Plant Enthusiast Sharlys Crisafulli, Horticulture Program Assistant
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