Natives Woo!

I guess these days I am just a bloggin fool. Between catching up on our under reported winter adventures and all the excitement that this spring. Whew!

Because Fauna and I are great believers in permaculture models of gardening and agriculture, we would be remiss to not at least mention the importance of natives in any landscaping environment.

Recently we purchased several salal starts, a blue elderberry, wild ginger, uva ursi, and lupine. Salal is a native to Western forests and thrives in the undergrowth and produces a good amount of edible berries . Although more native west of the Cascades, sambucus curelea (blue elderberry) is drought resistant and its berries are known for their medicinal use in preventing sickness. The uva ursi (Kinnickinick (sp?)) is also a native to the West and is a natural estrogen aiding in women's health. Lupine is just pretty, but again because it is native to the West handles acidic, clay soils quite well and is fairly tolerant of a variety of conditions.

The moral of the story here is that native plants are truly wondrous creatures. Many gardeners, whether of ornamentals or produce, overlook the value of native plants. Natives are more adapted to local conditions including environmental and pest factors. Research also shows that there are many edible and medicinal uses for natives as well. The dominance of non-native species in any urban landscape is more of a testament to economic decision rather than ecological ones.

~Flora