Mike Hogan
| Special to The Columbus Dispatch
See Blendon Township woman’s native plant and habitat garden
Native plant & habitat garden at Alice Foeller’s home.
Alice Foeller
Many gardeners understand the ecological importance of native plants, which are those plants that occur naturally in a geographic area, and have evolved over thousands of years, shaped by local climate conditions, geology, plants, insects and wildlife.
Native plants play an essential role in the local landscape and ecosystem by providing a food source for wildlife as well as pollen and nectar for native insects and their larvae, which in turn sustains local and migrating birds, bats and other wildlife. Native plants are the foundation of biodiversity and include trees, shrubs, vines, annuals and herbaceous perennials.
Gardeners and homeowners can have a profound impact on ecological biodiversity when choosing native plants over non-natives. One example of this impact can be seen when choosing shade trees for the home landscape.
Native oak trees support hundreds of different native insects which in turn support birds and other wildlife. Non-native Callery pear trees support very few species of native insects as these non-native Asian trees have not co-evolved with North American insect species. Thankfully, it is no longer legal to offer Callery pear trees for sale in Ohio!
Fall planting of natives
While many gardeners and homeowners get most excited about planting in spring, fall is an excellent time to plant native trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials. Moderate weather conditions which typically occur in autumn in central Ohio allow plants to develop expanded root systems before the ground freezes in winter. In spring, these plants will have a head start on spring transplants and be able to better survive the harsh hot and sometimes dry summer weather.
Fall is also a good time to assess where new plants are needed in your garden and home landscape. Some plants may not have survived the growing season, and fall provides a window for making needed improvements to gardens and home landscapes.
While fall is the optimum time to install new plants in the landscape, if rainfall is infrequent in September through November, supplemental irrigation will be needed even when air temperatures are cool.
Native plant sale set
Ohio State University Master Gardener Volunteers will offer many different native flowering herbaceous perennial plants to the public just in time for fall planting at their Native Plant Sale scheduled for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20 at the Waterman Learning Gardens located at OSU’s Waterman Farm. Waterman Farm is located on OSU’s West Campus at 2548 Carmack Road.
More than two dozen different native and nativar plants in 4- and 6-inch pots will be offered for $5 each at the sale. These plants were grown by Master Gardener Volunteers in several different themed beds in a learning garden which demonstrates how to plant natives to support pollinators, birds, butterflies and moths and other beneficial insects. The learning gardens feature a hummingbird garden, a butterfly garden and several pollinator gardens.
While the plants offered for sale at the Native Plant Sale are immature transplants ready for fall planting, visitors to the sale will be able to see the mature plants growing in existing beds in the Learning Gardens. Many of the mature plants will still be flowering at the time of the sale, allowing purchasers to see what each plant looks like when it is mature and in flower. Visitors will also see numerous species of butterflies and beneficial insects thriving among these plants in the Learning Garden.
The Waterman Learning Gardens feature different types of raised beds as well as in-ground beds. The beds are designed to show gardeners different low-cost options for developing raised beds using different types of materials.
Master Gardener Volunteers will be at the sale to help gardeners choose plants which are best suited for different planting locations, and to explain how to plant and care for the plants offered at the sale.
Several plants which will be offered at the sale aren’t widely available in the spring, including the cardinal flower, cup plant, false sunflower and others. For a complete list of plants offered at the sale, go to go.osu.edu/fallnativesale. Cash and cards will be accepted at the sale and a smartphone is required for card purchases.
Mike Hogan is Extension Educator, Agriculture & Natural Resources and associate professor with Oho State University Extension.
hogan.1@osu.edu
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