Citizen science in the garden

Jill Severn portrait

Native plants and flowers have definitely gone mainstream.

In a recent Washington Post article, editorial writer Dana Milbank, whose usual beat is political and cultural analysis, reports that he bought a small, neglected farm. There, he “discovered” wildflowers in untamed nature. His report of this discovery overflows with surprise, wonder and passion.

Another sign of mainstream status is the appearance of native flowers in catalogues like the one from White Flower Farm – an upscale, long-established purveyor of premium plants. We’ll get to that in a minute.

But first, why should we care which plants are native? Because native plants support specialized native bees and other local creatures. Native plants are adapted to our wet winters and dry summers, so they require less watering – an increasingly important feature.

And since a vital ethic of gardening is that it should benefit the vitality of the natural world, not harm it, growing native plants that benefit native wildlife makes good sense.

Native flowers are typically less showy than the hybridized plants in a traditional garden. But once people’s eyes adjust to the delicacy of native flowers and shrubs, their sensibilities often change, sometimes gradually, sometimes suddenly. Native plants grow on them, so to speak.

But it’s still the rare gardener who will bow to the purists’ dogma that we should only grow native plants. So those of us who oppose dogma but care about the environmental impact of the plants we grow have some thinking to do.

Two issues make decisions about planting more natives complicated: First, what exactly constitutes “native”? And second, which non-native plants in our gardens provide ecological benefits similar to natives?

The first issue is illustrated by a recent White Flower Farm catalogue that describes any plant native to North America as native. That, of course, is ridiculous. A flower that’s native to Florida or West Virginia is unlikely to be suited to Thurston County, or anywhere else in our region. However, the catalogue’s misleading claim might not be obvious to a beginning gardener who is trying to do the right thing.

The second issue, about which of our non-native plants invite pollinators and provide habitat for birds and other creatures, is even more difficult.

Information about this topic can be confusing and contradictory. For instance, some online sources say lilacs benefit bees; others observe no bees, ever, on their lilacs. The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service says the best lilac for pollinators is a “summer lilac,” buddleia davidii, which is not a lilac at all. In fact, in our area, it’s an invasive species that colonizes stream banks and crowds out native vegetation that shades streams to keep water cool for salmon, and provides habitat for local insects and birds. There’s also a lovely blue-flowering shrub called ceanothus, which is also known as a California lilac. Bees do love that one – but it is also decidedly not a lilac.

Artificial Intelligence may compound the confusion. AI hoovers up all the information on the internet and other published sources, but having never encountered actual soil or sunshine, chatbots are unlikely to be discerning about what is hokum and what is real, and relevant to time and place.

Currently, AI is still “hallucinating” – that is, making things up. A recent New York Times article about newspaper publishers suing OpenAI and Microsoft for stealing their content included this tidbit:  “. . .an A.I. chatbot claimed that The Denver Post had published research indicating that smoking could potentially cure asthma, a complete fabrication, the complaint said.”

Nonetheless, the British Royal Horticultural Society issued this perplexing announcement: “Have a question about gardening? Ask ChatBotanist, our new AI gardening assistant and get instant advice that will help you get growing more effectively, no matter what your level of experience.” Oh dear.

Given the confusion sown by the internet and AI, it’s plain we need to do our own citizen science: We need to observe our own and our neighbors’ non-native plants over the whole growing season, and pay close attention to which are visited by bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and other creatures. Then, we can rank their habitat value and make better choices about which non-native stays and which goes in the compost pile. (Still, I’d vote for amnesty for lilacs and roses, even if we love them more than bees do.)

Growing native plants doesn’t need to be dogma. We have too much of that already, and it is as toxic in the garden as it is everywhere else.

 Jill Severn writes from her home in Olympia, where she grows vegetables, flowers, and a small flock of chickens. She loves conversation among gardeners. Start one by emailing her at  jill@theJOLTnews.com