Why Are Native Plants Important?
Native plants play a crucial role in our local ecosystems by providing necessary food and shelter for birds, native bees, butterflies, moths, bats and other wildlife. Many native species have coevolved to depend on specific native plants for survival. For example, without milkweed you would not have monarch butterflies. Ninety percent of insects that eat plants are host plant specialists, like the monarch. In turn, declining bird populations rely on insects for food.
Many native plants have been used for centuries by Indigenous peoples for food, medicine, and other purposes. By planting and conserving these species, we are honoring and preserving these communities’ cultural traditions and knowledge.
What Are Native Plants?
Native plants are defined as those that naturally occur in a particular region or ecosystem in which they evolved. Native species have developed over thousands of years and are adapted to the local climate and soil conditions, making them more resilient and better able to survive and thrive in their natural environment. Only plants found in this country before European settlement are considered native to the United States.
Cultivars
A cultivar is a genetic variant of a species that has been selected and grown for its desirable traits such as disease resistance, flower size, shorter height, clumping habit, longer bloom time, flower color or foliage color. Cultivars of native species are sometimes called “nativars.”
At Scioto Gardens, we evaluate and study the scientific data of any cultivars we carry to understand their ecological benefits compared to the straight native species. We believe that many native cultivars may serve as a “gateway” into using native plants by mixing ecological function while maintaining certain ornamental standards.
