SUSTAINABLE GARDENING, PART 2: THE PLANTS

Okay, a quick review in case you didn't memorize Part 1. Sustainable gardening practices are those that don't damage the earth or waste resources. Definitions vary across the board but that one has broad support. And for eco-conscious local gardeners I've looked far and wide for plants that are:

• Drought-tolerant. Now if your site is a consistently soggy one, drought-tolerant plants won't work and I suggest Googling "wet plants." But for most situations and increasingly with global warming, drought-tolerance is key to sustainability.

• Resistant to disease and severe insect damage. Minor insect damage? Get over it.

GOTTA BE NATIVE?

Now some sources, including the National Wildlife Federation in their advice about sustainable gardening, say the plants used should be native, a word I always interpret to mean locally native. (Why? Because no other definition makes any sense. Plants don't behave according to political boundaries like "native to the U.S.," and the U.S. includes waaay too many different ecosystems for the label to mean anything in horticultural or ecological terms.) Here in the Mid-Atlantic where the natural condition is deciduous forest, most native plants are woodland, shade-loving ones, not the desert or Plains plants that tolerate sun and drought. So I've included as many locally native garden plants as I could find but realistically, most gardeners need more choices and I'm happy to recommend some excellent plants native to somewhere else for your consideration.

A FEW DISCLAIMERS

Nandina, a non-native sustainable plant

• Even the most drought-tolerant plants for our area require careful watering during their first year,

sometimes longer. So don't assume a plant is drought-tolerant until at least its second full season. This is especially true of any plant installed in the spring (which is why fall planting is usually best.)

• Many drought-tolerant plants are Mediterranean and need good drainage if they're to survive our winter and our wet springs. So berms are helpful and well-draining soil a must. That means that if your soil is mostly clay, remove some and replace it with garden soil, or improve the clay with organic matter and coarse sand.

• I found contradictory information about some plants, with the literature saying one thing and local gardeners another, so I've noted them as "possibly" sustainable.

• Some of these plants are on watch lists for possible invasive behavior because of reports from other parts of the country (nandina, liriope, ornamental grasses, butterfly bush, and daylilies) but no locally listed invasive plants have been included.

• I've used primarily common names for reasons of space and public recognition.

LOCALLY NATIVE SUSTAINABLE PLANTS

Grasses: Big and Little Bluestems.

Perennials: Threadleaf coreopsis, Liatris, Rudbeckias (including black-eyed Susan, pictured at left), goldenrod, common evening primrose, butterfly milkweed, wild columbine, New England Aster, wild bleeding heart and possibly Amsonia, bee balm and Joe Pye weed.

Shrubs/small trees: Flame azalea, American beautyberry, serviceberry, several sumacs, Witch Hazel and pasture rose.

NONNATIVE SUSTAINABLE PLANTS

Grasses: Carex, dwarf Mondo grass, Liriope, and most large ornamental grasses.

Perennials: Agastaches, Asters, Baptisia, Chinese Fringe Flower, daylilies, Dianthus, Epimedium, Hellebores, Heucheras, Hostas, Mazus, purple coneflower, Rudbeckias, Sedums,

Penstemon digitalis, Russian sage, Salvias, Sempervivums, and Sweet Autumn clematis.

Joe Pye weed is a good native choice

Shrubs/small trees: Abelias, Aucuba, azaleas, Beautybush, butterfly bush, Caryopteris, Cotoneasters, Crapemyrtles (especially those with Indian names), Deutzia, Forsythias, Fothergilla, several Hydrangea paniculatas, Oakleaf Hydrangea, Asian and hybrid dogwoods, Junipers, Lespedeza, Mahonias, Nandina, Photinia, Rugosa roses, Sarcococca, Spiraeas, Viburnums, Witch Hazel, Weigelia, Winter jasmine, Yaupon holly, and Yucca.

PARTING SHOTS

• The following popular plants in our area really don't like drought: Japanese maples, snowbells, rhododendrums, big-leaf hydrangea, boxwoods, and our native dogwoods (Cornus florida). Sadly, dogwoods flunk again when it comes to disease because they're vulnerable to anthracnose.

• Some drought-tolerant plants (like artemesia) have been excluded here because they hate our humidity, so that's another good question to ask the nursery staff. (Don't even try asking sales clerks at the big box stores.)

• Got some plants that always look sickly or that require constant vigilance during even moderate droughts? Consider getting rid of it. You'll be glad you did.

Thanks to my contributors: Larry Hurley, Behnkes Nursery; Peggy Bowers, American Horticultural Society; Jim Adams, British Embassy; Pat Howell, Deephaven Landscapers; Mike Welsh, Takoma Park City Gardener; Donna Shipp, American Plant Food; Joel Lerner via the Washington Post; Derek Thomas, local landscaper; Carole Bergman, Paul Carlson and Karen Molines, Maryland Native Plant Society; the NC State Cooperative Extension Service website and many other sites. None have seen the final column and shouldn't be blamed for a word of it.

Master Gardener Susan Harris writes about gardening for UDC's Cooperative Extension Service and teaches gardening privately; see - thegardeningcoach.com. She also blogs at gardenrant.com and takomagardener.typepad.com.

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