Madison Messenger - April 19th, 2020

PAGE 10 - MADISON MESSENGER - April 19, 2020
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Expand your native plant palette with nativars
By Teresa Woodard
Blogger at www.Heartland-gardening.com
Flopping grasses, no-show flowers and
unruly plants.
Many home gardeners say “no thanks” to
such “wild” native plants for these reasons
and others. But, thanks to the flourishing
native plant movement, the market has responded
with a new and improved plant
palette of “nativars.” It’s an industry buzzword
for selected, hybridized, or crossbred
varieties of native plants that offer more
compact sizes, cleaner foliage, better color,
or tidier appearance, especially for home
landscapes.
Nativars like “Standing Ovation” little
bluestem and “Magnus” coneflower offer
many of the eco-benefits of their straightspecies
cousins but behave better in the
home landscape.
A bonus is these nativars are more
widely available through garden centers
and big box stores, unlike native plants that
often are exclusively sold through specialty
growers or occasional native plant sales.
More nativars seems to be a plus for pollinators,
but some purists say that nativars
don’t equally benefit insects and birds like
straight-species natives. Research shows
not all nativars are equally beneficial when
it comes to pollinator appeal. For example,
a change in leaf color or flower shape may
dissuade pollinators. Several trial gardens
across the country are taking a closer look.
At Mount Cuba Center in Delaware, the
botanical garden’s team trialed 66 varieties
of garden phlox (Phlox paniculata which is
native to much of the eastern United States)
and found the mildew-resistant nativar
Phlox paniculata “Jeana” was a winner with
530 butterfly visits. They also trialed 40
Monarda selections and named two nativar
winners—Monarda fistulosa “Claire Grace”
and Monarda didyma “Jacob Cline.” See
https://mtcubacenter.org/research/trial-garden/
for a complete list. Penn State, Chicago
Botanic Gardens and the Cincinnati Zoo &
Botanical Gardens also are conducting nativar
pollinator plant trials.
The bottom line for me is that nativars
are making a positive impact for their
beauty, ease of care, accessibility and ecological
integrity. The more variety of natives
and nativars you can bring to your backyard,
the better. So, when shopping for new
plants this spring, give nativars a try. Plant
a few (see 10 favorites below), run your own
experiments and watch to see if pollinators
show up. Even consider sharing your results
with the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Bud-
Burst citizen science research project.
• Little bluestem (Schizachyrium
“Standing Ovation”)
• Coneflower (echinacea purpurea
“White Swan” and “Ruby Star”)
• Joe Pye weed (“Baby Joe” Eupatorium)
• Giant hyssop (Agastache “Blue Fortune”)
• Aster (Aster “October Skies”)
• Garden phlox (Phlox paniculata
“Jeana”)
• Beebalm (Monarda “Jacob Cline”)
• Goldenrod (Solidago rugosa “Fireworks”)
• False indigo (Baptisia “Purple Smoke”)
• Penstemon (Penstemon digitalis
“Husker Red”).
In spite of what their name suggests, bed
bugs can be found in places other than beds.
While bed bugs are most often found in beds
where they can feast on people while they
sleep, they also can be found on anything
that’s upholstered. That includes chairs and
couches but also curtains and carpets. Bed
“Nativars” offer more compact sizes,
cleaner foliage, better color, and/or tidier
appearances that work well in home landscapes.
Bed bugs lurk beyond the covers
bugs also may be lurking behind dressers or
beneath beds. Some might even be hiding behind
beds by attaching themselves to headboards.
Bed bugs also can attach to clothing,
which is how bed bug infestations in public
places like movie theaters can quickly turn
into bed bug infestations at home.