PAGE 10 - MADISON MESSENGER - <strong>April</strong> 19, <strong>2020</strong> www.madisonmessengernews.com 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.
www.madisonmessengernews.com <strong>April</strong> 19, <strong>2020</strong> - MADISON MESSENGER - Page 11
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