Low bush blueberry.


and their attractive, expansive areas devoted to plants. Herds of gardeners maintained these areas. With time gardens became more a personal attachment


to every home. Only now homes were not palatial mansions, but private spaces with small plots of land surrounding them. Everyone became involved in gardening. So the stuff in the seed catalogs and garden centers became


a prominent part of our landscape. Our land was stripped of valuable topsoil by most developers and planted with the appealing varieties from China, Asia, France and other exotic areas. Everyone had to have the latest and best for longer bloom…some even bloomed twice a year.


And so it went. Until…we began to notice that the Kudzu


brought in for erosion control, floribunda rose, bittersweet and honeysuckle began to take over the world…our world. The beneficial qualities of the native plants in supplying nectar for butterflies, seed for birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and browsing animals began to diminish. These natives were being forced out by the invasive “alien” plants. Suddenly the butterflies flew somewhere else. The bird varieties diminished. Animals became “pests” because their normal habitat was disrupted. Plant people observed, charted and cataloged. Perhaps, they thought, the balance of natives had been disturbed. We should concentrate on getting back to nature…to native. Only it appears it is not that simple. A piece of land, left


on its own, will quickly fill up with invasive plant material. Honeysuckle, bittersweet, kudzu thrive and overwhelm. A concentrated effort is needed to overcome the mistakes of our past.


58 March/April 2011


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