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Your Guide to Gardening with Native Plants | Brother Nature
Native plants are having a moment and there is no better time to explore their benefits and beauty than right now. On Brother Nature, we take a look at a New Boston prairie, the plant options at Michiganense Natives, and a starter program in Oakland County.
(FOX 2) - Native plants are having a moment and there is no better time to take advantage of their benefits.
There is no shortage of options for gardeners looking to spruce up their yard when it comes to native plants. And fortunately for those uninterested in spending a lot of work gardening, these plants don't require much maintenance.
That's because they evolved to grow and thrive in Michigan's climate. They love the spring showers that arrive in April and May and can tolerate the drought conditions of late summer.
Michigan pollinators love them because they co-evolved alongside the plants, which means gardens with native plants are giving a boost to insects like bees and moths.
Native plants can also replace grass, which means less mowing for the homeowner. Meanwhile, they can soak up large amounts of stormwater with the help of taproots they send below the soil.
Big picture view:
Native plants were the sole focus of Brother Nature this past week and there was no shortage of options that were explored at both a prairie down in New Boston and a Plymouth nursery that sells them by the plant.
They range from grasses like bluestem to flowers like prairie smoke.
Coneflowers, black-eyed Susan, coreopsis, stiff goldenrod, and wild bergamot will add color while also feeding all the hungry insects looking for food.
Wild lupin blooms in the spring while asters can pop off in the late summer.
Michiganense Natives
One of the only places to find native plants for sale by the plant is at Michiganense Natives in Plymouth.
They manage approximately 60,000 plants at any time, offering hundreds of species fit for any sunny or shade-filled spot.
Adam Huttenstine manages the nursery, and his pitch to anyone considering native plants says it depends on what the person wants.
"For me, the plants in a way calm me. It just leads you into a curiosity space where you wouldn't normally be," he said.
"For some people it's to solve a problem flooding, shading, ‘nothing will survive here,’ or I don't want to see my neighbor's house," he said. "Really, it's, it's up to you, it's up to the person who's doing it. You can't really go wrong with native plants when you have this palette and the selection and trees, shrubs, all the different things that you can fit in."
What you can do:
For more information, check out Wayne County's chapter of Wild Ones for more information here.
The Source: Wayne County Wild Ones was cited for this story.