WHAT IS A NATIVE PLANT AND WHY USE IT?
There are many ways to define a “Native Plant”, and probably more ways to argue for their application, but these paragraphs from Headwaters Invasive Plant Partnership, out of Illinois, handle both ideas quite nicely:
“A native plant is one that occurs naturally in a particular region or habitat without human introduction. Only plants found in this country before European settlement are considered to be native to the United States. The word native should always be used with a geographic qualifier (for example, native to Illinois). Native plants include all kinds of plants from mosses and ferns to wildflowers, shrubs, and trees.
The distinction between native and non-native plants is important because natives have generally adapted and evolved with the competing flora, predators, and diseases of an area over many thousands of years. So natives are generally in ecological balance in their habitat and have pests, predators, or diseases that limit their abundance. Many non-natives, on the other hand, lack these checks and can dominate areas they invade.
Native plants have formed symbiotic relationships with native wildlife and offer the most sustainable habitat. Non-natives do not support wildlife as well as native plants and can overrun and destroy wildlife's natural habitat.
Native plants help the environment the most when planted in places that match their growing requirements. They will thrive in the soils, moisture and weather of their native region which can mean less additional watering and fewer pest problems. Native plants, with their deep root systems, also assist in managing rain water runoff and preventing soil compaction.”
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