There are many plants here in
New England that have become established parts of the landscape. They’re so established, in fact, that they’re
practically natives. Unfortunately, they’re
not actually natives and in some cases they’re invasive. These “almost natives” frequently appear in
places you’d expect natives to turn up; abandoned fields, roadside drainage
ditches, along waterways or lakes, and even along roadsides. In the background they flourish, to the point
where they just seem like they belong there.
Perhaps one of the most common
of these plants is Hemerocallis fulva, frequently referred to as the “ditch
lilly.” This daylily appears all over
roadsides throughout New England and is also planted in gardens. Colonists brought this plant with them from
Europe and it quickly escaped from their gardens. The tuberous root system is quite tenacious
and will thoroughly settle into an area.
It will appear near old abandoned house foundations, in cemeteries, and
I’ve seen clumps of it happily growing in fairly shady areas along dirt
roads. In some locations it is quite
invasive and seems to belong, but it’s not a native.
Hemerocallis fulva
Another colonial garden plant
that appears to be native is the common lilac, Syringa vulgaris. As with the common daylily, this plant was
brought over by colonists. If you’re
interested in finding old home sites, stands of lilacs are excellent place markers
for foundations. Lilacs often turn up in
the strangest of places, yet once upon a time, a garden or home was
nearby. I’ve found them in wooded areas
growing next to long abandoned home sites; where all that was left was a pile
of rocks that made up the foundation. My
guess is that someone scavenged these foundation stones to build stone walls in
the area at a later date. The lilacs,
however, survived just fine. Lilacs will
spread in a few different ways depending on variety. Most plants will slowly grow outward by
sending up new stems in the form of sucker growth. In some cases, lilac stems will root in where
branches touch the ground. In the case
of the foundation lilacs I discovered they were spreading by low growing
suckers, almost like a ground cover.
Surprisingly, one of the most
favored of all garden plants isn’t all that common as a native plant in North
America. Roses, so often seen in
gardens, along the beach, or even bordering parking lots, are actually much
more frequently found as a native plant in Asia. Even the common Rosa rugosa, seen so often at
New England beaches, is native to Asia.
Rosa virginiana and Rosa carolina are native to North America and appear
in the wild here in New England (although competition from Rosa multifloria and
other invasive plants is cutting down on their habitat). So most of the roses found growing in the
wild aren’t natives, but are instead garden escapees. Rose collectors will often scour cemeteries
and abandoned home sites in an effort to find old garden roses for
preservation. The rose pictured below
appears near where I live. Two homes
have it scrambling over rocks in their front yards. But in this picture, the rose is growing at what
was once a home site. It’s not a native,
yet this plant in particular seems to appear frequently here in central
Massachusetts. My guess is, it was a
commonly planted climber that has gone out of fashion but that has proven to be durable. It only blooms once in the early summer and today, with so many options availabe, it has fallen by the wayside as a garden option. So although you may find beach roses or roses
like the climber below turning up throughout New England, they’re not native,
although they certainly seem to belong.
Unidentified climbing rose.
Rosa rugosa
This next plant appears in wet
areas including spots where the plant is partially submerged during the growing
season. Yellow Flag Iris, or Iris
pseudodacorus, turns up wherever there is moist soil. In some cases, the plant has become invasive,
but at the same time it almost seems to belong where it is growing. Again, this is a plant once frequently
planted as a garden ornamental. The
native habitat for this iris is actually Europe and it also turns up in Asia
and northwest Africa. Because it can
pull pollutants out of the water through its tuberous root system, it was used
as a natural water treatment filter.
Unfortunately, this plant is hideously invasive in some locations, but
at the same time has become so commonly seen it looks almost like it
belongs. It is, alas, not quite a
native.
Iris pseudoacorus
Sometimes, the best intentions
can lead to major problems in the plant world.
Frequently planted as a food source for birds, Russian Olive or Elaeagnus
angustifolia, has become a major pest.
It is incredibly invasive as the seeds are readily spread by birds. At the same time, the plant has been around
long enough so that it almost seems like a native. I’ve seen massive stands of it growing along
highways and it appears so often I almost don’t notice it any more. The foliage is a silvery grey color and the
flowers are small and yellow.
Russian Olive Flower
Russian Olive Foliage
There are many other plants that
fall into this category of “not quite a native” including Dame’s Rocket,
Hesperis matronalis, which I’ve mentioned before. Purple loosestrife, or Lythrum salicaria, is
seen all along waterways here in the southern part of New England and I’ve seen
it appearing in southern Vermont and above Portland Maine. Like the other plants mentioned, these often
invasive plants have become ubiquitous and have settled in to the point where
they almost belong here. Efforts to
eradicate some of these plants continue and hopefully success will be had
before the actual native plants are lost entirely. At the same time the landscape has been so
altered by these plants that they’ve almost become the new “natives.”
Recommended Plant: Arrowwood Viburnum or Viburnum dentatum. This is one of our native viburnums and an
excellent garden plant. The white lacy
flowers appear in late spring and dark purple berries turn up in late
summer. The berries attract birds and
the dense upright stems offer lots of nest building real estate. Luckily, the plant tolerates all kinds of
growing conditions from damp rich soil to dry sandy soil. It will tolerate some shade although grows
best with as much sun as possible.
Arrowwood Viburnum Flower
Arrowwood Viburnum Fruit
When I took the picture of the Arrowwood Viburnum fruit, the weather had been unseasonably warm after an initial cold period. The fruits stayed on the plants and actually fermented. Birds weren't taking the berries due to this, and the area was filled with the scent of earthy, wine like, fermentation.
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