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ahughes798_gw

I'm so glad we have this forum.....

ahughes798
16 years ago

A friend of mine who's a member of a gardening website that rhymes with Rave's Darden just wrote me, sent this and said that they are re-naming their indigenous plant forum to include non-native plants, also. So...what's the point of that forum, then? He/She asked me to post it here. glad I'm not there anymore. Anyway, read it and laugh.

"Here's the actual thread if anyone who is a member over there wants to log on to see how messed up they are-

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/812073/

Somebody suggested the forum should be named "Local Stuff,Weeds & Unmentionables".

I kid you not, here are two of the suggestions for renaming the forum to be more inclusive-

"Natives and Naturalized Plants"

"Natives and Wild Plants"

Here are some of the actual posts-

"I agree. I don't think there's a need to get technical about defining native plants" and "wildflowers" if the purpose of the forum is to encourage folks who want to grow plants that are naturally well suited to their

locales and want to have a place to discuss them..."

"You know, it's not illegal or immoral to grow plants in your yard that aren't native to your yard unless they happen to be banned in your particular state. Actually, I imagine even then it's only illegal to import them and

not to grow them....."

"I think "Native Plants and Wildflowers" sounds great."

"I found Dave's Garden through a web search to identify a plant found while hiking. I would really like to have a forum to share photos & friendly chat about wildflowers and plants (mine & yours) that have been found while

away from the garden. Is 'Indeginous Plants' the place for me or is that mainly for plants in the garden?"

"My vote would go for a more inclusive forum h "naturalized plants" or wildflowers" also being discussed... but that's a personal preference, and I can certainly go elsewhere to discuss those types of plants."

"sounds like there does need to be 2 forums though. one for the scholars and one for regular people who call a pretty flower they see on the roadside a wildflower. i know what indigenous means but not being a pedant (and i mean knowledge precisionist here) i'm never going to use that term for a search. people like me, and there are a lot of us, will just NATURALLY call any flower they see growing in a field a wildflower. i understand invasiveness

and introduced species and that sort of thing but the flowers i see on a texas roadside or in a texas pasture are just plain and simple wildflowers. to me, it just depends on who you're hoping to draw to the forum. and

just curious, but WHO are you hoping to draw....?"

"OK, here is my example of why "Indigenous" could stay regardless of how much use a forum gets. I am planting a lot of Viburnum and wanted to know which were thought to be introduced and have become "Native" and which were

here before the island was settled thus "Indigenous". Nothing is about it being PC, as the Nantucket Indians also introduced plants to Nantucket from the mainland and those would be "Native" but not "Indigenous" plants. I

realize an Island is somewhat unique, but I beg to differ that these mean the same thing, as they are two quiet distinct words with very different meanings.

Because "Indigenous" is not commonly used does not mean it should be dismissed and lumped into the word "Native". And if a plant was used by an early indigenous person (an American Indian), but it was introduced by one of them to their land from another place, than that plant may be known

now as "Native" plant introduced by an "Indigenous Person" but it is still not actually "Indigenous" but a "Native" plant. Splitting hairs, because "Native is now accepted as any plant known in an area for a long time. And I actually don't care about the name used for the forum. I just hate to see our language diminished and become less precise. I find it fascinating to go to a new place and learn which plants have been growing there on there own

and not introduced by humans. Now pulling out my hair. To funny."

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