Lacebark, Inc., P.O. Box 2383. Stillwater, OK 74076 Much has been written in recent years about the need to plant only "native" species. But the key questions are often overlooked. Is a plant best adapted to where it is "native"? Once urban soils have become homogenized and modified with all sorts of construction debris, is any plant "native" to that site? Are all introduced species "bad"? Shouldnt adaptation of a plant to a site or region be considered instead of just "native" vs. exotic? Just because a plant is "native" to an area, does that mean that the location/conditions are where is grows best? All these are questions that need to be considered. Our focus should be on plants adapted to a site and with acceptable "manners" relative to the desired purpose. The plant that grows best on a site may or may not be the most desirable and it may be a native or it may be an exotic. In many instances I feel requirement is often confused with tolerance. For example, my research that created the micronutrient fertilizer, Micromax, was done with tomato and pyracantha only. That was in 1978. Micromax has been the number 1 selling micronutrient fertilizer in the world for years. How can it be that research data from one vegetable and one woody shrub relates to thousands of species worldwide? I believe it is because all or nearly all plants have the same requirement for optimum micronutrient nutrition. To study this question I have grown an array of species of plants with a wide array of micronutrient levels. Azaleas were dark green and thrived in a narrow band of micronutrient levels. The same was true for African violet and blueberry. On the other hand, juniper, arborvitae, marigold, and crabgrass were green and attractive over a huge range of micronutrient levels, hundreds of times wider than for the azalea. BUT all of the test species grew best with the same level and combination. These data support the view that plants have vastly different degrees of tolerance, yet for optimum growth, about the same requirement. Now consider the initial questions raised: Is a plant best adapted to where it is native? If a plant grows faster, produces more flowers and seeds which germinate readily and establish new plants more rapidly in a new location vs. where it is native to which site is it best adapted? The new location of course! This is exactly the situation with the Melaluca leucadendron or punk tree in south Florida vs. its native habitat of Australia. In its native range in Australia, it is not an aggressive, invasive tree. A striking reverse situation exists with Pinus radiata, Monterey pine, native to the California coast where it grows at a moderate pace and is not especially vigorous. Yet in New Zealand and South Australia, Monterey pine grows vigorously and creates magnificent timber. A study of fossils reveals that many plants were "native" to locations far removed from were they are currently "native". Conditions change and with the change plant species shift or adapt. Just because a plant is "native" to a site does not necessarily mean that site and conditions are optimum for its growth. Once urban soils have become homogenized and modified with construction debris is any plant "native" to that site? No, other than crabgrass and then only because it has, perhaps, the widest tolerance of all species. On the other hand, many species have such a wide tolerance that they can grow reasonably well under such adversity. For example, southern wax myrtle, Myrica cerifera, is native over a wide range of conditions throughout the southeast USA. It is native to the almost pure sand soils of the Ocala National Forest in north central Florida, to stream banks where flooding frequently occurs, to alkaline soils along limestone outcroppings and acid soils along the swamps of southern Georgia. This is a species with a huge tolerance for growing conditions, and it does well in nearly all urban conditions. In order to have successful plantings on highly disturbed urban sites, we must look to plants with a wide range of tolerance. Along with wax myrtle, one of the most tolerant and adaptable shrub species that works well is Nandina domestica, native to China. Nandina would be at the very top of my list of broadleaf evergreen shrubs with many attractive qualities and good mannersÂnative or non-native. Nandina has attractive foliage, flowers, and fruits, is nearly disease- and insect-free, produces few invasive seedlings or rhizomes, is easy to maintain, and grows well in a huge range of conditions. Are all introduced species "bad"? Absolutely not. Nandina, lacebark elm, Chinese pistache, Pittosporum tobira, and on and on are introduced species that are well adapted to much of North America that have good manners and make good "citizens". On the other hand, melaluca, tree of heaven, Japanese honeysuckle, kudzu vine, and many other species are too well adapted: grow too vigorously and reproduce too freely so as to be undesirable in the view of current day society. The bottom line is that just because a plant is growing "native" under certain conditions, does not mean that it is at its peak or optimum. It simply means that it is able to tolerate the current conditions and survive. Further, relative to the evolution of the species and the changing local site conditions or site conditions of a much larger region, the species may be relatively "new" and will become more vigorous and aggressive in the future as conditions become more favorable or it may be on its way out because it has reached its limits of tolerance and will eventually become extinct. At this point in time no one knows. However, we get a "feel" for the answer from various experiences. Because of the positive plant response and adaptation to such an array of conditions, southern wax myrtle appears to be still expanding its "native" environment. On the other hand, black cherry, Prunus serrotina, appears to be less and less tolerant to environmental conditions and may become extinct in another century or two. In my view, it would be simplistic and foolish to plant only natives. Likewise, it would be foolish to plant only introduced species. Our focus should be on species adapted to the site and with acceptable manners regardless of where they happen to be "native at a particular time in the glob al picture. ------------ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Carl Whitcomb is author of ÂKnow It and Grow It: a guide to the identification and use of landscape plantsÂ, 820 pages, 8.5 by 11 format, hard cover, over 2000 black and white photos of most of the woody plants, native and exotic, that can be grown east of the Rocky Mtns. $60.00 + shipping. Also, ÂEstablishment and Maintenance of Landscape PlantsÂ, 630 pages, 6 by 9 format, hard cover and many photos. $35.00 + shipping. Phone 405-377-3539 or Fax 405-377-0131.

Sometimes time is not an issue on threads as researching plants goes, I was grateful to read from experiences and settings esp micro zones of ones landscape needs .. So Love Your Purple Queen, Thomas too! I have an orange Boug that is a bright deep orange, Im in a 10a micro setting for it, as afternoon intensity suddenly upon it then later day til sundown fully in west blazing heat and the soil is sandy sortv a clay as is close enough to foundation, the only saving grace for it is that being morning condensation likely gives it some sustainance of moisture. It became a forgotten experimented twiggy thing lol after planting about say 2yrs of season cycles. Well, we had a drought as well during this time and we too had had some happenstance excess water there on it during the spring timing accumulate from a nearby piece of plastic just one certain weeks worth. IT WAS BLOOMING more Bolder than When we bought it!!! Discovering it still alive, we gave it some surrounding soil help/ breakup some hardness and watered with a barely noticeable vinegar amount solution of water with drops of white vinegar. Its going to be possible to be our privacy fence we needed Badly. We had a purple queen with no activity as well along a south fence, left it alone, not blooming we feel too low to get enough sun, then planted another PQ boug near but in more sun, it's fine and watering it in as well w one weak tweek of the white vinegar drops in water. The fuscia bougainvilea are almost invasive BUT MOST DEPENDABLE !!! The power company trimmed our fuscia HALF to death, it came back with a bloomimg Vengance LL!!! Good for it, though it's the one of the colors that's most thorny, only use it for keeping a kind of security placement plant away from people or where they shouldn't go. It seems too that planting depth is a sneaky seemingly adapted issue But one that is how success is acheived overall. We have planted Tibuchinas (Princess Bush an Asian/India tree that has african violet soft leaves and deep purple blooms/ isn't hard on allergies! and is semi-decidious) it is fussy only how planted /different situations and with tests came to realize how much it as with any plant any where how much you need to adjust the root ball as plant so it's in the right height/depth from the soil surface, it's immediate drainage-retainage for the plant's life and seems to help some doubtful plants cheat problems. It's an adjustment to watch for if failing in first weeks, a chance to replant it quick could help, as we did with these Tibuchina trees saved within a month, became showplants of neighborhood. Bougainvilea as attested, have determined tap root systems so reach down below the heat and make it so well without us understanding how, thus, in a planter I Would Never put a fuscia hot pink one against a house (again L! it's far too big anyway), the purple one grows smaller lesser thorn-harming secondary to it in activity plus will obey better, and very much can trust the deeper orange one to cooperate as well less and shorter thorns yet like PQ than the fuscia monsters!L/ LOVE THEM THOUGH as they can protect property and the Most beautifying even in drought!! ... These boug's petals are the solid colors, the boug with pastels petals of pinks and the gold ones are not much help coloring landscape or even bloom or height and tho have lesser thorns and train easier, I'd rather have that coloring and believe in the deep purple such as Purple Queen if want height almost the small tree size or the deep orange for sure it is workable and both bloom magnificently almost as much as the fuscia, if have a little nudge of help that you'll likely learn more as time goes with them. Bougainvilea are so rewarding they are addictive, help make the deep orange ones more prominent! I too relate with finding west faced plants and slender trees in narrow spaces in hot climate too, so yes, keep thread going. THANKS!!

Yes, I seem to remember you had family last year. It went very well and of course the weather was great for it. Lots of people came for the event and plenty of people came upon it just by being in Piedmont Park. I understand ABG was having an herb sale and some people might have done both. Don't be put off by the line. The sale occupies two sides of a very broad path so the crowd quickly gets distributed as people stop to look at trees/shrubs (the first area) or head straight for the trilliums. There are plenty of people with dogs, many of them because they just happened to be in the park and wandered through. Lots of park visitors bike, walk or skate their way through the sale. We only have a sale of this magnitude once a year. We do sell a few plants at meetings (every other month at ABG) and also at the symposium. You are welcome to attend a meeting as a guest and buy some plants while you are there. The meeting topics are posted on the web as the date gets closer. The next meeting will be May 9th (a Wednesday) at 7 pm in Day Hall at ABG. The topic is not yet posted. As for the sale, some stuff ran out early - jack in the pulpits and foamflower were gone by 10:30, but some trilliums and heuchera were there until the end. The two sabal minor palms (seedlings) did not sell. I think people who don't know are still unsure about having palms in Atlanta. We had tons of Virginia sweetspire (our Plant of the Year) and it all sold, but maple leaf viburnums were still available to the end. All but two of the native azaleas sold and we had a lot of those. So, I think it was a success. We (the volunteers) had lots of fun, met a lot of new people and got to talk plants all day. Can't ask for much more than that! :) Hope to see you there next year.

My thoughts are, that you have put the plants under rather a transplant shock. I don't know what your "fertilizer/native soil mix" is comprised of, or how well drained etc. Or how big a hole you dug down and sideways before planting. But the location now - and I'm assuming you have reasonable heat in summer - is that they are getting reflected heat off the house, the path, and also from the sand. I have no idea what sandbox sand comprises, it probably varies from area to area of supply, but it may contain chemicals, or treatments... adverse to plants. If you wanted a hard mulch I'd think better to go with some sort of gravel or stone - doesn't dry out so quickly and is hopefully inert.