Not a lot of natives here. Mom has become interested in natives and is trying to use more of them.

I usually look at whether a plant is native or not as more of a characteristic (like drought tolerant, pest resistant, etc) than a type of plant (if that makes sense). Some people will only grow native plants in their garden. I like non-natives just as much as natives as long as they are not invasive and well adaptable to my climate. One plus of some non-natives is that they are a little more uncommon.

Once again atokadawn, cool thread. I have a medicinal herb garden on the side of my house, and before buying seed I did a lot of reading to see what grows naturally in this general area. So I guess that makes them "natives" ? I'm planning a hike on my family's land out in the country to find some native plants, see how and where they grow, and if I can identify them using my guide. I might bring some home to plant!

I went out to the woods and got some trillium. They were still blooming. I like the looks for them in the shade.
I also got alot of ferns for the little deep shade area I have in the yard. Natives seem to work there for me.

Be careful, though, if you are digging plants out of the woods to bring home. A lot of them don't make it. This is why lady's slipper orchids are now endangered - they have very specific requirements and usually don't make it when transplanted, but people love them so much they can't resist digging them up.

Usually, unless you are going to put the time in to research native plants and how to transplant them, I just recommend you go to one of our local nurseries that specialize in native plants. They have done that research, and they either propagate plants themselves or get them from reputable sources. Here are some links (the first two are located in Fairview):

GroWild: http://www.growildnursery.com/index.htm
Nashville Natives: http://www.nashvillenatives.com/
Sunlight Gardens: http://www.sunlightgardens.com/index.html
Woodlanders: http://www.woodlanders.net/

Places like Gum Tree Farm in Hermitage, Bates, and Needham's also carry a variety of native plants, in addition to their regular nursery stock.

(I live near Nashville, but maybe some of the other folks on the list from around the state will chime in with their own local sources for native plants.)

Also, if you are interested in learning more about Native plants, I'd highly recommend this book, which is by a local author:

Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee - The Spirit of Place by Margie Hunter, ISBN# 1-57233-155-0

You can also find more information at the Tennessee Native Plant Society website. I use their Field Guide (Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley and the Southern Appalachians), extensively. Information on it is featured on their website.

I, like Brandon, love native plants and I use them extensively - it's hard to beat them for toughness once they get established. But I like lots of other old garden stand-bys too, and many of them AREN'T native plants, just very well adapted. :-) Sometimes TOO well-adapted - as they can quickly become thugs. I like the fact that by using natives I'm not contributing to the spread of some of the more invasive exotic plants. I guess I'm just a big fan of bio-diversity in general.

Keep in mind, though, most plants (except those grown in a laboratory) are "native" -- somewhere. For example, my garden contains lots of native plants from the Western U.S. (I try to have some xeriscaped areas in my garden to keep maintenance down). But they wouldn't be considered "native" for Tennessee, even though several have close Tennessee cousins that I just can't seem to find anywhere! And then there are a whole lot of plants from East Tennessee that would die here in my sunny, high PH garden - so I have to stick more to cedar glade or meadow type plants, such as the ones I have from out West or others I've bought that were propagated locally. The azaleas I brought with me from Cookeville (where they thrived) have pretty much been at Death's Door since I put them in the ground here at Madison - it's just not the same environment as we had up on the Plateau. :-)

So is my garden a native plant garden? Well, not really -- but it is fairly low maintenance for its size and it looks nice to me. The fact that a number of the plants are natives is just a big ole' bonus.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee on Amazon

An acquaintance at work has given me several native plants from her yard. For years, she has been a regular at the Reflection Riding plant sale near Chattanooga so I am benefitting from her purchases. We have several that we transplanted on a steep incline at the back of our house along with several that we bought in the very early spring at the same Reflection Riding plant sale that she has frequented. They all seem to be thriving. I believe that it being EARLY SPRING is the key in my experience in transplanting these natives.

Having worked as the propagator at the above mentioned native plant nursery, GroWild, for a number of years, natives are close to my heart. In reality just about everybody grows lots of natives -- indeed, natives are the backbone plants of many gardens -- it's just that folks don't realize the plants they've grown for years are locals. Here's an off-the-top-of-my-head little list of native plants that I've collected seed or cuttings of in the wild in Tennessee within 125 miles of Nashville:

Echinacea purpurea, tennesseensis, simulata (coneflowers -- 'Magnus' and others are E. purpurea selections, and many of the new hybrid types have these three species in their bloodlines)
Baptisia australis (Wild Blue Indigo)
Rudbeckia fulgida (Black-eyed Susan; 'Goldsturm' is this species)
Coreopsis lanceolata, grandiflora, pubescens
Physostegia virginica (Obedience Plant)
Itea virginica (Virginia Sweetspire)
Hydrangea arborescens ('Annabelle' is a selection of this species), quercifolia (Oakleaf Hydrangea)
Viburnum acerifolium, prunifolium, rufidulum, cassinoides
Spigelia marilandica (Indian Pink)
Veronicastrum virginicum (Culvers Root)
Symphiotrichon (Aster)laevis, nova-angliae, cordifolium, oblongifolium ('Bluebird', New England Aster, Blue Wood Aster, 'Raydon's Favorite' are these species)

... and tons of others.

If by natives you mean the wonderful spring wildflowers Tennessee has in such lovely abundance, make sure you've got the right conditions (usually deciduous woods and decent moisture). And please try to buy from a grower who propagates these plants in a nursery, rather than from one of the many suppliers who pillage them from the wild.

Marty

I didn't know Obedient Plant was considered a native! That's good news. I just bought one to try it and was thinking of getting more if it did well. I suppose it will!

Just keep in mind that although it's a native and therefore not invasive, it can be very aggressive in the right conditions. There are cultivars that are much more obedient than the straight species.