Native plant article

BY JOYCE OWEN

Fall is a busy time for gardeners and nursery owners. It is one of the best times of the year to get shrubs and trees in the ground. Whether folks are new to the area or just learning about natives, the best way to pick the varieties that will thrive in the garden is to visit a local nursery or garden center.
Toni Wheeler recognized the popularity of native plants when she opened her own nursery six months ago, by naming it to reflect her intention to offer natives to her customers.
Toni and her husband, Ray, opened Perennials and Natives by a girl named Toni, to sell not only natives, but also perennials, garden supplies and locally-grown vegetables. The shop is located on the west end of County Road 30A.
The display areas at the nursery are dotted with native plants. When interviewed by The Sun, Toni pointed to blue-eyed grass, which is grown in the median of the WaterColor development along 30A. The plant provides tiny blue flowers in the spring and lush green grass year-round.
Another native Toni carries is liatris or gay feather, which has striking stalk-like purple fl owers that attracts butterflies. There?s also beautyberry, with its tightly clustered purple berries that provide color in the landscape while attracting wildlife.
Also in the nursery are perennials including the confederate rose bush. Its blooms, which can be four to six inches in diameter, are white when they open in the morning but change to a dark pink or even red in the evening.
On Oct. 17, Toni explained to a group of visiting school children why native and perennial plants are important to the environment.
Native plants are local plants that have adapted to the environment, she told the children. The berries and seeds the plants produce are an important food source for birds, deer and other wildlife.
?When you grow up and have your own yard, it is important to protect our native plants. They provide food for animals in the habitat,? she said.
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Professional gardener Snookie Parrish hopes to begin an educational program that encourages the use of natives in sustainable landscapes and provides information to newcomers that want to grow the things they are familiar with.
?We have people who move from Kentucky and want to grow Kentucky blue grass,? she said. ?It?s up to us to educate them. To have them look for something similar that?s adapted to this area.?
She has started her own business, Snookie Parrish LLC Landscaping Consultant, with the goal of protecting the diversity found here.
Parrish supports the nurseries that offer native plants.
?It?s easy to sell pansies and other easily recognizable plants that customers want,? she said. ?But if customers come in and ask for natives, she believes the nursery owners will want to provide those plants.?
At the Sept. 28 South Walton Community Council meeting, Parrish shared images of natural areas including state parks and dunescapes in South Walton. As the images flashed on the screen, she said that native plantings, the kind Mother Nature provides, don?t require fertilizer. They are watered when it rains ? and still they survive.
Parrish works with homeowner?s associations that want more sustainable landscaping. The organizations are searching for ways to save on maintenance costs. By placing native plants in the landscape, after initial fertilization and watering, gardeners will not need to feed the plants or install irrigation systems, she said.
?The native plants are low maintenance and they require less care,? she said.
And they require much less water, something that is of growing concern for government officials and residents alike.
The area is going to run out of water and developments that have large areas of turf grass and ornamental plants that require large amounts of water will suffer, she said.
Xeriscaping, which refers to landscaping in ways that do not require supplemental irrigation, could be one solution.
For now, Parrish hopes to start small. Working with individuals, local nurseries and homeowner?s groups, she hopes there will be a ripple effect as people?s attitudes change.