Native gardeners in the southeastern US

[fuzzi]

Well, before the backyard was finally fenced in a lot of the remaining privet was cleared
I planted 6 or 7 arrowhead viburnum bushes ( bare root, about 3.5 to 4 feet tall), 2 button bushes same size. Also planted some native ginger for ground cover. The week before that I planted giant ostrich ferns, I think 6 or 7 and 4 fiddle head ferns by the fence. All native, all shade or part shade. I added some woodland poppies and 4 painted trillium roots. Hope they all make it. This week I will seed more coneflowers, prairie clover, tickseed and a few other natives but birds often get into the native flower areas and eat seeds. I also ordered some buffalo grass seeds for the torn up area next to the shed and have ordered 2 passionflower (may pop) vines for the fence on one side. Also planted a couple of white dogwood saplings….. In the last couple of years I planted some native flowers and elderberry bushes, a few ferns and a couple of other viburnum species. Tennessee has an annual program for inexpensive tree saplings and I ordered persimmon, 2 eastern redbuds and an elderberry tree sapling. It’s a several year project for me, clearing stuff out and getting some fruit trees in and getting some starter plants in Chattanooga at the native plants sale was all that was in the budget a couple of years ago. So this season I got a lot done and I’m so impatient to have it grow.
I’ve converted my first backyard in Florida and the one in Wisconsin to natives, after a few years I was able to divide a lot of plants to give to others . Fingers crossed

Photos?

 

[fldiver97]

I’ll take some but a lot of dirt and sticks is all you can see right now. I hope for leaves soon
I’ll take some pictures tomorrow or Saturday. In the meantime let me see if I have some pictures of the native plants at my last house

 

[fldiver97]

These are some of the little native plants I bought at the native plant sale in Chattanooga a year or two ago.
Earlier on in this thread I posted some of my Wisconsin garden pictures.

 

[fuzzi]

Beautyberry

I don't want it here, but I can divide and replant portions where I want it.

Here...just beyond the HVAC.

North side of yard. Those are young Rose of Sharon bushes surrounded by white fencing. If my Joe Pye Weed survived I was going to put it in the far corner on the right, Beautyberry on left.

I even got stepping stones.

 

[fldiver97]

I need to plant some beauty berry!!!! It’s beautiful and beneficial for wildlife. I did seed Joe Pye weed but it’s too early to come up if any of the seeds even took. I’ll sure post pics once stuff gets growing. Did you make your stepping stones??

 

[fuzzi]

I need to plant some beauty berry!!!! It’s beautiful and beneficial for wildlife. I did seed Joe Pye weed but it’s too early to come up if any of the seeds even took. I’ll sure post pics once stuff gets growing. Did you make your stepping stones??

No, the stones were poured by a local business. I have the same design around my ponds.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

I am in western North Carolina and went through a similar search when I first moved and we had some cleared land. I ended up getting a book from the library about native plants and then hunting down whatever I could find. I got a button bush, some elderberry, some oakleaf hydrangeas and a serviceberry bush. We have a lot of uncleared land that already has native species and some invasive natives so I had to look into some of those and decide if any were worth trying to remove. We have a lot of autumn olive berry which is invasive but also a great berry for wild birds, chickens and people so I didn’t even try to mess with that. We also have spicebushes which aren’t yummy but are beautiful. I am learning more about native and wild plants all the time!

 

[fuzzi]

I am in western North Carolina and went through a similar search when I first moved and we had some cleared land. I ended up getting a book from the library about native plants and then hunting down whatever I could find. I got a button bush, some elderberry, some oakleaf hydrangeas and a serviceberry bush. We have a lot of uncleared land that already has native species and some invasive natives so I had to look into some of those and decide if any were worth trying to remove. We have a lot of autumn olive berry which is invasive but also a great berry for wild birds, chickens and people so I didn’t even try to mess with that. We also have spicebushes which aren’t yummy but are beautiful. I am learning more about native and wild plants all the time!

Spicebushes are hosts for butterflies.