Ive looked thru many plant list for my area and I can't seem to find where to buy some of the more weedy plants. Im sure they are growing wild here somewhere but short of walking thru the marshes how do I find the native plants?
Ive just jotted down a few plants that are on my list... any help finding them would be a great help!!
Catclaw, Buttonbush, frog fruit, dogbane, smooth button bush, lippia, shepherd's needle, and Paw Paw.
thank you !!
Caren
Where do you find the plants?
Most of my plants are wild gathered. I don't have buttonbush, but know where it is growing. ( I don't have a damp enough spot) I can get seeds this fall for you. Dogbane is pretty common too. I don't have any seed pods anymore, and am not sure how they transplant, but should have a few starting to grow in the next couple of months.
Most of my wild plants are acquired by simply walking the fencerows and woods edges. I have several good friends with large pieces of property that do not mind at all.
As with all wild gathered plants, never take all of anything, leave some to increase in the wild. I also never take anything from the wild that is rare or endangered. (lucky us, that butterflies like the more common stuff)
Thank you Melody, I have found some plants that way, Maypops and a few others but I don't think I have seen or at least didn't recognize some of the others. I would love to have the seeds you mentioned when ever you can get them. Till then I will keep my eyes opened here.
Caren
Get an Audubon Field Guide for wildflowers...Eastern Edition. It's a wonderful help. It has photographs instead of drawings, and I do much better with those.
Here is a native plants nursery list for the whole country. I'm not sure how reputable each of the business listed are, and I'm not even sure if they are all true businesses. But it is a compiled list of folks selling natives. Some are wholesale only. Some have websites, some just a P.O. box.
It's a start anyway.
http://www.plantnative.org/index.htm
That's a great plant finder site Melody...:-)
Caren, I will dig through and see what I have.. many of the natives are the same in TX and LA.
I have lots of Frog-fruit all over and I'd be happy to send you some cuttings. It really takes off and covers the ground. Just stick them right into the dirt, or lay them on the ground and cover the middle with soil. They make a root.
Send me a SASBE with 3 stamps on it and I will see what I can fill it with. :-)
There's a pretty good little book about some of the plants you mentioned.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=4511496
I buy from www.mailordernatives.com Another good source is to see if you have a native plant society near you. I buy a lot of stuff from the Florida Native Plant Society. Also, sometimes the Master Gardener's from various counties around here will hold a fundraiser sale. Maybe you have some in your area?
FYI, I do have the buttonbush (love those!), two kinds of pawpaw (that only grow in FL), and Shepard's Needles grow on any roadside in this area. I have to pull them a lot because they get in my beds. I always leave some on the side of the road and along the fenceline though. Frogfruit is also wild; there's a lot of it in my neighbor's yard, LOL!
Melanie
Thank you all for the links I will have to go check them out!
Debnes- I will get an enve off to you in the morning.
Thank you!!
Caren
Caren~ I hope I caught you before you mail the envie... Just send me 3 stamps and your address~ I will take care of the BE and all... (I have plenty of manilla envelopes and bubble sheets that will work fine.
Debnes
Heavinsent--sounds like you have a pretty extensive butterfly 'preserve'! Or are on the way to getting one soon!
I know Paw Paw is pretty hard to transplant from the wild (long tap root) but seedlings are available on e-bay from time to time and they are offered for sale at our native plant nursery, too.
Is lippia the same as frog fruit?
I am no expert by far but when searching for it on Google it came up as an herb? Frogfruit as well as Lippia graveolens (Mexican Oregano) and Aztec sweetherb, sweet lippia) are all in the same family.
"description
It bears long, hanging clusters of violet-blue pansylike flowers and has oval leaves so rough as to be likened to sandpaper. The 220 species of the genus Lippia bear clusters of white, rose, or purplish flowers. L. canescens of South America is a matting ground cover with oblong leaves and small heads of yellow-throated, lilac flowers...." (Encyclopędia Britannica)
Thanks
Caren
Edited for Cut and paste mistake
This message was edited Feb 15, 2008 8:44 PM
So is Mexican Oregano a host plant, do you think? I think I have that in the garden...It would be easy to put in a bunch more of them...
Lippia is listed as a host plant for Common Buckeye and Phaon Crescent but it doesnt say which Lippia maybe all???
Well, that's what I'm hoping! some of it can be weedy, but Mexican Oregano I can go with!
4 seasons plant catalog has Paw Paw. I never ordered from them but here's the link http://www.4seasonsnurseries.com/search.asp?zoom_query=Paw+paw+&zoom_and=1&submit1=Go
I think Buckeyes prefer the Gerardia.. Agalinis ssp. and Plantains to the Frog-fruit here in the South.
Here is the Frog-fruit I have: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/62730/
Good to know! I was hoping someone knew for sure. Internet info is great but Its nice to hear it from someone that knows from experance.
Thank you!!
Caren
Deb, that's the frogfruit we have in FL as well. I see a lot of the skippers nectar on it, and the dainty sulphurs are always around it.
Melanie
It's definitely a weed in my yard! LOL! Though I don't pull it out anymore now that I know it serves a worthwhile purpose! :-)
Yep Becky same here.. It serves as a good ground cover here. I just love the little blooms!