Penstemon "Husker's Red" and Rudbeckia "Henry Eilers".....Would these be considered natives even though they are not exactly like the original native plants?
Thanks!
Question about What is Native
I'll start by saying that I don't know the origin of those two particular cultivars--there are some named cultivars that are discovered in the wild and those would definitely be considered natives no matter what. But if they are cultivars that people hybridized, then it depends on how much of a purist you want to be. Technically speaking they wouldn't really be native since they didn't occur in nature, but many people feel perfectly fine growing hybrids of natives in their native gardens. I have named hybrids of California natives in my garden (some did occur in the wild, but others I'm sure didn't) and I consider them natives--I also grow plants that are native to California but not my particular area of California, and for myself I've decided that's fine. Other people might want a more strict definition though, so it's really up to you how strict you want to be.
If they are considered "selections" of a native plant, I believe that is still a native plant.