Native Plants

Jennifer Ryan doesn't keep records, but something unusual has been happening in her Roxborough community garden the last couple of years. "The mulberries are dropping earlier," she says. "We notice because it's a giant mess. " It's too soon to tell whether Ryan's mulberry mess is related to changing climate patterns. Best to watch it for another century or so. Zoe Panchen did the next best thing: She looked back. Panchen, a June graduate of the Longwood Graduate Program in Public Horticulture at the University of Delaware, spent the last two years researching 150 years of plant and climate records in the Philadelphia area for her master's degree thesis.

Native-plant conferences have become popular for horticulturists across the country, and now we're fortunate enough to have a highly successful Pennsylvania conference, now in its second year at Millersville University near Lancaster. The conference director, F. M. Mooberry, a longtime associate of the Brandywine River Museum, has lined up 25 speakers, including landscape architect A. E. Bye, and Carol Franklin of Andropogon Associates Ltd. of Philadelphia. Both are recognized nationally for ecological designs.

These days, I can't imagine why I planted that bank of hydrangeas along a sunny back wall, except that their puffy blue flowers are gorgeous and they remind me of my grandmother. After hearing a talk by Doug Tallamy - and realizing how little my nonnative hydrangeas do for the insects and birds in my yard - I regret the ample real estate I gave them. Tallamy, a University of Delaware entomologist, has become almost a phenomenon, a poster prof, if you will, for the ecovirtues of native plants.

It's the end of spring planting season, and homeowners have been busy landscaping with the usual assortment of Asian yew bushes, Japanese maples and exotic azaleas. It's enough to make Jim Plyler cringe. Plyler owns a nursery in Chester County that sells only plants native to the eastern United States. To Plyler, whose thick hands and fingers seem made for turning earth with a shovel, it makes no sense to put something in the ground unless it belongs. "Why put this crazy assemblage of plants together that doesn't relate to here?"

Seriously, when was the last time you heard of this scenario: An abandoned school building burns down, leaving 11?undeveloped acres in the middle of a tiny suburban neighborhood, and what ultimately comes out of it is not a new housing development with "mews" or "towne" in the name, or another shopping center, or even T-ball or soccer fields, but a park for walking, exercising the dog, bird-watching, and other relaxing pursuits. And it happens without community civil war. Quite the opposite: High School Park in Elkins Park came about because regular citizens and their local government worked together in many ways, over a lot of years.

If you are looking for ideas for the garden this year, take a walk on the wild side. Into the woods, actually. For it's in the woods that ideas for the garden abound. Even in the dead of winter, the forests are alive and green. Evergreens of every description line the trails, creating micro-climates that shelter less-hardy shrubs that are heavy with berries coveted by birds and squirrels. It's tough to convince many gardeners of the versatility of native-species gardens.

You can pick Ruth Pfeffer out of a crowd any day. She's the one perpetually looking up, binoculars in hand, joy on her face. Or, you can wait for someone to yell, "Hey, bird lady!" or "Yo, hawkeye!" "My life is for the birds," Pfeffer jokes. And, joke or not, it's pretty much true. While you're standing on her deck in Willow Grove, squinting into the sun and straining to see movement, she's rattling off the names of a dozen birds a minute flitting across the sky, hopping over the yard, landing in the trees.

Gardening in the shade can be frustrating indeed for the gardener who insists on trying to convince tomatoes and peppers to produce fruit with less than six hours of sunlight or who keeps wondering why shaded peonies and petunias don't produce gorgeous blooms. Dot Plyler has no such expectations. For her shady garden, she favors the many native plants that flourish in low light. Many of these bloom in early spring, and the end of April and the beginning of May is a special time in this Delaware County garden.

When Suzanne and Donald Knezick transplanted their Pinelands Nursery to Mansfield Township, Burlington County, from Don's parents' back yard in 1986, the fields surrounding their 16 acres were overrun with thick underbrush. Reedy grasses and craggy trees were punctuated by bright shocks of pink and gold wildflowers. All were native to South Jersey. Now, the landscape is dotted with modest suburban tract homes bordered by plush green lawns and tidy flower beds. The Knezicks' property, though, is much the same as it was: Donald, a part- time professor in Rutgers University's department of forestry, has translated his love of native horticulture into a nursery that is one of two in the state that grows only plants native to the fragile Pinelands and wetlands ecosystems.

An intrepid band of botanists paddled out to a slip of land in the middle of the upper Delaware River one recent afternoon in search of the rare and endangered. What did they find? Purple loosestrife. "It was all over the place. The island was thick with it," said Ann Rhoads, director of botany at the University of Pennsylvania's Morris Arboretum. The prevalence of the spiky-leafed, purple-flowered European plant on Lynn Island, in upper Bucks County, was another bit of bad news for the flora of Pennsylvania.

With a little something for everyone - the perfect orchid, a video show with rock music, organic growing tips, or a giant "shopping op" - the Philadelphia Flower Show opened to the public Saturday. The 2013 theme is "Brilliant!" for all things British. It runs through next Sunday at the Convention Center, 12th and Arch, and there's ample evidence it's trying to attract a wider audience than tradition would dictate. Yes, there's a new million-dollar Hamilton Horticourt for plant competitions, which historically were the reason the show began in 1829.

One of the first things Jeff Downing tells you about himself is this: "I'm not a plant guy. " Which is a surprise, and not entirely true. Downing is the new executive director of the Mount Cuba Center, the 600-acre public garden just outside Wilmington that's dedicated to native plants in the Mid-Atlantic region. And while he may not be a trained horticulturist, as many of his peers are, he comes to Mount Cuba after 13 years at the New York Botanical Garden, the last five as vice president for education.

Chillin' Wit' is a regular feature of the Daily News spotlighting a name in the news away from the job. It's HER DAY off, so Maya van Rossum is relaxing with her family in the back yard of their Bryn Mawr home.   John Lennon music is playing on outdoor speakers, well-fed cats are eyeing the butterflies, and then there's van Rossum digging into a pile of wood chips with a pitchfork and hauling the load up a steep driveway with a wheelbarrow. She's sweaty, she's dirty, and yes, for her this is a completely relaxing Sunday.

For gardeners and other plant-lovers, here's a sampling of regional events:   Friends Hospital Grounds: A Living Legacy Native Plants for Native Pollinators Terrariums Workshop   Create your own starter terarrrium & learn how to maintain it. Greensgrow Farms, 2501 E. Cumberland St. Registration required. $30. 6/30. 12-2 pm.   Send information about gardening and horticultural events to gardenscoop@phillynews.com. Include a contact phone number and send at least two weeks before the event.

For gardeners and other plant-lovers, here's a sampling of regional events: 5K Run for Clean Air Cash prizes, contests, food. Martin Luther King Dr.; 5krunforcleanair.org. 4/21. 9 am-12 pm. Bird Walks Sat. Call 215-345-7860 for more information. Peace Valley Nature Center, 170 Chapman Rd., Doylestown. Donation suggested: $2. 4/21. Birding With Ruth Bird walk led by experienced area birdwatcher Ruth Pfeffer. Norristown Farm Park, 2500 Upper Farm Rd., Norristown; 610-270-0215.

Nothing beats expert advice for free. For gardeners in the Philadelphia area, there are two sources to mine: Jenkins Arboretum in Devon and Meadowbrook Farm in Abington. Both have programs that test and recommend good landscaping choices in many categories: trees, shrubs, ferns, wildflowers, vines and ground covers. Say hallelujah! This means no more meltdowns at the garden center, where the springtime crowds are huge, the selection dizzying, and the information deficit legendary.

Seriously, when was the last time you heard of this scenario: An abandoned school building burns down, leaving 11?undeveloped acres in the middle of a tiny suburban neighborhood, and what ultimately comes out of it is not a new housing development with "mews" or "towne" in the name, or another shopping center, or even T-ball or soccer fields, but a park for walking, exercising the dog, bird-watching, and other relaxing pursuits. And it happens without community civil war. Quite the opposite: High School Park in Elkins Park came about because regular citizens and their local government worked together in many ways, over a lot of years.

These days, I can't imagine why I planted that bank of hydrangeas along a sunny back wall, except that their puffy blue flowers are gorgeous and they remind me of my grandmother. After hearing a talk by Doug Tallamy - and realizing how little my nonnative hydrangeas do for the insects and birds in my yard - I regret the ample real estate I gave them. Tallamy, a University of Delaware entomologist, has become almost a phenomenon, a poster prof, if you will, for the ecovirtues of native plants.

Breathe in the heavy fragrance. Listen to the crash of the Pacific surf. Close your eyes and imagine you're in Hawaii. But the extravaganza of orchids and heliconia that will dazzle you at the Philadelphia International Flower Show beginning Sunday has little to do with the native Hawaiian landscape. "It's not really Hawaii plants," says Warren Wagner, the Smithsonian Institution's chair of Pacific botany. "What you'll see at the Flower Show is what the typical tourist to Hawaii sees - nearly 100 percent nonnative species.

Mount Cuba Center in Greenville, Del., the horticultural nonprofit dedicated to native plants in the Appalachian Piedmont, is the first among the public gardens in the Philadelphia region, and possibly beyond, to start a distance-learning program. Two wholly online, on-demand classes - six hours on native ferns for $40 and three hours on creating a hummingbird garden for $25 - debuted in November. In January and February, two more classes - moss gardening and meadow plants - will be available via computer or mobile device at www.mtcubacenter.org . This may not sound earthshaking, given that millions of college students and others have been learning online for years.