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Flower Power
Flame Azalea
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GSMNP photo
Flower Power
Cades Cove
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GSMNP photo
Flower Power
Crimson Bee Balm
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Flower Power
Oconee Bells
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GSMNP photo
Flower Power
Purple Passionflower
The Southern Appalachians are home to a beautiful array of plants with a diversity that is unmatched by any other location in the world. During the summer, you can’t throw a stone without hitting a plant in flower.
Every spring, green leaves poke from the earth and grow into fantastic displays that dot the landscape with beautiful and extravagant flowers. We all look forward to the transitional days of spring and summer, where the hills come to life with infinite colors and beauty, when we are astounded by the bright oranges of Flame Azaleas and Spotted Jewelweed, when we are bewildered by the intricate flowers of Milkweed and Purple Passionflower. All of this magnificence endears us to the enchanted landscape of the Smokies and begs the weary hiker to pause, look closer and admire the breathtaking natural splendor of our home. These plants feed the insects that buzz around our yards, the birds the alight upon our feeders, and even ourselves when we get the wild hair to go foraging. Every spring, as the bloodroots and trout lilies begin to shake from their slumber, I think to myself how wonderful this is, and how much sweeter that we had to wait all winter for this to come.
Many species in our area, like Carolina Hemlock, are endemic to the Southern Appalachians. These species are our collective treasure—adapted to only grow in our pocket of the globe. We often take these plants for granted and fail to realize that we are some of the lucky few to experience their flowers. Several species, like Rugelia nudicaulis (Rugel’s Ragwort; Sunflower Family) and Geum radiatum (Spreading Avens; Rose Family) are only found in a handful of locations in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee. Living in the Southern Appalachians is a special experience, enhanced by these unique plants. Conserving these rare and exceptional plants preserves an integral part of our Appalachian identity and culture for future generations, allowing us to share the beauty and grandeur of these plants with our children and grandchildren.
Much of our native flora is under some sort of protection. Plants can be listed for conservation at both the state and federal level. This means that plants that are common in other states can be listed for conservation concern in North Carolina and vice versa. Thankfully, North Carolina has several robust and well-managed groups to conserve these rare plants. The Natural Heritage Program (part of the North Carolina Department of Natural Resources) tracks populations and gathers data related to the conservation of endangered flora and fauna throughout the state. The Plant Conservation Program (managed by the state Department of Agriculture) manages preserves throughout the state in order to protect rare native plants in their natural habitat. The North Carolina Botanical Garden in Chapel Hill also assists with conserving rare plants throughout the state, and often grows rare species in order to reintroduce them into natural areas. You can also protect the wonderful species of our mountains and the birds and insects that rely on them by volunteering with one of these organizations or choosing to plant native plants rather than invasive non-natives.
The Southeast has a rich botanical history. Beginning with the native inhabitants, flowers were named according to where they grew and what they could be used for. The Cherokee used many of the plants we see today to treat a number of health conditions, often in teas or tonics. When Europeans began to settle in the mountains, naturalists and botanists set out to catalogue the plants of the new world. They gave these new plants Latin names and attempted to discern their relationships to the plants of Europe. These explorers kept diligent notes and pressed specimens of the plants that they found, in order to preserve the plants for later comparison. A notable story from our botanical history centers around a rare flower that we know as the Oconee Bells (Shortia galacifolia). One of the earliest explorers, André Michaux, returned to Europe with a pressed specimen of the plant, collected in the late eighteenth century, and marked only as “unknown.” For years, this specimen befuddled botanists in Europe and North America alike, as they would return to where they thought Michaux had collected but could never locate the species. After moving from Europe to Massachusetts in the 1840s, Harvard botanist Asa Gray would make regular trips to the Southeast to attempt to track down the Oconee Bells, failing to recover the species year after year. Finally, the son of a local botanist in Morganton, North Carolina, stumbled across a strange species he didn’t recognize, and after almost 100 years of searching, the species was finally found again. The family that found the plant sent a specimen to Asa Gray, who confirmed the rediscovery and was overjoyed to find the plant that had evaded his searches for all those years.
The native plants of the Smokies are a treasure that has been entrusted to us by the natural world and we must preserve them for future generations. If you’re considering updating your landscaping, look into utilizing plants that are native to the Southern Appalachians, rather than invasive species. Your own yard could become an exhibit of some of the most beautiful species that share our mountains. If you see some splash of color on a roadside, notice something strange on a trail, or spy some strange foliage in the woods behind your house—take a closer look. Ask local experts or upload pictures to identification platforms like iNaturalist in order to find out what species you’ve come across and engage in the ancient art of botany. Stop and smell more than just the roses—you never know what rare and exciting flora you might find.
Native Plants in the Home Landscape
Use of native plants in home landscaping joins together both our native heritage and a healthy land ethic. Native plants have many inherent qualities and adaptive traits that make them aesthetically pleasing, practical, and ecologically valuable for landscaping. They contribute to the health, and even the restoration, of an ecosystem by placing fewer demands on resources.
Native plants are those that evolved in a region over geologic time and whose distribution across the landscape occurred mostly because of climate events and adaptation to site conditions related to land formations. Exotics, on the other hand, are plants that are directly, deliberately, or accidentally introduced by human action. In this country, natives are generally defined as plants that were found in North America before European settlement. In a more local context, natives are natural elements of a regional landscape. Thus some species that are native to North America could be exotic in Western North Carolina.
The introduction of exotic plants into a landscape poses potential threats to biodiversity. Exotics that escape and naturalize may invade native plant communities, spreading out, competing with, and displacing the natives. Some exotics transmit disease and support exotic insects. The floral composition of native plant communities can be protected by using native rather than exotic species.
NATIVES & WILDLIFE
Using natives in landscaping helps sustain native butterflies, moths, and other beneficial insects; native birds, reptiles, mammals, and other fauna.
Spring migrating and nesting birds rely on the insects in our lush deciduous forests to give them the energy to travel long distances and raise their young. Fall migrating birds depend on high-energy fruits from flowering Dogwood, Spicebush, and Virginia Creeper. Beech, Oak, and Hickory trees provide a great nesting habitat and important nuts and acorns for a variety of wildlife. In the winter, evergreen trees like American Holly, White Pine, and Hemlocks provide important shelter and food.
BENEFITS OF NATIVE PLANTS
• Hardy; withstand regional weather extremes when properly sited and planted
• Environmentally friendly; promotes biodiversity and land stewardship
• Restores regional landscapes and ecosystems
• Inspires a sense of place and pride in our communities
• Helps to prevent establishment of exotic plants
• Provides food and shelter for wildlife
NATIVE PLANT BASICS
It is important when landscaping with natives to match the right plants with the right site conditions. Many native species are particular about their sun exposure, soil pH, and moisture availability; so do your homework before planting. Before designing your landscape, visit a natural area and observe the conditions in which the plants are growing and notice which plants occur together in their native habitats. When purchasing plants, inquire about the plant’s origins and buy only nursery propagated plants. Some retailers sell plants which were removed (sometimes illegally) from the wild, such as Trillium or Ladies-slipper orchids. These plants seldom survive transplanting and should not be purchased.
Your county office of the Botanical Gardens at Asheville or can provide guidance about the types of plants that promise success in your specific location. Remember, too, that in many cases when houses are built, the top soil that contains the organic matter that supports plants has been removed. A soil analysis will tell you if you need to improve your soil to support healthy plant growth. Soil analysis kits are available at your county extension office.
LANDSCAPING IN THE REGION
The 23 counties comprising western North Carolina lie within a region noted for its complex terrain and its great diversity of plants and animals. Site conditions for landscaping are determined by topography, soil depth, soil texture, elevation, degree of exposure, availability of light, and local drainage. Soils in this region are largely derived from underlying Pennsylvanian sandstones and shales, which tend to produce soils that are well-drained, loamy, strongly acidic, and low in natural fertility. In this region, soil pH is consistently low (acidic) and, therefore, plays a lesser role in determining site conditions than other factors. These varying site conditions support a mosaic of native plant communities.
Dry, south-facing slopes have extremely acidic soils that support species such as Mountain Laurel, Pines, Oaks, Hickories, and low bush Blueberry.
Moist, north-facing slopes support a mixed evergreen/hardwood community type frequently dominated by Canada Hemlock, Tulip tree, and Maple.
Species-rich cove hardwood forests dominate lower slopes and creek drainages. These sheltered sites support a broad range of flowering understory trees and showy herbaceous species, as well as dense stands of Rhododendron.
For landscaping purposes, it is important to remember that plants growing in our region are specifically adapted to site conditions determined by elevation (which affects temperature and degree of sun and wind), topography (which affects moisture, light availability, and exposure) and the amount of shading from other plants. Matching plants to site conditions and improving soil, if necessary, will usually result in the best plant growth.
Information adapted from a “Landscaping with Native Plants,” brochure printed in 1999 out of a collaboration of the Botanical Gardens of Asheville, N.C. State University, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Western North Carolina Tomorrow, and the Yellow Creek Botanical Institute.