In revegetation work, using only locally sourced plant materials makes a lot of sense since reestablishment of a plant community requires using the plant community that exists as much as possible.  Revegetation work that utilizes plant material from different sites brings with it the dangers of:

• potential invasiveness
• lack of usefulness to fauna and pollinators of many
• plants may fail to thrive
• destruction of homogeneity of a landscape

But in home gardens and landscapes, does it matter?  Won’t plants that fit the ‘right plant, right place’ concept work?  If a plant thrives in my garden but is not local, isn’t that ok?

Yes, I know, I’ve been a proponent of local provenance for as long as I’ve been in the business of native plants, so am I changing my mind?  Maybe I’m losing it.  Seriously, I’m just wondering.  As climate changes and plants and animals with it, shouldn’t we be using plants from further south that will work in our hotter, drier climate?  Perhaps.

There are certainly a number of good reasons for using plants and seeds from local sources.  Among them are the facts that local plants:

• are not invasive
• are adapted to local pollinators and fauna
• have evolved better survival mechanisms to thrive locally
• maintain healthy populations of local plant and pollinator species
• have genetic variations that help populations adapt to local conditions
• contribute to a sense of place
• create plant communities with distinctive characters.
• provide ecological balance between the plants and local native animals, insects and micro-organisms with which they have evolved
• help maintain balanced populations of predators and parasites that minimize the need for outside pest and disease control

Firecracker Penstemon

I continue to believe we should use native plants with local provenance whenever feasible, but I think there is a place for the occasional use of native plants from similar ecosystems that will thrive in our gardens.   Creating biodiversity in our home landscapes     is a good thing and using Utah penstemons in my garden might not be such a bad thing.

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Wet seep plant community

It was excitement about individual species that first got me interested in native plants, native ecosystems, and propagation.  I found an exquisite Pasqueflower popping up through the snow on an April morning and having identified it I began to notice them all over the place.  Soon I spotted Sagebrush Buttercups, so bright and cheerful hugging the ground with a blaze of yellow, and then began to notice the hillsides covered with them as we drove by.  Then there were the Yellow Bells with their drooping heads that decorated the grassy fields.  I was hooked.  (OK, I’m somewhat compulsive.)

I continued to identify more species and got to know quite a few of Montana’s native wildflowers, but it wasn’t until several years ago that I began to pay attention not only to individual species but to the groups of plants around me.  I still pay attention to individual plants but I am also looking at where plants are growing, which plants are growing in close proximity, and at evidence of relationships between them.  I’m seeing with new eyes.

Wet meadow plant community

Plants are part of intricate systems that are constantly working to balance forces within populations.  Each plant has it’s niche in a particular habitat.  Deep rooted species send their roots beneath fibrous rooted plants.  Tall plants provide shade for shorter species.  Ground covers cool the earth and hold moisture.  Plants have successive bloom times to attract pollinators throughout the season.  Early bloomers senesce leaving space for late bloomers.  They all work together!  How cool is that?

Wet meadow plants

Of course it’s not all that easy to keep an ecosystem and/or a plant community in balance.  Drought, predation, fire, and climate change can all create changes that plants must adapt to or die.   These adaptations can create dramatic shifts in the composition of plant communities.

Even in our gardens this happens as species disappear or a single plant species takes over.  Our gardening goal is to achieve a balance between plant species.  The best way to accomplish this is to mimic the local native plant communities around us, or at least to mimic those in similar habitats to our own.  Mother Nature has done the hard work for us, we need only to pay attention to how she has done it.

Surveying local native plant communities periodically throughout the season gives us the best idea of what species coexist within a habitat.  What continues to amaze me is the diversity and number of species found in even the smallest habitat.  A square yard may contain dozens of plant species!

So, while you are observing those incredible native plants on your next walk, try looking through a new set of eyes and notice the plant communities.

Considerations:

• seed/cutting collection – seed availability is typically in late summer, cuttings generally in early spring to early summer
• growing timeline – allow adequate time to grow plants to required size
• pot sizes – consider how large you want root systems to be prior to out planting

Blackfoot Native Plants Nursery Contract Growing
Terms and Conditions

Minimum order:
The minimum order for a custom grow contract is $500.

Deposits:
BNP requires a deposit of 33% of the total plant order price (excluding shipping) on all custom grow orders.  Remaining balance is due 30 days after order is shipped.

Plant propagation for custom grows will begin after deposit is received.

Terms:
Terms are 30 days NET.  Past due accounts are subject to a service charge of 1.5% per month on the outstanding balance.

Cancellation:
If customer cancels plant order after propagation is underway, BNP may retain the deposit(s).

Storage:
If customer delays the shipment of plants for any reason beyond the agreed upon date, BNP will charge a holding fee equal to 5% of the plant purchase price per month and require immediate payment in full for the total outstanding amount.

Guarantee:
Plants are warranted to be in good condition at time of delivery.  No further warranties are extended.

Claims:
Customer has 2 days after receiving plants to notify BNP in writing (email) of any discrepancies or problems (must provide documentation verifying the claim).

Please notify us at least two days (48 hrs) in advance of your intended pick up at the nursery.

Kathy Settevendemie
(406) 880-8809
kathy@blackfootnativeplants.com
www.blackfootnativeplants.com

Barbinus rustifolia

Common name: ‘BARBINUS’ 
Botanical name: Barbinus rustifolia

Light:  Full sun                            Height: 2 feet

Extremely cold hardy, deer resistant and non-invasive
Water: very drought tolerant – never needs water
Soil type: any

Prairie Tickseed (Coreopsis tinctoria)

Common name: PRAIRIE TICKSEED
Botanical name: Coroeopsis tinctoria

Light: Full sun      Height: 12 – 40 inches

Water: moderate to low, flourishes with more water in sunny sites
Soil type: sandy to loamy soils

Annual yellow to red wildflower with red centers in open clusters on single erect stems in July to October; wonderful fragrance! reseeds freely; thrives with some water; great for meadows; butterflies like this one.

Pricecode: B

Rocky Mountain Goldenrod

Common name: ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOLDENROD
Botanical name: Solidago multiradiata

Light: Full sun                   Height: 4 – 18 inches

Water: moderate to low, drought tolerant once established
Soil type: well-drained variable soils, loam to sand

Perennial wildflower with sprays of small yellow ray flowers in late summer; spreads via rhizomes; excellent pollinator plant; leaves and flowers yield a yellow dye; used medicinally

Pricecode: B

Antelope Bitterbrush 

Common name:  ANTELOPE BITTERBRUSH
Botanical name: Purshia tridentata

Light: Full sun                              Height: up to 6 feet

Water: low, extremely drought tolerant
Soil type: coarse, well-drained soils

Evergreen or late deciduous shrub with small yellow flowers in May and June; useful as windbreak and for erosion control;  found on disturbed sites and roadsides on sites receiving winter moisture; taproot

Pricecode: C

Rocky Mountain Penstemon (Penstemon strictus)

Common name: ROCKY MOUNTAIN PENSTEMON
Botanical name: Penstemon strictus

Light: Full sun               Height: 14 – 36 inches

Water: low, drought tolerant once established, but grows prolifically with water
Soil type: we’ll-drained sandy loam

Perennial naturalized wildflower with blue to purple (sometimes white) 2-lipped flowers in midsummer; reseeds easily; deadheading recommended for repeated blooms; stunning color; hummingbirds love it!

Pricecode: B

Wilcox’s Penstemon (Penstemon wilcoxii)

Common name: WILCOX’S PENSTEMON
Botanical name: Penstemon wilcoxii

Light: Full to partial sun               Height: 12 – 18 inches

Water: low, drought tolerant once established
Soil type: sandy, rocky and poor well-drained soils

Perennial wildflower with purplish-blue 2-lipped flowers in early summer; reseeds easily; deadheading recommended for repeated blooms; perfect for rock gardens!

Pricecode: C

Rydberg’s Penstemon (Penstemon rydbergii)

Common name: RYDBERG’S PENSTEMON
Botanical name: Penstemon rydbergii

Light: Full to partial sun       Height: 16 – 24 inches

Water: moderate, likes more water than most penstemon species
Soil type: loamy to organic well-drained soils

Perennial wildflower with purplish-blue 2-lipped flowers in midsummer; found in mountain meadows; hummingbirds love it!

Pricecode: B