Impressive Rise of Native Plants in the Horticulture Industry Is Well Rooted
September 6, 2022 The rise of native plants to the pedestal they now occupy is a relatively recent phenomenon. In the business of horticulture, the idea of packaging plants as natives began in the mid 1980s but was mostly ignored by growers, landscapers, and gardeners until well into the 1990s. Even then, the term “native” as we now know it was only embraced by the ecologically- minded gardener and conservationist and did not include anything other than the species itself.
The lack of interest in natives by nurseries and greenhouses could be directly attributed to the rise in the emergence of landscape color. In the 1970s through the 1980s, organizations like Bedding Plants Inc. were established to market and trumpet the benefits of color through annuals. The bedding plant market exploded, and most other herbaceous plants were left behind.
The few native plant nurseries struggled to find traction in a market in which color, ease, and efficiency were the names of the game. Native asters and coneflowers were less colorful and far more difficult to produce than new cultivars for the emerging petunia and geranium market. As the bedding market expanded, native plant voices were seldom heard by breeders, producers, and garden centers. However, the message was being heard loud and clear by one very important group — the gardening public.
Native plants as we think about them are essentially nonexistent among annuals. The only way native plants could gain traction was if America could establish a robust perennial market. The perennial plant movement in the 1990s was in its infancy compared to today’s market. As the 20th century came to a close, new construction continued to rise and interest rates fell, resulting in a steady increase in ornamental demand. Slowly people were demanding the color of annuals but on plants “that came back year after year.” The demand could not be met by existing perennial plant growers and perennials found their way into the plant mix throughout the country. Perennials became sexy!
However, the movement to native plants as a mainstream category was barely a whisper, mainly revolving about the importance of native species for environmental issues. However, those whispers were getting louder and louder. In the early 2000s, enough voices were talking about American native plants that we had to listen.
Among today’s improved nativars is the Coreopsis ‘Uptick Gold & Bronze.’ Photo by Allan Armitage
Native Plant Movement Gains Momentum
Two threads of thought were becoming obvious at this time. We finally realized how well native plants could support the conservation and environmental movements that young people were embracing. The only way native plants would become mainstream was if plant breeders embraced them as they did annuals, enhancing form, disease resistance, and color. The “nativar” was born. Today, there are hundreds of improved nativars (such as Coreopsis ‘Uptick Gold & Bronze’ and Echinacea ‘Sombrero Rosada’ ) now available to gardeners and landscapers.
This brief narrative of native plant history is written to provide a bit of context to this important group of plants, which seemed to come out of nowhere. While native plants helped our bottom line, their development has had some far-reaching consequences.
Our industry has become “greener.” The understanding that natives and pollinators go hand in hand allowed us to support pollinator programs and butterfly releases, and allowed us to provide the plants for conservation and environmental movements. While we used to spray and smother caterpillars and bees, today we market plants to attract them.
Our industry benefited by having an entire palette of new genetics for our breeders. Before the emergence of natives, minimal breeding of cone flowers, coral bells, foam flowers, or baptisia occurred. Our palette is better for them.
And of course, the debate continues, at times acrimoniously, concerning the question of what defines a native plant and what is an invasive. As a speaker, writer, and researcher, I have been in the middle of this debate and it will not soon be put to bed. Space does not allow me to share some of the interesting suggestions going on today, but suffice it to say that as a horticultural industry we will continue to breed, sell, and inform people about the benefits of our native plants.
Subscribe to eNewsletter
