In the last post we talked about nativars. Well, let's be honest. Nativars ARE cultivars. Cultivars are any species that's been bred as a hybrid between two other species. Nativars are native plants that have been cultivated by a breeder. Cultivars are the broader group of both natives and non-natives that have been culitivated.
Cultivars are totally fine to have in your landscape. If you love a plant, you should nurture it. Want to have a classic rose garden? Do it!
The issue is that cultivares generally require a lot more work. They are not ideally suited to the native soil and climate so they require fertilizers, soil amendments, and other disease and insect treatments much more frequently than native plants do. They also provide almost no benefits to pollinators and other wildlife in the area.
If you have a typical American landscape, most, if not all of your plants are probably cultivars. That's ok. But hopefully in the future you will consider incorporating more natives into your landscape!
This concludes the "Is it native?" portion of our programming. I'll continue to share why native plants are so vital in this #nativeplantsseries. Coming soon...recommended native plants you can use in your own landscape!
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