Showy celandine poppy.
Indian pink, above, also known as woodland pinkroot, is a native species that attracts hummingbirds and butterflies.CLOSE TO HOME* What: Landscape Installation & Management Class* Where: DeSoto State Park Lodge, Fort Payne, Ala.* When: 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 7.* Cost: Free and open to the public.* Information and pre-registration: 256-997-5025 or Brittney.Hughes@dcnr.alabama.govThe Landscape Installation and Management Class offers a chance to learn about landscape plants, landscape design and plant material. Participants will receive a free mini-library of five color, waterproof reference books, and a Landscape License study manual. The class is sponsored by the Alabama Urban Forestry Association.
There has been a big push in recent years for area residents to “buy local.” Whether it’s homegrown vegetables, handmade arts and crafts or locally prepared food, the emphasis is to stay, shop and eat where you live.
Dennis Bishop wants to take the effort a step further. Bishop, arboretum curator at Reflection Riding Arboretum and Nature Center, encourages area gardeners and homeowners to think local by using native plants in their landscapes.
“Native plants are part of our natural home, and they are the home to the many creatures with which we share our local habitat,” says Bishop. “Unfortunately, over the last several centuries, we have destroyed much of our natural landscape building homes and neighborhoods and, in the process, we have introduced a plethora of exotic plants into our yards and gardens. These yards and gardens cannot sustain us. By reintroducing native plants we can build more sustainable landscapes.”
In an effort to encourage gardeners to incorporate native plants into their landscapes, the nature center, along with the Tennessee Valley Wild Ones and the Tennessee Native Plant Society, are presenting the first “Certificate in Native Plant” course on Feb. 1. The purpose of the course is to increase people’s knowledge of native plants, but also to further build the local community of native plant gardeners, Bishop says.