All week, we’re resurfacing the most popular posts published on Gardenista this year. If this story is new to you, enjoy! And if you’ve already read this before, we hope you’ll like it just as much as the first time around.
[This is part of a series with Perfect Earth Project, a nonprofit dedicated to toxic-free, nature-based gardening, on how you can be more sustainable in your landscapes at home.]
In our post last week, we heard from a group of horticulturists and garden designers on where they go to source native plants and seeds. Now we’ve asked the gardening superstars (plus a few more) to share the native plant combinations that make them swoon. Studies have shown that if we grow 70 percent—or about two-thirds—native plants in our yards, we’ll provide enough habitat for healthy populations of birds, bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. As we say at Perfect Earth Project, “Native plants need so little, and they give so much.” Why don’t you give them a try?
Below, the experts recommend their favorite native planting combinations.
1. Stinking Benjamin + Squirrel Corn
Uli Lorimer, Director of Horticulture at Native Plant Trust, Massachusetts:
“One of my absolute favorite combinations at Garden in the Woods is stinking Benjamin or wake Robin (Trillium erectum) with squirrel corn (Dicentra canadensis). Both are fleeting in their beauty, which makes me appreciate them even more.
“I love this combination in the garden for several reasons. First, this took a long time to come together. In our fast-paced world, nature still has a lot to teach us about being patient, about delayed gratification. This scene took decades to develop, just that fact alone fills me with a sense of awe and gratitude. The second reason has to do with the relationships these plants have with insects. Trillium is pollinated by fungus gnats and flies, on account of its malodorous (to our noses) fragrance and flesh-colored blooms. Even better is when ants come along and help disperse the seeds of both species, each seed containing a fatty ant reward called an elaiosome. Lastly, who can deny their beauty? Seeing this scene says Eastern Deciduous Forest of the United States to me, it grounds me to the place that I call home.”
