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My neighbor said native plants are just weeds with good press
We were talking about my yard in Portland and she called my camas and yarrow 'weeds with good press.' It made me think about how we decide what's a plant worth keeping. Some people see native gardens as messy, while others say they help local bugs and birds. Where do you stand on planting local species versus more common garden plants?
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the_holly8d ago
Lol that neighbor is missing the point big time. I heard a talk about how native plants support way more caterpillars, which are basically bird food. So your "weeds" are actually feeding the whole local food chain.
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grant.nina7d ago
Oh, that comment would have made me laugh. My old neighbor used to say the same thing about my goldenrod until I pointed out the three different kinds of bees on it one afternoon. I started with little patches of natives like coneflower and milkweed near my porch, and the change was real. More butterflies just showed up. Like @the_holly said, it's about the food chain. Now that neighbor has a few native plants herself. Sometimes people just need to see it working.
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