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PAGE A4, WHITBY FREE PRESS, OUTDOOR LIVING, MAY 25,1988 Wildflowers for your garden? Recreate their environment By VERONICA COLANGELO There has been much written on "wildflower" gardening lately and it would appear that this type of gardening is enjoying a great deal of popularity. There really are two kinds of wildflower gardening. One is to use plants in your garden that are native or indigenous to the area. The other, of course, is to let the garden go"wild" and end up with whatever survives best. Both types are legitimate, but it's wise to make a conscious decision before you begin, about which way you want to go. Using native materials is a very wise way to embellish your landscape. Plants that are native to our area, will grow and flourish and require very little pampering. Wildflowers are resistant to diseases and don't require fertilization. In garden centres look for» wildflower seed mixtures, that usually contain a combination of native plants and those that naturalize easily in the garden. Both annuals for quick color and perennials for more permanence are included in the mixtures. Almost every retailer of nursery plants has recognized the gardener's desire for native materials and offers a selection of plants. Usually they tend to be costly since the growers who propagate them don't always enjoy the same success rate as with more hybridized plant materials. Unfortunately, some retailers and suppliers of this native material obtain it from the wild, something that has made environmentalists livid. Such irresponsible behavior endangers our natural habitat. As well, the plants often do ,not survive as satisfactorily as those that are nursery raised, because they experience more transplant shock. If you have access to an area ~sPe~Oone0TWordP t that is being developed, it is sometimes worthwhile to check with the developer for permission to remove plants. This is a situation where the landscape is doomed to be bulldozed anyway and can be viewed as a conservationist effort. Never remove wild plants from private. property without permission. The most important factor- involvelA is making sure that the conditions you provide in your garden match those of the plant's native environment. Many wildflowers grow well in shady, wooded areas, and it is possible to recreate the environment in the home garden. Trilliums, hepatica, dog's tooth violets, cardinal flowers, dolumbines, may apples, foam flower, and blood -root are a few that bloom and grow prolifically during the springtime in wooded areas in southern Ontario. These plants do best in moist, slightly acid soil that has lots of humus in it. Here are a short description and cultural details of those easily grown in southern Ontario gardens. Coluimbine: This is one that is easy to grow, a combination of yellow and red in color. You'll find them in rocky outcrops and that partial shade is to their liking. Seeds can be obtained in the fall and can be scattered directly on the ground. The seedlings will appear in spring and the plant readily self sows each year. Jack-in-the-pulpit: Will tolerate a variety of soils and conditions. You will locate it growing in deep shade to part sun. It grows about 15 to 30 inches tall and, as its name suggests, it has a hooded pulpit-like flower in shades of green and brown. It blooms in May and early June. Later in the summek- it produces red berries. Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis): This is one of the most spectacular of the native plants. It sports a spire of cardinal red flowers one to two feet in height. Its blooming time is from July to September and it likes moist, sunny or partly shaded locations. This plant is happy growing beside a stream, although I have grown it in the perennial border successfully. Blooddroot: This showy plant has bright white star-like blooms •that bloom in early spring. While the blooms don't last long they're worthwhile having in your woodland garden. The foliage is deeply lobed and make a nice contrast in the garden. They grow six to nine inches tall and do best in moist humus-rich soil with dappled shade. Trillium: This three-,etalled flower is probably the best known of all native Ontario flora. The large white trillium is the provincial flower of Ontario, but there are red, yellow and painted varieties. All prefer a moist, acidy soil with good drainage. Usually they are found in deciduous forests and rarely among evergreens. Violets: Woodland violets range in color from purple, white, yellow and pink. The foliage is long lasting, although the flowers are not. Violets make an excellent ground cover and are found co-existing happily with trilliums. They self seed prolifically and can easily overtake a garden! As summer moves in, the field or meadow flowers are highlighted. These plants are tolerant of drier soil and like full sun. Many are daisy-like in appearance such as the black-eyed susans and ox eye daisies. .Butterfly Weecd This much sought after plant is a favorite of butterflies and hence its common name. This perennial is about two feet high and has clusters of bright orange flowers that attract butterflies. It blooms between late June and August and grows in meadow conditions. It doesn't appear early in spring and many gardeners fear it has succumbed in winter. However, usually its foliage is just late in making an appearance. Seed is available commercially and can be sown at any time. Aster: Asters are familiar to us in their cultivated, hybridized forms but in late summer and early fall the mauvish wild form can be seen everywhere in open fields. Available readily as seed and to some extent as transplants, these are easy to grow. Asters are found wherever golden rod can be seen. SEE PAGE A5