Lexington, KY - In the way of engaging the senses, most gardeners focus first and foremost on how their garden looks. Titillating all five senses, however, can be both a challenging and enriching experience for any gardener, and to do so using the confines of native plants is all the more rewarding for the Kentucky gardener concerned with creating a harmonious space for the native wildlife as well as a peaceful place to work and play.
"There are so many plants that wildlife really interact with," said John Michler, the owner of Michler's Garden Shop and a horticulturist well-versed on native species. "That's one of the distinctions and one of the arguments for planting many natives in your garden - not to the exclusion, necessarily, of many other plants, which actually feed wildlife as well. But plants that evolved here tend to participate in the food chain, whether it's some little bird, or a moth that you don't even see that the songbirds eat."
Native plant gardens may not be as tidy by nature as gardens which incorporate plants that were brought here from Europe and other places, but many of the plants listed below work beautifully by themselves or among other natives or non-natives. You can be assured that in using these and other native plants in your garden, you are contributing to the natural habitat for the species that originated in this part of the world.
Georgetown's Shooting Star Nursery is the state's leading supplier in plants that are native to Kentucky and to the eastern United States (they only carry natives), and owner Marianne Hunt contributed a significant amount of her expertise to this article, as did Michler.
For questions on native plants, feel free to contact our local Wild Ones chapter at kynatives@gmail.com. Wild Ones is a native plant education and advocacy non-profit group that works to promote environmentally sound landscaping practices.
Taste
There are a number of interesting and tasty Kentucky native plants that don't get as much attention as the obvious edibles (vegetables and herbs). Even if you're not a farmer by nature, and don't have the patience or wherewithal to create a flourishing vegetable garden, with a little creativity you can create a garden that stimulates what many consider their favorite sense - taste.
Berries: The fruit that Hunt cites as her favorite native berry is one that many people may not be familiar with - the Allegheny serviceberry (Amelanchier laevis). It produces blue-black juicy berries that somewhat resemble blueberries in flavor and appearance. Michler is partial to raspberries (Rubus occidentalis), which he cites as very easy to grow (note: their leaves make an excellent tea-like beverage). He also likes the mulberry tree, a plant he says isn't quite as popular among horticulturists despite being a great "inner-city" tree - smallish in size, and pollution-tolerant. "Birds love them, and they're tasty to us also," he said.
Other hardy Kentucky native berry bushes and trees include the hillside blueberry (Vaccinium pallidum), bog bilberry (V. ulginosum), elderberry (Sambucus canadensis), red mulberry (M. rubra) and blackberry (Rubus allegheniensis).
Pawpaw tree (Asimina triloba): Often called the Kentucky banana (although a number of other states, including Indiana and Missouri, claim it as their banana, too), the pawpaw is the only tree in the Annonaceae family not found in the tropics. Indeed, the fruit resembles a banana in flavor and consistency, but is actually a protein-rich berry. The fruit has seen little commercial success because of its short shelf life but is highly regarded in many culinary circles.
Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis): Not your typical go-to as far as edible plants go, this brilliant-colored "clump grass" drops fragrant BB-sized round seeds that were once used by Native Americans to grind into flour. The seeds have nutty characteristics, and have also been likened to popcorn.
Smell
Smell is one of the more obvious senses we tend to cater to in our gardens, perhaps most commonly with aromatic flowers. Lots of Kentucky native plants carry interesting scents that smell less like perfume, carrying instead the unexpected odor of objects from fresh hay to chocolate.
Even though people with especially sensitive allergies often cite fragrant or colorful flowers as an allergy-triggering culprit, the heavier-scented plants tend to be pollinated by insects rather than by the wind, therefore having relatively little effect on human allergies.
Hay Scented Fern (Dennstaedtia punctulobula): When it dies back in the fall, it gives a particularly distinctive scent that many people find particularly pleasant - woodsy, like fresh cut hay.
Little Brown Jug (Hexastylis arifolium): A perennial wildflower found in evergreen areas of the Southeastern United States. This jug-shaped flower is typically found at ground level. Its low-lying green heart-shaped leaves smell like root beer when they are bruised.
Maximilian Sunflower (H. maximilianii): A self-seeding herbaceous perennial that grows up to 10 feet tall, this sunflower sprouts narrow spires of 3-inch yellow flowers for a few weeks during the fall. In addition to being a very attractive sunny border, the plant smells curiously like chocolate.
Allegheny Spurge Pachysandra (Pachysandra prcumbens): Considered by some to be "the most exquisite evergreen groundcover," in mid-spring the pachysandra sprouts white and purple flowers that have a strong floral scent that Hunt likens to the popular non-native Hyacinth.
Large Fothergilla (Fothergilla major): Described by Hunt as "a pussy willow on steroids," this shrub grows easily in a variety of soil types, in sun or part shade. During the fall, its leaves turn a lovely reddish yellow; during the spring, it emits spiky, bottlebrush-like white flowers with a fresh honey fragrance.
Sight
Visual elements are a common garden priority. To delve into all the plants that are attractive to the eye would be too vast a topic to breach, so we'll focus instead on plants that are particularly stunning and unique, and plants that are not only attractive to the human eye, but also attractive to the native wildlife that Kentucky gardeners tend to enjoy watching as well, including birds and butterflies.
Trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens): Commonly called the Kentucky honeysuckle, this climbing vine is a wonderful alternative to the invasive (and more prevalent) Japanese honeysuckle. Hummingbirds love the brilliant pink and orange trumpet-shaped flowers.
Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis): One of the most brilliantly colored wildflowers, the long, tubular (and bright red) Cardinal flower is a favorite among hummingbirds and butterflies.
Blue sage (Salvia azurea): Blue sage is the perfect plant for Kentucky fans wanting to impart a little Kentucky blue in their yards. Striking in the summer and the fall -
right when football season gets rolling.
Passion flower (Passiflora incarnata): This trailing or climbing vine has unusual spiky purple-fringed flowers that Hunt likens to an outer space creature (though they could probably pass for an exotic underwater creature as well). Tennessee's state wildflower is also native to Kentucky, and the fleshy fruit on the vine is food for a number of butterfly species, including the Zebra Longwing and the Gulf Fritillary.
Sound
Not many plants are known for their aural qualities, but one can certainly find ways to stimulate the sense of sound in your backyard garden, with grasses that rustle in the wind, or even by incorporating a running water feature or gravel pathways that crunch beneath the feet.
Add a water feature. Water features - from ponds and waterfalls to stone bubblers and fountains - can be designed to fit each gardener's needs and budget.
"Water features not only can enrich a yard with sound and movement, but can be managed with minimal effort," said Sheila Arnold of Nature's Expressions, a Lexington landscaping company that focuses on water features. She added that a range of products, including high-efficiency water pumps and auto-fill systems, could cut both the energy cost and the maintenance level of a backyard water feature.
Grasses: Canebrake bamboo (Arundinara gigantea) and Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) are very dense native grasses that elicit a pleasant rustling sound when caught by the wind. Other nice native grasses for this purpose include river oats, little bluestems, broomsedge and primsage.
Songbird-attracting plants: Another way to incorporate sound into your garden is to invite the songbirds with some of their favorite plants. Songbirds are also fond of the native bee balm (Monarda didyma), rose hips and chokeberries (Aronia).
Touch
One way to incorporate texture into your backyard is to create a "petting garden," possibly in a raised bed at hand-level; another option is to scatter fine-textured plants throughout your garden. Fuzzy flowers, silky petals and feathery foliage are all wonderful to the touch; ferns and other willowy plants can provide a nice visual texture, especially when planted in proximity to hostas or other large, smooth-leaved non-natives.
False Indigo (Baptisia australis): Picked as the 2010 Perennial Plant Association plant of the year, False Indigo has a "lovely pea-like foliage that holds up well in a flower arrangement," Michler said. As easy to grow as they are to admire, the plant was originally used to create blue dye for early American settlers.
Amsonia (Amsonia hubrictii, Amsonia tabernaemontana): Both varieties of this herbaceous plant have a feathery, soft-to-the-touch foliage that turns a brilliant golden color in the fall.
Touch-me-not (Impatiens capensis): Though its common name might suggest otherwise, Touch-me-nots can be a great interactive addition to your Kentucky garden. Usually found along the banks of creeks, the seeds are contained in a long, spring-loaded pod that pops, explosively ejecting seeds, when touched. Touch-me-not, also called Jewelweed, is known for its skin-soothing qualities and can aid in skin irritations such as poison ivy, insect bites and athlete's foot. Note: Jewelweed self-seeds generously, so be sure to pluck the deadheads if you don't want it to spread.
Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum): Rumored to have been used by Native Americans to make a tea tonic, as well as to create an eye wash, mouth gargle and body wash, these early spring wildflowers are prone to what many people call a "bad-hair-day look," with soft fuzziness that almost resembles a troll doll's hair.