Really enjoyed reading this! I've often been a little dismayed by comments in native plant discussion groups that tell people asking about non-native plants to "kill it" or "rip it out" or use herbicides to kill these plants. I am a fan of native plants and we do grow large patches of mountain mint, milkweed, and even Virginia creeper - but we also grow, and enjoy, many non-native plants.
My background is geology, and we tend to think about environments and ecosystems over the course of tens or hundreds of million of years. And things do change considerably - and they are continuing to change. So labeling something non-native because it wasn't here a few hundred years ago and going to war with it....not sure about that.
Thanks for reading and subscribing, George. You were my first paid subscriber! I find the "war" metaphor really quite dumb at best, and destructive at worst. Change is the norm, even when one species (us) is particularly adept at scrambling things. What bugs me most, at least in my unscientifically-trained mind, is that we set about, rather blithely, determining which species has the most value. And, of course, we're utterly anthropocentric about it. There's a mindeless lack of self-awareness inherent to the whole process. Be well!
Really enjoyed reading this! I've often been a little dismayed by comments in native plant discussion groups that tell people asking about non-native plants to "kill it" or "rip it out" or use herbicides to kill these plants. I am a fan of native plants and we do grow large patches of mountain mint, milkweed, and even Virginia creeper - but we also grow, and enjoy, many non-native plants.
My background is geology, and we tend to think about environments and ecosystems over the course of tens or hundreds of million of years. And things do change considerably - and they are continuing to change. So labeling something non-native because it wasn't here a few hundred years ago and going to war with it....not sure about that.
Thanks for reading and subscribing, George. You were my first paid subscriber! I find the "war" metaphor really quite dumb at best, and destructive at worst. Change is the norm, even when one species (us) is particularly adept at scrambling things. What bugs me most, at least in my unscientifically-trained mind, is that we set about, rather blithely, determining which species has the most value. And, of course, we're utterly anthropocentric about it. There's a mindeless lack of self-awareness inherent to the whole process. Be well!