Native Tennessee Trees and Plants
Today I spotted Tennessee's state wildflower in a thicket of blackberry brambles. This delicate passionflower is as beautiful as anything I've seen at Home Depot.
My mind wandered to the dozens of Bradford pear tree problems in Brentwood. I have to admit, I'm not so thrilled about pest-prevention and pruning Bradford pears.
If I had my way, I'd dig up all the Bradford pear trees and replace them with equally attractive Tennessee redbuds and dogwoods.
I'm not alone.
There is a growing movement back to landscaping with native plants. Homes designed with native plants fit into their surroundings in a completely natural way.
2 Important Reasons To Plant Native Species:
- A garden planted with native plants requires less overall care, watering, and disease prevention. Native plants thrive in our climate.
- Native plants don't threaten Tennessee's ecosystem like exotic invasive plants.
Where To Order Native Plants in Tennessee
Don't worry, you won't have to dig all your plants from the woods!
Many Tennessee nurseries specialize in native plants. They are gathered from our region and sold to landscapers all over the country.
Here's a list of Tennessee native plant growers.
Here are Middle Tennessee native plant recommendations.
I also found a Middle Tennessee catalog called Rock Island Wildflowers which has fantastic prices on bare-root native plants like ferns.
Where To Buy Native Plants Near Nashville
We Brentwood gardeners are in luck! Williamson County has become something of a native plant hot spot. Fairview, Tennessee is home to 3 excellent nurseries which sell native Tennessee plants.
- Trees Company & Morning Glory Farm Nursery is an off-the-beaten-path garden center on Spencer Mill Road in Fairview. They advertise the native buckeye tree and the Southern magnolia.
- Nashville Natives offers the services of a restoration ecologist, along with demonstration gardens and a large selection of native plants. Call ahead for a tour of this nursery on Liberty Road in Fairview.
- GroWild is perhaps Tennessee's most famous native plant design service, with 900 varieties in stock. GroWild's nursery is only open by appointment, so call ahead before making your trip to Fairview.
How To Choose Native Plants
If you think Tennessee native plants might be your next garden obsession, go ahead, buy the book!
Margie Hunter has compiled a reference guide called Gardening With Native Plants of Tennessee: The Spirit Of Place. Hunter includes beautiful photos to inspire a love of native plants!
You can order Gardening With Native Plants Of Tennessee from Amazon, or directly from the author for an autographed copy. I can't think of a better gift for the Tennessee gardener!
I too think the passion flower/vine is a beautiful plant; there is just one thing I wanted to add--it can be very invasive. I must have planted it in an area that it loved (full sun; mulched area, but not rich soil underneath; "my wild flower garden" area). The vine became invasive, and I decided that I would have to leave the plant to be admired in the fields--just not enough time to keep it contained.
Great article and thank you for mentioning our nursery; GroWild, Inc. I would like to add that the Serviceberry tree (Amelanchier sp.) is a perfect substitute for the Bradford Pear. You get the same general shape tree, beautiful white billowy bloom in the early spring, incredible edible berry in June (I would put it up against a blueberry any day - pies, cobblers, jams and pancakes - yum) and top that off with gorgeous orange to scarlet red fall color. This tree grows to 20' tall. Perfect!
I too despise the Bradford pair and now that they are blooming everywhere in Oak Ridge and stinking up the place I really want to cut them all down. There is no good reason why they have to be used in the first place. They can't even support their own. Dogwoods are so much nicer.
Great info here!
I saw a passionflower, or maypop, for the very first time last year alongside a cart path of a golf course. I stopped and snapped a photo of it. Its' architecture is very complicated but beautiful. I'll send a copy of the photo if you'd like. There's a tiny yellow spider on it stalking an ant and I didn't notice that until after I downloaded it.
Here's something I found regarding the origin of its' name via Wikipedia:
"Passion" does not refer to love, but to the Passion of Christ on the cross. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Spanish Christian missionaries discovered this flower and adopted its unique physical structures as symbols of Crucifixion. For example: the 72 radial filaments (or corona) represent the Crown of Thorns. The ten petals and sepals represent the ten faithful apostles. The top 3 stigmata represent the 3 nails and the lower 5 anthers represent the 5 wounds. The flower has been given names related to this symbolism throughout Europe since that time. In Spain, it is known as Espina de Cristo (Christ's Thorn). In Germany it was once known as Muttergottes-Schuzchen (Mother-of-God's Star).