Exploring the Varieties of Native Plants
24 MAY 2021 | TheJournalNJ.com
BY LORI DRAZ AND THE RUMSON ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION
Last month on April 22, America celebrated its 51st annual Earth Day.
Locally, environmentally friendly folks did their part to protect and
preserve the planet. It was also the day the Rumson Environmental
Commission rolled out a new section on their website all about the
The planting fever is high as record numbers of people are adding and
expanding gardens again this year. As you make your selections for your
gardens, please consider these suggestions on the native plants.
Heather Robinson is the newest member of the Rumson Environmental
Commission. She received her B.A. in environmental studies
from Binghamton University. After a decade-long career in marketing,
she moved to Rumson in 2013. She is a member of the Rumson Garden
Club, which promotes knowledge and love of gardening and nature
within the community. She is also a volunteer for the Rumson schools,
American Littoral Society and Impact 100 Jersey Coast. Robinson works
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ing students at Sandy Hook. She shares her deep knowledge of native
plants in the hopes that everyone can make beautiful living spaces in
their own outdoors.
soil type and growing conditions,” Robinson said. “The many beautiful
native plants are easy to maintain, provide year-round interest and habitat
in the garden, and can make your property more resilient.”
Since native plants are stronger and more resilient than non-native
plants, they are lower maintenance. They require less fertilizer and fewer
pesticides to keep them looking beautiful which saves you time and
money. Because they are naturally adapted to local conditions, they also
deeper than non-natives which helps manage stormwater runoff and
soil erosion. Native plants can also build a wildlife habitat that provides
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tive plants to add to your landscape:
Ground Cover
• Wild ginger (Asarum canadense): This attractive, low-growing
ground cover is also deer-resistant. Its leaves stay glossy through-
-
tionally been used as a substitute for ginger.
• Bunchberry Dogwood (Cornus canadensis): Good for shaded areas,
which are replaced by a cluster of bright red berries in fall. Bunch-
• Flowering perennials: These lovely additions will return each year
and can be purchased as a plant or grown from seed.
• Orange Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa): The caterpillars of Mon-
through September.
• Scarlet Bee Balm (Monarda didyma) or Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis):
Ruby-throated hummingbirds love both of these elegant,
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ers that bloom May through October.
• -
ers attract pollinators all summer long, and in the fall, you may
through September.
Shrubs
• New Jersey Tea/Redroot (Ceanothus americanus): Tiny, bright white
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it was used to make a tea popular in the Revolutionary War period.
• American Witchhazel (Hamamelis virginiana): This unique, woody
shrub shows off fragrant cream to yellow blooms in later fall and
early winter. The late summer seeds are a food source for many birds
and small animals, and the oil has medicinal qualities. Reaching up
to 30 feet high and 25 feet wide, this shrub can be found in many
local nurseries.
Trees
• American Holly (Ilex opaca): Some of the oldest holly trees in the
country can be found on Sandy Hook, so this species does especially
well in the area. Their berries are favored by many birds and small
mammals, and the tree provides shelter to birds as well.
• Red Oak (Quercus rubra): The Red Oak is the state tree of New Jersey,
and oak trees in general are considered a keystone species –
a species on which other species in an ecosystem largely depend,
and whose absence would drastically change the ecosystem. More
than 500 insects, 80 species of reptiles and amphibians, 100
birds, and more than 60 species of mammals rely on oak trees for
habitat and food!
“These and other native plants can be incorporated into existing garden
beds or used to convert turf to a pollinator garden,” Robinson said.
“If you are out of space, some plants can even be grown in containers on
a patio or porch. You have the power as an individual gardener to help
build our local ecosystems.”
space include Jersey-Friendly Yards (JerseyYards.org), Rutgers NJ Agriculture
Experiment Station Home & Garden (njaes.rutgers.edu/home-lawngarden)
and the Native Plant Society of New Jersey (npsnj.org/index.
html).
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