Exploring the Varieties of Native Plants
17 West River Road, Rumson NJ
32 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 Com-
adding and nurturing native plants in your garden spaces. 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 for the NJ Sea Grant Consor-
shares her deep knowledge of native plants in the hopes that everyone can
make beautiful living spaces in their own outdoors.
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 need less water.
-
tives which helps manage stormwater runoff and soil erosion. Native plants
birds and insects. Here are some great native 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 throughout the sea-
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 ele-
-
• -
ers attract pollinators all summer long, and in the fall, you may
through September.
Shrubs
• New Jersey Tea/Redroot (Ceanothus americanus): Tiny, bright
shrub reaches about 3 feet tall. It attracts a variety of birds and but-
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 Jer-
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.”
your space include Jersey-Friendly Yards (JerseyYards.org), Rutgers NJ
Agriculture Experiment Station Home & Garden (njaes.rutgers.edu/
home-lawn-garden) and the Native Plant Society of New Jersey (npsnj.
org/index.html).
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Cell (732) 979-4960
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