Welcome to “Doing my Part to Save the Planet” —A Native Plant blog. I hope that you will find it helpful as you begin to consider growing Native Plants in your yard.

There seem to be many perspectives regarding what a native plant is. My definition is that a native plant is a plant that occurs naturally in a particular region, ecosystem, or plants that have been growing in a particular habitat without human introduction. Our country is divided into several Eco Regions. I live in the Northeastern Coastal Zone so I chose plants native to this region.

Some people define native plants as plants native to their region. Others define them more broadly and include plants from a larger geographic area. Cultivars are plant varieties that have been produced in cultivation by selective breeding and they are not necessary native to the area. Many people who plant native plants would prefer to not plant cultivars, however, cultivars are considered by other people as improvements due to their aesthetic performance which has been attained by selective breeding. I prefer to plant authentically native plants, however, I sometimes do include cultivars. Some purists prefer to avoid cultivars altogether.

The photo is of Lobelia cardinalis, a plant native to the region that I live in.