Native Gardens, Part Two: How to Spot a Cultivar
Cultivars — make an informed choice when plant shopping
There’s so much to learn about how our gardening choices have an immediate impact on our local food web and ecology. Learning about cultivars can be really eye-opening and help illustrate why choosing natives makes a difference.
In a nutshell, cultivars are selectively bred garden “superstars” in terms of bloom size, color, stem strength, etc, yet they may not be ecologically beneficial at all.
Here’s why you might want to avoid one: A cultivar is a plant that has been designed for more saleable characteristics - darker leaves, longer bloom time, etc - yet they are often unusable to local insects with diminished or absent nutritional value.
Some cultivars have characteristics that make them unpalatable or inedible to the insects that rely on them. Other cultivars have sterile seeds to promote more purchases of the plant.
Most traditional and big-box nurseries sell mainly or exclusively cultivars of flowers and plants.
Here’s how to identify a plant as a cultivar — after the Latin identifier, there will be another name in single quotations such as 'Bravado' or 'Fireworks.' This is the indicator that selective breeding has created a plant that may no longer have the beneficial qualities needed to support the food web.
Can you feed the insects AND have a beautiful garden? Yes, all things in moderation! Strive for a nice balance between the ‘superstars’ and the more subtle native plants that have evolved to be consumed and nested within.
Read more about the issues with cultivars on the Grow Native website here.
