Strawberry bush

We gardeners tend to be quirky people. Each of us gardens for our own individual reasons and we select plants for our gardens based on that individuality. We don't always grow plants because they are decorative or floriferous or produce a lot of tasty fruit. Sometimes we grow a plant simply because it is an interesting plant with some uses that appeal to us. That's my excuse for growing the strawberry bush, Euonymus americana.

This is a native American plant, a perennial shrub that can grow up to six feet tall. It tends to be a bit rangy in its growth. Its leaves turn dark red in autumn and my plant held on to most of those leaves throughout the winter.

Its flowers are minuscule and easily overlooked.


Here is one of its flowers, a five-petaled affair that looks like a spot of something on the leaf.

When the flowers fade, the shrub produces tiny red fruits that give the bush its common name.


Here are some of the "strawberries" on my strawberry bush. These tiny berries ripen in the fall and split to expose bright red seeds. These seeds are sometimes eaten by songbirds, although they are not as favored as some of the other wild berries.

In addition to its usefulness to wildlife, this plant has several uses to humans, as well. The seeds, for example, are a strong laxative and they have other benefits for various abdominal complaints. The bark, when brewed as a tea, is used as a diuretic, expectorant, and tonic. It has also been used in the treatment of malaria and liver complaints. The powdered bark, when applied to the scalp, supposedly eliminates dandruff!

I can't vouch for any of these medicinal uses since I haven't tried them, but I find it intriguing that one plant should have so many different functions in folk medicine. For me, though, the attraction is simply growing the plant itself as a part of a habitat garden, to observe how wildlife is attracted to it and uses it. That is the reason that I purchased my plant last fall on a trip to Buchanan's Native Plants.

So far, I'm enjoying having the plant in my garden. It bears close watching though, because it is rather unobtrusive. Thus, I walked by the plant today, glanced at it, and realized that it is in full bloom! If I had blinked, I would have missed it.

So forget about your hibiscus or azalea or that showy amaryllis. If you are looking for a quirky plant to fit your quirky gardening personality, a plant that will fit right in with a natural setting in your garden, you might consider the strawberry bush.

Native vs. non-native, redux

I wrote here a couple of days ago about the controversy of using native versus non-native plants and heirloom versus hybrid vegetables. Here's another take on the subject from the pages of The New York Times today. You won't have any trouble figuring out where the writer stands!

The generalist

Earlier this week, I moseyed on over to The Arbor Gate to listen to one of my favorite speakers on the subject of all things gardening, Dr. David Creech. Dr. Creech does his major botanical work at Stephen F. Austin University and the Mast Arboretum in Nacogdoches. I always enjoy hearing him speak because I usually find myself in agreement with him and he seems eminently sensible in his approach to gardening. (Well, I would think that since I mostly agree with him, wouldn't I?)

Dr. Creech's ostensible topic on this date was "Gardens that Work! Gardens that Don't" but, in fact, he didn't really stick to the subject. His talk sort of wandered all over the landscape - so to speak - and it was all entertaining and useful.

One thing that he said in particular that stuck with me though was in regard to native plants. He is a past president of the Native Plant Society so he has an appreciation of those plants, but he stated that he is not a purist on the subject. He doesn't believe, in short, that our gardens have to be planted entirely in native plants in order to be authentic. He's come around more to a generalist point of view that takes into consideration each plant's characteristics and uses.

As always, the main thing to be considered in regard to any non-native plant is: Is it invasive? If it is a bully that tends to take over the neighborhood, then it is best not to use it. For example, if you've got an ugly eroded slope, don't plant kudzu on it to hold it in place. Find some other more environmentally-friendly solution.

As I was thinking about Dr. Creech's endorsement of using non-native as well as native plants in our gardens, I came across a posting in one of the blogs that I follow, Gardening Gone Wild, on the related subject of heirloom versus hybrid vegetables. The writer Noel Kingsbury's point was that we accept technological improvements in other parts of our lives, why shouldn't we accept it when it comes to hybridization? Especially if the hybrid represents a real improvement in the vegetable.

In recent years, the use of native plants and heirloom vegetables has been the hot thing in gardening and orthodoxy has pretty much accepted that they are always superior to plants that have been tampered with by the horticulturalists. Now the pendulum seems to be swinging back in the other direction and I am seeing and hearing more and more discussions that essentially make the point that we shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Yes, native plants are acclimated to our area and to the wildlife of the area and they are often very beautiful in the garden, but there are many non-native, non-invasive plants that can serve specific purposes in our gardens and can make our lives as gardeners a little more interesting.

Yes, heirloom vegetables often have more and better taste than the hybrids - especially heirloom tomatoes - but not always. Some of those hybrids have great improvements and still maintain great taste. I'm thinking of some of the stringless green beans, in particular.

Perhaps it is best not to deny ourselves any options as gardeners. Why should we limit ourselves to only native plants or heirloom veggies when there is a whole wide world of other choices out there and some of them may actually work better for us?

I guess on this question you can mark me down on the side of the generalists instead of the purists. At least, it looks like I'll be in good company.

Go native

(In looking back at blog archives today, I came across this post, first published on March 6, 2008 and decided to share it with you again.)

One of the more hopeful trends in gardening in recent years has been the greater usage of native plants in our gardens. Native plants are a key element in maintaining biodiversity in the great web of life on our planet.

These plants are the ones that native animals and insects have evolved with over thousands of years. They are the plants that these creatures have learned to utilize for food or shelter.

When non-native plants invade an area, usually escaping from our gardens, the native creatures are often unable to feed upon them. In extreme situations, this can even lead to starvation of individuals and could potentially contribute to the extinction of a species. Thus, the importance of native plants in a healthy ecosystem can scarcely be overemphasized.

The interest in using native plants has created a reading audience eager for books and articles on the subject. One such book that came to my attention today through an article in The New York Times is Bringing Nature Home by Doug Tallamy. It was published November 2007.

Mr. Tallamy is chairman of the department of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware. Seven years ago, he and his wife bought 10 acres of land that was formerly part of a hay farm in Oxford, Pennsylvania, and set about recreating a native ecosystem. In order to do that, they first had to remove the invasive species of plants that were established on their land. They are still working on that.

Mr. Tallamy points out that almost all native songbirds feed their young on insects, and insects, for the most part, feed on plants. Native plants. Many insects are specialists and must have one particular kind of plant in order to survive.

So, to feed the birds, we must first feed the insects. And to feed the insects, we must give them plants that they like and know how to use. Native plants.

As the Times article about the Tallamy's project stated:

"So the message is loud and clear: gardeners could slow the rate of extinction by planting natives in their yards. In the northeast, a patch of violets will feed fritillary caterpillars. A patch of phlox could support eight species of butterflies. The buttonbush shrub, which has little white flowers, feeds 18 species of butterflies and moths; and blueberry bushes, which support 288 species of moths and butterflies, thrive in big pots on a terrace. (Appropriate species for other regions are listed by local native plant societies.)"

As you think about adding plants to your garden this spring, give some consideration to the beautiful vegetation that evolved here and learned to survive our quirky climate. It will require less coddling from you in order to survive and thrive and, best of all, you will be supporting your local wildlife. The chickadees and butterflies will thank you!