Where The Wild Plants Are

Image Gallery Andy and Sally Wasowski

Bits and Pieces

Resources for discovering and using native plants.

By Pam Alt

What is a true "native" plant? According to Native Texas Gardens, (Gulf Publishing, 1997) it is one that has grown in a particular area without having been brought there by humans and can survive nicely without any help from us. Native Texas Gardens is the latest in a series of books by Andy and Sally Wasowski about landscaping with native plants. The foreword celebrates an "emerging new land ethic."

This ethic emerges from what the Wasowskis see as a new interest in different design options and a desire to preserve regional biodiversity. Although their book is dedicated to showcasing about 100 Texas gardens, it is also instructional to anyone interested in the principles of gardening with native plants: conservation of water, soil, and other resources (including time); reducing pollution and chemical use; and increasing wildlife habitats. The large colorful pages list plants by common and scientific names and profile people who have embraced native plants as part of their gardens and their lives.

Native Texas Gardens also exemplifies a new trend in plant resources—that is, specialization and regionalization in order to provide more thorough and accurate information. In one of her previous books, Requiem for a Lawnmower (Taylor Publishing, 1992), Sally Wasowksi presents her belief in the need for region specific guides. Authors trying to present a broad scope of information, she says, rarely understand special needs and conditions. On the other hand, regional authors address the unique conditions in selected parts of the country. They are experts who live with the plants they write about and have tried the methods they describe.

A fine example of what Wasowski is talking about is Kahanah Farnsworth's newly updated edition of A Taste of Nature (Sunbelt Publications, 1997). The first edition of the book, which appeared in 1994, is a guide to 76 edible plants of the Southwest. The book also includes 12 plants that are poisonous, and her discus sions emphasize the care and knowledge that need to accompany any person's decision to explore the world of native edibles. Farnsworth's favorite sources are about plants of a specific region (see resources listed at the end of this article), but she makes an important point when she says that plants are separated more distinctively by habitat than by region (e.g., a cold climate or a mountainous region is far more telling than a classification like "Arkansas" or "the upper Northwest"). Thus these regional books can help nar row the scope for beginning edible plant enthusiasts, but they may be applicable in many similar geographical regions.