PLANT FOLKLORE 



Mason, who inspired NCCF to begin hosting 

 the Go Native events, doesn't just talk gardening. 

 He lives it. When he and his wife. Georgia, moved 

 into their home on Archers Creek, about 50 yards 

 off Bogue Sound, there were few plants on the 

 property. 



Now. when he gives directions to their home, 

 he gives a street address and adds, "It's the house 

 with the flowers." 



That's an understatement. 



From their streetside mailbox to their 

 creekside fishing dock, their home is completely 

 enveloped in green and spikes of color from 

 thousands of plants he has propagated in a small 

 lean-to greenhouse. Mason collects seeds, with 

 permission, from farm ditches and beneath power 

 lines. He tries to stay ahead of bulldozers in fast- 

 growing Carteret County. 



"I'm running out of places to plant things, 

 but continue to propagate," Mason says. "No one 

 leaves here empty-handed." 



A stroll through his yard is akin to turning 

 pages of a book on gardening with native plants. 

 Mason loves plants and flowers for their beauty 

 and environmental function — and for their 

 stories. 



"Each has a different history. Some are 

 medicine cabinets. Sassafras, with its three 

 different shaped leaves, was once used as a spring 

 tonic — the cure for what ails you. The yaupon 

 holly berry leaf was boiled for tea" he says. 



"The wax myrtle is a magnificent plant with 

 a rich history. Settlers boiled its blue berries to 

 make candles," he notes. "Its leaves, when rubbed 

 on the skin, are a natural insect repellent. Then 

 there's winged sumac with its orange berries that 

 sailors used to make tea as a source of vitamin C to 

 prevent scurvy." 



He adds, "Many native plants are 'smart 

 plants' that defend themselves naturally against 

 predators." 



Mason's natural landscaping has other 

 defensive qualities. His grey-shingled home is 

 barely visible from the creek. Green spartina and 

 black needlerush line the marsh. Live oaks hug 

 the shoreline. A thick stand of wax myrtles and 

 understory trees and shrubs provide a secondary 

 buffer line. In short, the native plants work 

 together to stabilize the shoreline and help protect 

 his home from coastal storms. 



Oh yes. With not a blade of turf grass in 

 sight. Mason does not own a lawn mower. He is 

 free to sit on the back porch and enjoy Mother 

 Nature's handiwork. □ 



JIAtt J MOliZ AUOUT j lAim PIAjTj WHO) J£i 



A wealth of information is available to match the growing popularity of gardening with 

 native plants in North Carolina and the Southeast. Here are a few publications and other 

 resources to help germinate seeds of interest: 



• The Soundfront Series: Protecting Estuarine Water Quality Through Design, fay Nancy 

 White, North Carolina Sea Grant, UNC-SG-01-13. $7. Series focuses on sustainable growth 

 in the estuarine region. Others in series: Shoreline Erosion in North Carolina Estuaries, 

 by Stanley R. Riggs, UNC-SG-01 -1 1 , $7. Protecting Estuarine Region Through Policy and 

 Management, fay Walter Clark, UNC-SG-01 -14, $4. Managing Erosion on Estuarine 

 Shorelines, by Spencer M. Rogers jr. and Tracy Skrabal, UNC-SG-01 -1 2, $4. Complete set: 

 $20. For more information, call 919/515-9101 or e-mail harriss@unity.ncsu.edu. 



• Wild Flowers of North Carolina, fay W/7//'am 5. justice, C. Ritchie Bell and Anne H. Lindsey; 

 2005 (second edition); UNC Press; ISBN 0-8078-5597-9; soft cover $19.95. 



• Native Perennials for the Southeast, fay Peter Loewer; 2004; Cool Springs Press, 

 Nashville, Tenn.; ISBN 1-59186-121-7; soft cover, $22.99. 



• The Carolinas Gardener's Guide, fay Toby Bost and jim Wilson; 2004; Cool Springs Press, 

 Nashville, Tenn; ISBN 1-591186-113-6; soft cover, $24.99. 



• American Horticultural Society's Southeast SmartGarden Regional Guide, fay Rita 

 Pelczar and William E. Barrick; 2004; DK Press, New York, N.Y.; ISBN 0-7894-9494-9; 

 soft cover $30. 



• The Dune Book, fay Spencer Rogers and David Nash; North Carolina Sea Grant; 

 UNC-SG-03-03. $5. www.ncseagrant.org. 



• The Carolina Gardener Magazine, edited by LA. jackson, Carolina Gardener, Inc., 

 Greensboro, N.C.; ISSN 1063-7451; Subscription: $24.25 yearly, www.carolinagardener.com. 



• Coastal Plain Conservation Nursery, Edenton, N.C. Dr. Ellen Colodney provides 

 strategic plants for environmental professionals. 252/482-5707, liv2plant@yahoo.com. 



• North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service, www.ces.ncsu.edu/counties. 

 Specialists in each county can help would-be gardeners take the first step toward success 

 by providing soil tests, as well as lists of regional native plants. The Master Gardener 

 Program also offers workshops and other outreach services. 



rJDVV YOUK GAliDh J GliOW 



Wondering what native plants will fit your landscape needs? Here are a few suggestions 

 from Ellen Colodney of the Coastal Plain Conservation Nursery in Edenton: 



• Grasslike Plants for Shallow Water: creeping spikerush; softstem bulrush; or 

 maidencane. 



• Broadleaf Plants for Shallow Water: sweet flag; blue flag iris; pickerel weed; 

 duck potato; lizard tail; bulltoungue; or arrow arum. 



• Grasslike Plants for Soggy Soil: fringed sedge; spikerush; soft rush; wool grass; 

 fox sedge; or leathery rush. 



• Flowers for Soggy Soil: swamp milkweed; wild ageratum; scarlet rose mallow; 

 cardinal flower; white turtlehead, rose mallow; or joe pye weed. 



• Large Trees for Shallow Slopes and Buffers: green ash; blackgum; poplar tree (tulip tree); 

 sycamore; swamp chestnut oak; or white oak. 



• Small Trees for Shallow Slopes and Buffers: pawpaw; parsley hawthorne; persimmon; 

 swamp blackgum; black cherry; or eastern cottonwood. 



• Upland Shrubs: beautyberry; wax myrtle; elderberry; or dwarf sumac. 



• Lowland Shrubs: hazel alder; summersweet; swamp rose; buttonbush; wax myrtle; 

 elderberry; silky dogwood; stiff dogwood; or Virginia willow. 



• Anywhere Shrubs: red chokeberry; wax myrtle; Virginia willow; or elderberry. 



• Special Stream Ecosystems: Atlantic white cedar; water tupelo; pond pine; loblolly bay; 

 swamp redbay; or bald cypress. — RS. 



14 AUTUMN 2005 



