Some gardens are a product of what I think of as a “survival of the fittest” approach to gardening. These yards often have a kind of forlorn look about them. Sometimes I question the commitment of the tending gardener, but then I wonder whether the intent really is an experiment in the survival of the fittest – for plants, that is.
This California homeowner used native plants to create a garden of survivors for a landscape that looks both natural and will survive with relatively little attention.
Photo Credit: Gerald L. Klingaman
‘Royal Standard’ is an old hosta that’s been around since the early 1960s. It’s a surviving plant in my garden that looks better over more months than any other hosta I grow.
Photo Credit: Gerald L. Klingaman
Amazingly, these narcissus still bloom at an old stagecoach stop – and they were probably planted over 100 years ago!
Photo Credit: Gerald L. Klingaman
Sound a bit Darwinian? It should, because that’s exactly where the idea comes from. But my use of “survival of the fittest” as it relates to the way our gardens grow and develop (should an evolutionary biologist ever read this) is a bit different: From a gardening perspective, we’re actually talking about ecological succession rather than evolution.
You see, the gardens we design are truly ephemeral in the grand scheme of things. They’re here today and gone tomorrow. Without our intervention and assistance, our gardens would eventually cease to exist. This loss, of course, isn’t immediate. It happens gradually – over days, weeks, months, seasons and years. As a garden slides into oblivion, only the fittest and most able plants survive.
Generally speaking, the longer the natural life of a species, the more likely it is to be one of the survivors. Trees top this surviving-plant list. For the most part, they’ll survive with little care and attention once established. Shrubs are a more mixed lot. Some don’t last long, while others thrive for years without any kind of care at all. (Driving along the backwoods roads in March here in the Ozarks, it’s easy to identify old home sites by the presence of flowering quince or “Japonicas.” These tough, old shrubs adorned the gardens of many an Ozark log cabin and have survived untended for generations.)
And while gardeners typically hate junipers, they’re usually survivors, too. Sure, they get bagworms and juniper blight, become impossibly overgrown and all of the other complaints I hear about them, but they’re surviving plants because they’re the fittest. Drought is the long-term killer in most gardens in our area that are forced to fend for themselves, but junipers have great drought tolerance. (Azaleas and hollies [except for maybe the Chinese holly] are also tough plants, but give them a 3-month-long drought in midsummer, and they’re goners.)
Perennials, at least according to the books, live a long time. But we all know some fussy beauties behave like short-lived annuals. Other selections, however, like peonies, Lenten roses, narcissus, and the like, can live long, long lives – some even spreading their beauty.
Surviving plants can tell us a lot about gardening trends of past eras. Take for example the many older home yards in my part of town that are adorned each spring with a light blue German iris. I suspect that in the 1950s and ’60s, these gardens were planted with an assortment of the newest and most beautiful flag irises, but over time the others died off. Today only this light blue iris remains to remind us that these plants used to be the hot collector item of the day.
I’ve begun bringing my own survival-of-the-fittest approach to my own garden planning: First, I use lots of rocks. I know they’ll survive. Next, I find myself dividing and moving about the plants that flourish in my garden to give them more precious space. In my shady hillside yard, Liriope, several of the various Epimedium (barrenwort) and Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae survive despite heavy clay soil, neglect and general mistreatment, so they’re deservedly gaining prominence. I’m also starting to identify which hostas have long-term survival potential, so they’ll get more room as the less-vigorous ones check out.
Just so you know, I’m not advocating for any particular kind of plants – heirlooms, natives or whatever – but I do say it’s a good (read: smart) idea to stick with those plants that seem to thrive in your own particular garden circumstances. Some just may be those tried-and-true heirlooms, but many new introductions also have what it takes to be survivors. And, in fact, a lot of the joy in gardening comes from trying new plants – and I will continue to do so. But when I find one with a better-than-average ability to survive, it’ll get a prominent spot in my garden.
I realize that this may sound like the beginning of a downhill slide for my yard, but it’s not really – it just doesn’t make sense to fight Mother Nature. If some plants are survivors, it’s just logical to exploit their virtues.
Now, where can I get some of those blue irises?
