Monday 28 October 2013

Dahlia: To Chuck or Not To Chuck? Questioning the Roles of My Garden Plants

Hello Readers! Those of you who are familiar with my blog may be wondering if this
gorgeous dahlia survived my garden's transition from regular suburban garden into
suburban nature sanctuary.

Before I answer this, let's look at some facts.

Reasons for Keeping the Magnificent Dahlia

  1. It's gorgeous
  2. It's a profuse bloomer with a long blooming period
  3. It's a gift!
  4. I really like it . . . 

Reasons for Discarding the Magnificent Dahlia (Bias? What bias!?!)

  1. It doesn't provide food (pollen & nectar) for local pollinators
  2. It contributes nothing to the local ecosystem (it's a Mexican native)
  3. It uses resources (water, nutrients, etc.) that could otherwise be recycled by the local ecosystem
The reasons for discarding the dahlia are compelling. If the dahlia was a plant 
that was native to Pacific Northwest, then it would contribute nutrients to the local 
food chain. Local insects would be able to obtain nourishment from it and would in turn 
become food for other creatures such as birds. And so, the cycle would continue and the 
nutrients would be passed on.

By the way, Bringing Nature Home by Douglas W. Tallamy is a fantastic book that 
explains how and why gardeners should help nature. 

So the dahlia's in the green waste bin, then?

Well, no (didn't you read point # 4?). Actually it's thriving in a prime sunny spot. 
Suddenly replacing all useless exotics with useful natives would be one solution to 
my nature sanctuary dilemma, but I believe that other, less extreme solutions also exist.

I think that as long as my garden positively contributes to my local ecosystem 
(instead of draining it of resources), then there's no reason why I can't keep some 
of my useless exotics that I'm really attached to.

Because I'm gardening with nature in mind, I made the decision to throw out 
a delphinium and replace it with something pollinator-friendly. I wasn't particularly 
attached to the delphinium, so it was really easy for me to replace it with a hyssop. 
My decision paid off, since the hyssop turned out to be a favourite of the native 
bumblebees during the summer. 

Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed my dahlia's happy ending!

Check back on Monday, November 4th for my next post.



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