Clockwise from top left, Persimmon, Buttonbush, American Hazelnut, and Elderberry. Photos by Gabriella Clare Marion/Unsplash, Brian Lasenby/Shutterstock, heegpetra/Pixabay, and manfredrichter/Pixabay.
By Laurie Casey
In Illinois, if you say, “native garden,” what comes to mind? A sunny prairie filled with flowering plants and grasses is our typical native landscape. We are the Prairie State, after all. Yet, trees and other woody plants are also very important in our local landscapes. A native garden can be a shade garden, a rain garden, or a sunny dry garden.
All of these can contain woody plants like trees and shrubs—in fact, they should contain them, according to Carolyn Cullen, board member and Plant Sale Committee Co-Chair of West Cook Wild Ones, a native gardening organization.
“In native woodlands, there are layers—trees, shrubs and ground plants, and it is great to have all of those in a home landscape if you can,” says Carolyn. “Birds especially need the shrub layer for nesting and food.”
And lucky you, right now One Earth Collective (formerly Green Community Connections) and West Cook Wild Ones are holding the annual Native Tree & Shrub Sale.
Did you know that many butterflies and other wildlife depend on woody plants for food—even more so than perennials? For example, oak trees, according to Dr. Doug Tallamy, entomologist and author, support over 500 different species of insects. Most birds feed butterfly and moth caterpillars to their young, and native trees and shrubs are the primary food sources for most kinds of caterpillars.
A couple dozen trees and shrubs are on sale. According to Carolyn, this year’s best-selling plants so far are Wild Black Currant, New Jersey Tea, Kalm St. John's Wort and Wahoo. These versatile and attractive plants are compact enough to fit in any suburban or urban landscape and offer attractive blooms and seasonal color that will add year-round beauty to your yard. We also love them because they provide food and shelter to pollinators and other beneficial insects, birds and other wildlife.
Clockwise from top left, Kalm St. John’s Wort, New Jersey Tea, Wild Black Currant, and Wahoo. Photos by peacefoo, Alan B. Schroeder, Nalatiya Hora, and Snezana Milosevic for Shutterstock.
For example, the Wild Black Currant produces delicious fruit—currant scones anyone?—but you have to be quick to get them before the birds do.
In addition to having a fun name, Wahoo is also an excellent substitute for the popular (but non-native) burning bush. Wahoo is related to burning bush and develops a similar red fall color. Plus, it nurtures our local wildlife and knows its place in our native ecosystems—unlike burning bush, which is invading our local forest preserves and other natural areas, displacing vital plants that support Illinois wildlife.
You can order online through Friday, Sept. 10. Pickup will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 25, at the Euclid United Methodist Church parking lot, at 405 South Euclid, in Oak Park.
A final plug: if you are on the fence about native plants, please know that if you have a yard—no matter the size—planting native plants is an easy, enjoyable, family-friendly thing you can do to fight climate change and nurture birds, butterflies and other wildlife.
This Native Tree & Shrub Sale is held in collaboration with One Earth Collective (formerly Green Community Connections), Interfaith Green Network, Conservation@Home Program of the Forest Preserves of Cook County and University of Illinois Extension.
If you’re a member of Wild Ones (any chapter) or a Cook County Conservation@Home member, you can get a discount on plants. Questions? Contact Carolyn at westcookwildones@gmail.com.