I just did a good bad thing by planting a vine from Asia in my garden, much to the chagrin of my dear friends in the native plant society.
But I’m okay with it, am enjoying its unique beauty while not risking it becoming the new kudzu, wisteria, Bradford-type Callery pear, or other import that has escaped from gardens and is wreaking havoc in the wild. In fact, many of my non-native plants are very mannerly in the garden and support important native pollinators and wildlife.
Truth is, many folks would be surprised at how many of our natives are also native to Asia. The current definition of “American native” is anything already growing here before the 1500s, when relatively recent European settlers started bringing in new stuff from around the world.
But this doesn’t take into how, without getting into ancient Pangaea and that continental drift thing that spread out big chunks of the puzzle we call the world map, we were once part of Asia. As ocean depths fluctuated during ice ages, there was a massive, lush land bridge called Beringia; the islands poking up from the shallow Bering Sea are all that are left above water. Scientists believe that this is the main route used by early migrant people and plants.
And it helps us understand what scientists call the “Eastern Asia-Eastern North America floristic disjunction” in which, though separated by thousands of miles of ocean and the newish deserts and mountain ranges caused by tectonic plate shifts, there is an astonishing number of plants unique to both eastern Asia and the Southeastern parts of our country. And nowhere else.
Many of the plants and their ecological associations are so similar that botanists from both lands get a big sense of déjà vu when visiting the other. Examples of closely related plants with minor variations from both continents include lilies, magnolias, dogwoods, clematis, junipers, trumpet creeper, pines, gingers, sassafras, trillium, ferns, witch hazel, azaleas, sweetshrub, and lots more.
Take wisteria and honeysuckle for example. The popular species from Asia have taken over our woodlands, but we have much more mannerly, garden-friendly natives including coral-red native honeysuckle and the tidy native Amethyst Falls wisteria which flowers later, sometimes twice, with fist-size fragrant flower clusters.
Other great non-natives are the Chinese fringe tree. which is much more glorious than our larger native commonly called “grancy graybeard” and the compact Chinese beautyberry. And because our beloved but hard-to-grow native dogwood does best in part shade, requires certain soil types and moisture, and is highly susceptible to root rot, I prefer the Asian species (Cornus kousa) which is not only much easier to grow than our native, but blooms later with larger flowers in more colors, and its fruits are edible. And it is resistant to the anthracnose disease that is devastating our native dogwoods. Which do you think I should plant?
So, it’s no wonder I am thrilled with my latest garden acquisition, an Asian form of our five-leaflet Virginia creeper vine. The native is one of the worst weeds in my garden, right up there with poison ivy (also a native vine). But the close, slower-growing relative from China called silver vein vine (Parthenocissus henryana) has thicker, leathery dark green and burgundy leaves with showy silvery white veins and brilliant red fall color. And it is even on “recommended alternative plant” lists on invasive plant sites, because it isn’t a garden thug.
Prettier, and not likely to take over the countryside? Going with it. Because though I’m deeply passionate about my cherished native plants, I’m a gardener, not a purist.
Felder Rushing is a Mississippi author, columnist, and host of the “Gestalt Gardener” on MPB Think Radio. Email gardening questions to rushingfelder@yahoo.com.
