Container Gardening with Native Plants
Do any of these sound like you?
You’re renting and can’t or don’t want to put plants in the ground
You live above the ground floor in your building
You have a small yard and you’re literally out of space to plant
You live in a neighborhood with an HOA that doesn’t allow native plants
It can be easy to feel left out of conversations about native gardening when you don’t, well, have a garden, but here’s the thing: every native plant makes a difference.
Even if it’s in pot? Especially if it’s in a pot! That’s a native plant where there was only a patch of concrete before!
In Doug Tallamy’s book, “Nature’s Best Hope,” he writes about visiting the High Line in New York City. The High Line used to be a railway servicing Manhattan businesses from the 1930s until the 1980s, when trucking replaced trains and the railway was slated for demolition. Its fate remained undecided all the way up until 2006, when it began its transformation into a public garden, walkway, and art installation. Tallamy writes of his visit in 2014:
“I had expected to see beautiful blooming plants among the [indigenous trees and shrubs], but no native bees or butterflies using those blooms. I did not think that populations of pollinators could survive within — or even — such a tiny island of habitat amidst a sprawling sea of bricks, mortar, and steel. Wrong again! Within five minutes, I saw four species of native bees foraging on butterfly weed, including two species of leafcutter bees that I had never before encountered in my travels.”
Urban and even many suburban areas have replaced native habitat with concrete and sterile, ornamental nursery-stock plantings. These introduced plants often offer zero contributions to the ecosystem. For example, “Nature’s Best Hope” cites research on Carolina chickadees showing that yards with introduced, ornamental plants were 69% less likely to have breeding chickadees, and their nests were 29% less likely to survive to adulthood.
The reason, put simply, is that birds need insects to rear their young, and those insects need specific plants to hatch and/or feed on. Because those plants don’t want to be fed on, they developed nasty defenses to make them unpalatable to insects. Insects evolving over millions of years with exposure to those plants gradually developed ways to circumvent the plant’s defenses.
This evolutionary race has led to ninety percent of our insect herbivores becoming specialists evolved to only eat from one or a limited number of plant lineages! If those plants aren’t part of the landscape in some form, there will be nothing for those insects to eat, and the birds who need to eat those insects will be forced elsewhere.
By planting native plants in containers, you’re creating an island of habitat in a sea of inhospitable terrain. The High Line has proved that native wildlife can and will take advantage of any habitat restoration, even in the midst of a city. Butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, and more will all stop by your patio or balcony to enjoy the room and board you’ve prepared for them!
If you’re not sure where to start, try following the classic “thriller, filler, spiller” design:
Thrillers
“Thrillers” are tall, showy plants with long-lasting blooms or with foliage that looks good in multiple seasons. Native grasses, rushes, or sedges make great container thrillers because they look great and provide habitat year-round. Some other ideas are:
Blanket flower
California bee plant
Columbia tiger lily
Smaller varieties of checkermallow, like Rose or Henderson’s
Red columbine
Showy fleabane
Blanket flower grows up to 3 feet tall with orange and yellow blooms that bees love.
Fillers
“Fillers” cover bare soil with interesting texture and shape. They’re not as large or dramatic as thrillers, but they bloom and attract butterflies and pollinators.
Blue or yellow-eyed grass
Nodding onion
Oregon iris
Oxalis
Sea pink
Stonecrop
Wild ginger
Low-growing wild ginger features heart-shaped leaves and unique purple flowers.
Spillers
“Spillers” drape over the sides of containers, maximizing both their visual appeal and their ecosystem appeal.
Beach daisy
Kinnikinnick
Oregon sunshine
Native strawberries
Western geranium
We carry three species of native strawberry that spread and spill over the sides of containers.
Birch-leaved spirea is a perennial shrub that's happy to grow in a container.
More container planting tips
If you have a lot of room (and a very large container), many native perennials will be happy in containers. Evergreen huckleberry, oval leaf viburnum, birch-leaved spirea, and silk tassel can all thrive in containers and provide support for dozens of caterpillar species. Even some trees like willow and vine maples can be happy in containers!
Whether you’re planting a big perennial or compact annuals, keep the sun in mind. Even full-sun-loving plants will dry out if they’re in direct sun all the time because containers lose moisture faster than the ground does. Place your container somewhere it can get at least some shade and be prepared to water more in hot weather.
Since natives are naturally adapted to our local climate, most will go through the winter fine without special treatment, so long as they are in larger containers. Smaller pots may need to be tucked into a garage or under a blanket of fallen leaves if you’re expecting a cold snap.
Finally, take advantage of native plants’ seasonal cycles and plan carefully for year-round interest. Seeds like candy flower, Douglas meadowfoam, and California poppy can be sown in fall to enjoy the following spring and summer. Bulbs like star tulip and camas will send up some welcome color (and nectar) in spring when the rest of the planter may be looking a little worn out.