Saving the Landscape One Seed at a Time
by Constance Young

Although only in her 20s, Raina Weber is the founder and executive director of a major non-profit environmental organization that has made a large impact on the landscape of the Berkshire, Dutchess and Columbia county areas since its inception in 2000. Weber's group is called Project Native, and for the past seven years its main focus has been on the Taconic-Berkshire section of the Housatonic Valley watershed — a 120,000-acre region that the Nature Conservancy has designated as one of America's "Last Great Places." The area has earned this designation because it contains one of the largest forest blocks in southern New England and is home to over 150 endangered species. Together with Project Native's seven other young women principals, Weber and a host of volunteers and experienced consultants have been promoting responsible stewardship of the area's landscape. The heart of Project Native's operation is their nonprofit native plant center on a 54-acre farm in Housatonic, Massachusetts, where they cultivate over 150 varieties of native plants.

Native Plants
Native plants include trees, shrubs, vines, groundcovers, grasses, perennials and ferns that grew in an area before the arrival of the first European settlers and which generally remained pristine and without human intervention. Native plants in the Hudson Valley are also generally native to the Northeast, says Norbert Lazar, owner of the Phantom Gardener in Rhinebeck. Lazar sells most of Project Native's plants, examples of which include Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga), Black-eyed Susan (Rubeckia hirta) and New England Aster. Other Project native favorite natives are Great Blue Lobelia (which Weber says is rare and endangered in the area), New York Ironweed, and a shrub called Chokeberry. Project Native also grows a disease resistant American Elm cultivar.

Native or indigenous plants left growing in the region they evolved from have adapted to the local soil, rainfall and temperature conditions, are non-invasive, and, once established, generally need less water than non-natives. According to Weber, preserving native plants and their habitats helps preserve the balance and beauty of natural ecosystems. Wildlife species evolve within these habitats and are dependent on them for survival.

The Invaders
Unfortunately, natural places are constantly under threat of invasion by non-native species introduced to the area either intentionally or by accident (e.g, birds spreading seeds and berries). Non-natives aggressively compete with, and crowd out, the native plants. In fact, "a single invasive specie can crowd out a community of native plants, destroying natural habitat and diversity," claims Project Native on its web site. We all have seen, for example, how the deceptively beautiful — but nasty, Purple Loosestrife appears unstoppable as it tramples through our landscape. Or the less attractive Bishop's Weed roots so deeply and spreads so fiercely that only laborious hand removal and burning of the plants can limit their onward rampage.

Lazar, proprietor of the Phantom Gardener, says that he tries not to sell invasive plants. "I stopped selling Burning Bush, for example, five years ago, because the birds spread the berries and it grows in shady woods, choking out natives." Lazar adds that Japanese Barberry, although "a pretty plant that has been valuable as a landscape plant because it comes in many varieties, and the deer don't eat it," nonetheless is invasive and he won't sell it. So too for Japanese honeysuckle and bittersweet, which invasively climb up trees, choking them out. Lazar adds that Connecticut is now banning some of these plants. In addition, New York's Invasive Species Council has issued a nonbinding target list for eradication. The Massachusetts Department of Agriculture also recently banned the importation and sale of more than 140 plants identified as noxious and/or invasive.

Controlling invasive plants is crucial, but that is only a first step, and Project Native takes further action by restoring and replanting with native wildflowers, ferns, grasses, wetland species, flowering shrubs, small trees and more. People can visit and purchase plants or seeds at their nursery on Route 41 in Housatonic or at Phantom Gardener in Rhinebeck.

Seeding the Dream
Weber started Project Native in the fall of 2000, when she was only 19 years old. She enlisted the help of several other young people and of The Railroad Street Youth Project in Southern Berkshire. At the time, the Nature Conservancy had just identified the threat of invasive species as one of the most significant threats to natural habitats and wetlands. Weber's group built a greenhouse on a half-acre of land provided by the grandfather of RSYPs founder and started growing 25 varieties of native perennials. The idea took root and grew. Seven years later, thanks to generous financial support from individuals and several environmental groups, Project Native now owns the former Maple Shade Farm on Route 41 in Housatonic.

According to Weber, "the movement is growing. Every year we have a bigger and bigger customer base and there is more and more knowledge about native plants." Something else her customers want to know about are natural alternatives to pesticides and chemicals. By eliminating those chemicals, you can make your backyard more habitable for birds, insects, butterflies, and other creatures. For example, by planting a Blue Lupine and not using chemicals and pesticides, you are adding to your garden a flower that provides the only sustenance for the Blue Karner Butterfly.

Another important project for Project Native is their seed bank. The group has spent the last several years cultivating locally harvested seed — meaning seeds that are genetically native. The plants in the seed bank will provide the seed necessary for future wetland restoration projects in the tri-state area, while individual varieties and seed mixes will also be available in the garden shop. This rather painstaking process has been a labor of love, and out of it have come over 25 individual species and seed mixes. Project Native also carries a Native Lawn Seed Mix for people who are interested in creating a non-suburban lawn.

For a complete list of Project Native's plants, and to find out about their other projects, go to www.projectnative.org.

Invasive Species: Facts and Figures

From the North American Weed Management Association

• The invasion of non-native species is the second greatest threat to rare, native species and the integrity of ecosystems

• More than 50 percent of species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act are adversely affected by non-native plant, animal and marine species

• Nine out of 21 of the most endangered ecosystems in the U.S. are significantly impacted by exotic invasions

• Horticultural activity is responsible for about 60 percent of invasive species introductions (arboretums, botanic gardens, gardeners)

Examples of The Good and the Bad

SOME GOOD NATIVE PLANTS:

American Cranberry (Viburnum trilobum)

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)

Blue Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium)

Blue Flag Iris (Iris versicolor)

Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)

Bunchberry (Cornus Canadensis)

Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia & melanocarpa)

Cranesbill or Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)

Elderberry (Sambucus)

Fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium)

Foxglove (Penstemon digitalis)

Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphiliica)

Green Eyed Cone Flower (Rudbeckia laciniata)

Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Ariaema triphyllum)

Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris)

New England Aster (Aster novi-belgii)

New York Ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis)

Purple Love Grass (Eragrostis spectabilis)

Purple Joe-Pye (Eupatorium maculatum, fistulosum, purpureum)

Purple Trillium (Trillium erectum)

Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum biflorum)

Wintergreen (Gaultheira procumbens)

Wood & Rue Anemone (Anemone Canadensis & Anemonella thalictroides)

SOME BAD, INVASIVE NON-NATIVE PLANTS:

Burning bush or winged euonymus or winged spindletree (Magnoliopsida celaastrale, celastraceace, Euonymus alata)

Common Buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica)

Common Reed (Phragmites australis)

Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata)

Gout Weed or Bishop's Weed (Aegopodium podgraria)

Japanese Barberry (Berberis thunbergii)

Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica)

Multiflora rose (Rose multiflora)

Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrua orbiculatus)

Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)

Water Chestnut (Trapa natans L.)