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Comment by zadkey | Hacker News Reader

Planting native eh?

Thistle, mesquite, dandelion, and cactus don't really sit well with home-owners associations.

It's highly interesting to consider that none of your examples are actually originally native to the areas I suspect you're referring to. Dandilions, for example, come from Europe IIRC. Mesquite and cactus were moved in and became dominant with cattle trade. Thistles refer to many things, but almost certainly the weed you refer to is not native.

Native in the sense that it grows wild, here, there and almost everywhere. Regardless of its origination, it has adapted to its “new” native climate.

As the original commentator was pointing out 'grow wild' and 'native' are not synonyms. Part of the fun of this - and it is fun - is learning about the actual native floral of the region and trying to make an attractive garden using those plants that will help native wildlife establish.

My parents came from Europe to USA. They are not natives here, and maybe they don't fit in. I was native born here, I grew up in the local culture, I fit in.

Saying that only "original" species count as native, how many centuries or millennia back do you draw the line?

The discussion is about native species, not native individual humans. Native species developed over thousands of years to form each particular ecosystem.

I'm not sure of you have notice, but your parents are the same species as the rest of the people around them and fit in the same ecological niche. There is, of course no wholy correct answer about 'how many centuries back you draw the line', but broadly speaking, pragmatically, it is worth planting plants that help support the rich web of ecological connections that the locality supports. The longer established the plant in the ecology, the more likely it is that some species' caterpillar will live in it, or that there will be a pollinating insect that spends on its shape of flower, or there will be a bird that will like its fibres to build a nest etc.

These are things worth nurturing.

We flirted with unquestionably native California grasses. There's a significant fire risk. Humans are all about overcoming natural cycles, which include burning us out of here periodically, killing any of us who can't run fast enough.

Our front yard is now weed cloth and chips. Inert, it looks great, and the town no longer cites us.

I'm sorry for your local insects. Not much nectar or pollen in typical wood chips.

I tried no mow grass. Died too. Then I seeded with California poppy, red poppies, corn flowers, honey wort and Shasta daisies. They are reseeders and bloom in sequence in my Ca 8a/8b zone. Also mint. It will take over.

Be careful with the mint, but you already know that. I have a bunch of CA poppies in my yard, which I only discovered by letting everything grow after we bought the house. Imagine my surprise and delight when the "wild carrots" turned out to be beautiful poppies! They continue to spread and make the yard a wonderful place in the spring.

Shasta daisy is competing with the pineapple mint in my front yard. It’s a riot. And they will never leave!

HOA's are a pox on our cities for so many reasons.

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