Let's discuss Immigration shall we?

I know, most people will immediately think of illegal immigrants crossing the US borders.... But that's not what I'm talking about here. I'm talking about Green Immigrants -  the "native" plants vs the poor garden immigrants I planted rather haphazardly this spring. In looking at how the plants (in both cases) have grown, I realized a couple of important things:

1) I want to take advantage of the native plant species in landscaping the property - I mean really - we KNOW they grow well and survive the winters here so why not capitalize on that?

2) Gardening is only successful if you do not wing it. You must prepare, plan, revise, plan, account for variables, plan and then stick to the plan!

Native plants!! These are just a handful of the native plants that are growing well, despite NOT being watered regularly, in our yard. I have no idea what most of them are called, so I'm guessing LOL! All are "native" and volunteers. In the few cases where they HAVE gotten some water by accident, the difference in growth is truly amazing. I'm leaning very strongly toward trying to use as many of these plants in our landscaping vs bringing in "immigrants." At the very least, I want to do as much as we can with these plants BEFORE we go buying stuff!

Cottonwood Tree- there are many of these growing around town and this one popped up all on it's own at the back corner of the property. Eventually it'll make a nice privacy screen! The only downside is that these can get VERY tall and we can't plant them under power lines.

Sweet Pea #1 - these are a a little past their prime, but when they ARE in their prime they're a bright fuschia. They reseed every year and you can harvest the seed pods and plant them in other places - they grow like CRAZY in huge mounds.

Sweet Pea #2 - a more diminutive version with a darker purple flower - very delicate. These also start well from seeds, though the pods and seeds are MUCH smaller than the others.

"Stink Weed" - or at least that's what Dad calls it. He's always hacked it back with the weed eater but I wanted to see what it does - right now they're almost 3 feet tall and have these gorgeous green leaves.... Waiting to see if they do anything else.

Alfalfa (according to Dad) - now, I've never seen Alfalfa up close when it's growing. I've only seen in cut, dried and in bales, so I have NO clue IF this is really Alfalfa - can someone please set me straight here? What I do love is that it's a HEARTY plant - you can dig it up and it still comes back the next year. And, it's got pretty purple flowers.

Sage - as in Sagebrush, or Tumbleweed? I think.... This plant grows and grows - it's very woody. It drops it's leaves in winter and then sends up new shoots in spring/summer. Has a nice sage-y scent... So far no flowers but it's got a very pretty heather gray color and the leaves are really soft.

I think these are going to be Sunflowers - I recall my grandma used to grow GIANT sunflowers - they'd get over 8 feet tall and have flowers as big as dinner plates!! I'm thinking that these or some of the giant ones might make a good camouflage for the semi trailers....or maybe some of these in front of the giant ones?? Hmmmm.......

Reeds - I love these. They grow in clumps like and make great lining for the ground in a fort or tunnel.....

And at the top of each stem is a bulbous thing like this

My Grandpa called these Morning Glories. They spread out like a low-growing carpet. Pretty funnel-like flowers stay open during the day and close up at night.

Unknown #1 - reminds me a bit of Alyssum, has a mild sweet fragrance early on in the bloom season which dies off later, and is very prolific. Pretty clusters of tiny white flowers.

Unknown #2 - leaves look somewhat like tomatoes or potatoes. They have a pretty little white flower. This one has sprouted up around the peas and squash so I'm not sure what the heck it is. Looks like it might be poisonous. This is the only one of this plant I've found anywhere on our 1/2 acre.

Unknown #3 - mounding plant with round leaves that remind me of lily pads. The plant can get about 12" tall, sometimes more. Leaves here are only about an inch in diameter but they can get bigger - nearly 3 inches. Pretty little flowers that are light pink and white.

Unknown #4 - another creeping plant, with delicate feathery leaves that spread out fairly low to the ground, with tiny pink flowers and sword like seed pods (look at the upper left of the photo for a seed pod).

Finally, this is what happens to your garden when you don't plan, etc -  it becomes overrun and it becomes tough to tell what is something you planted vs something that is native. Next year will be better..... I hope.