Gardening with Native Plants

We are lucky to have a wonderful source for native plants in our area, Reflection Riding in Chattanooga, TN.  http://www.reflectionriding.org/index.html  I learned about gardening with native plants a few years ago when we lived on Lookout Mountain, and I consecrated an entire section of our garden to native plants.  The people who purchased our house are enjoying them now, if they have the sense to leave the beatifully naturalized garden.

But since I brought our Greek statue, Kallimera ("Welcome" in Greek) to Zephyr Hill Farm, and since Herb and I enjoyed the wildlife trail on his birthday in March, I've been thinking that I need to plant some native wildflowers here.  And then I got the newsletter about Reflection Riding's annual plant sale beginning today. 

As much as I am not a morning person, I got up early enough to be there by 9:15, and it was a good thing as some of the plants were already gone.  I consulted with the helpful personnel and found the perfect plants for two spots on our property.  The first is a partially shaded, well-drained area around Kallimera.  I bought columbine, asters, bergamot, alum root, dwarf irises, and fire pinks for this area, and this is what I did with them:

My plan is to plant only one or two of each plant and see which ones seem to be happy there.  Being natives, they should spread out and naturalize on their own without much help from me.  They will hopefully provide us a bit of color during spring, summer, and fall, helping Kallimera say "Welcome" to all who come.