Function

When Frances Clark, an avid gardener, moved to Wilson from New England, she found Wyoming’s plants and terrain completely different. Rather than planting what caught her eye at a local nursery, like lavender or echinacea, or what grew for her in New England, like hydrangeas or flowering crabapples, she spent years hiking to see local wildflowers and learning about them. And then she planted her gardens and yard with species she knew from the local landscape.

Jackson Hole, and the larger Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, would benefit from more homeowners doing what Clark did. “Natives have so much to offer versus nonnative species,” says Teton Conservation District’s executive director Carlin Gerard. “We need to think of our landscapes as wildlife habitat, where we want the bugs and birds. Gardens can be about beauty, but we have a responsibility to create and retain habitats here in Jackson Hole.”

Clark says, “You like to grow [natives] because they’re beautiful and support wildlife, especially pollinators. That, in turn, helps support birds. Fruits are eaten by migrating birds and mammals. Moose love our red twig dogwoods.” Trevor Bloom, a community ecologist with The Nature Conservancy and a member of Teton Botanical Garden, which inspires and educates about the importance of conservation, preservation, and sustainability, says, “There’s plenty of beauty and hardiness in the more than 1,350 native plant species that do well in Teton County landscapes.”

The plants native to the northern Rockies adapted over millennia to the unique environment and climate and to complement other plants and animals. Native plants stabilize soil, filter water, and are preferred food sources for wildlife. Flowering native plants feed pollinators like ants, bees, beetles, butterflies, flies, birds, hummingbirds, and moths. “Thousands of species of flies, beetles, wasps, ants, spiders, hummingbirds, and bats are essential for keeping our environment healthy. Many of these are frontline defenders in keeping garden pests in balance,” says Morgan Graham, geographic information system/wildlife specialist with TCD. Native plants don’t require a lot of water, mowing, fertilizer, or pesticides—and they can often handle being grazed on and bounce back.

The Nature Conservancy and Teton Conservation District classify native plants as those that grew in the ecosystem before European contact and the Homestead Act of 1862. Many homesteaders planted nonnative alfalfa and other grains for livestock feed, and planted kitchen gardens with nonnative plants like mint, oregano, and chives. Toadflax, an ornamen-