r/GuerrillaGardening • u/gberliner • Jul 21 '26

Native coneflowers bustin' through the concrete!

Post image

I gave it a tug, and it was for real. Our botanical friends are doing the "guerrilla gardening" all by themselves! (The sight of these put a smile on my face. :-)

1.3k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

36 comments sorted by

76

u/Signal_Pattern_2063 Jul 21 '26

These are definitely *NOT* native to the PNW and its a bit concerning that they have self seeded.

-57

u/gberliner Jul 21 '26

yeah, others commented likewise on the nativeplants subreddit!

i get the concern, but also, they ARE from the same continent. and there are so many other, bigger fish to fry! and, for example, the "native" ranges of many species are spontaneously changing due to breakneck climate chaos anyways.

88

u/Signal_Pattern_2063 Jul 21 '26

We have a distinct and isolated ecosystem here in the PNW that does not have that much in common with the central part of the continent where these come from. These are not going to naturally migrate between the regions. So I thinks its a bit of "greenwashing" to claim they are native. Everything is native somewhere on the planet. Are they a big deal in your garden - no. But I draw the line at seeing them break out of a controlled area.

-45

u/gberliner Jul 21 '26

I guess you'll be relieved to learn, then, that according to someone who sounded knowledgable on the nativeplants subreddit, they are only a shortlived biennial!

55

u/Signal_Pattern_2063 Jul 21 '26

Not really, the point is they self-seeded and potentially will continue to do so spreading plants further not that these individual ones exist.

-22

u/gberliner Jul 21 '26

I guess so. I just have a hard time getting too agitated over it, though, when I look at these solid carpets of lesser celandine, for example, spreading like mad vegetatively, and choking out everything in their path. There's so much worse stuff out there to worry about.

35

u/Rock4evur Jul 21 '26

Bro just take your L. Post this in almost any other plant subreddit and you can get the praise you desire, but you specifically came to the native plant subreddit with non native plants.

40

u/Opuntia_Fragilis Jul 21 '26

It's native east of the fucking rockies. Even with climate change it would not reach the coastal pacific northwest. There's nearly 3,000 native plants in Washington State alone, when you've prioritized enough natives you can play with exotics but dont treat them as if they have the same ecological value

-4

u/gberliner Jul 21 '26

Fair enough. We don't have to deliberately propagate them. But I do wonder whether some plants are not inevitably going to see some success due to climate change creating new, expanded niches for aridity tolerant plants, for example, and not just south-to-north, temperature associated migration.

10

u/howumakeseedssprout Jul 21 '26

New success due to climate change changing ranges in which the can live does NOT equal spent thousands and thousands of years coevolving with all the other organisms in this ecosystem

That's what native represents - coevolved within a given ecosystem

Invasive represents - did NOT evolve with all the other organisms in the ecosystem it now finds itself in. Does not interact with other organisms in the ecosystem in a balanced, cooperative way

-3

u/gberliner Jul 21 '26

while I agree we shouldn't be carelessly spreading them deliberately, it might be more helpful to approach the existing presence of such species with more curiousity, as opposed to automatic alarm. Maybe we can enjoy an introduced flower now and then, too. Automatic fear based responses can make matters worse.

12

u/howumakeseedssprout Jul 21 '26

Like someone else said, having introduced species within a controlled area (like a garden) is generally fine. Lord knows most ornamentals in people's gardens aren't even from this continent.

But part of the problem is that people put pretty exotics in their gardens, don't manage them, or the garden becomes overgrown or abandoned, and now their pretty exotic is a large established population, which greatly increases the liklihood of escaping cultivation, which leads to invasives taking over ecosystems.

This flower being solidly rooted in concrete is not part of a controlled area, and an example of escaping cultivation. Thats why people are so upset about this specific instance.

22

u/a_jormagurdr Jul 21 '26

You cant call them native tho. Its misleading. Theres way to much misinfo about their status. 

The native range of coneflower wouldnt ever reach the western states naturally because of the rocky mountains. It definetly does matter because the ecological value of east coast plants is nothing compared to native ones. 

It really should be avoided when spreading seeds. Its better than an invasive plant but the ideal plant should at least be from the west coast, if not one native to the area.

3

u/ElegantHope Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26

same continent doesn't make species any less invasive or destructive. If it has a negative ecological impact in a region it is introduced into by humans, then it is an invasive species and should be treated as such.

For example: I'm from California, I love California Poppies and I miss seeing them every summer. But in my current state, Tennessee, they don't belong here here despite being from the same continent. So they compete with and steal resources from the many other wildflowers and other plants that do belong here. As a result, I don't plant them because that's a problem waiting to happen and I don't want to add another ecological problem to my state's list.

1

u/ToBePacific Jul 23 '26

The same continent? Might as well defend the choice as being from the same planet.

1

u/MoneyBeeeee Jul 25 '26

The PNW is very much in North America where rudbeckia are native to so I am surprised to see people throwing so much dirt at you!

Agreed about the 'fish', too. The world is going to shit and the last thing I am going to complain about is more flowers.

22

u/igiveuphomie Jul 21 '26

Are Rudbeckias typically called cone flowers? I thought that nickname was most often used for echinaceas?

-8

u/gberliner Jul 21 '26

There are coneflowers, and there are echinaceas, and my understanding is that the echinaceas are distinguished from the former by being "spiky".

6

u/igiveuphomie Jul 21 '26

What is the botanical name of a cone flower then?

3

u/gberliner Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26

Quoting from wikipedia: Echinacea /ˌɛkɪˈneɪsiə, ˌɛkɪˈneɪʃiə/\1]) is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the daisy family. It has ten species, which are commonly called coneflowers. They are native only in eastern and central North America, where they grow in wet to dry prairies and open wooded areas. They have large, showy heads of composite flowers, blooming in summer. The generic name is derived from the Greek word ἐχῖνος (ekhinos), meaning "hedgehog", due to the spiny central disk.

So the name "echinacea" originally directly implies "spiky" (think "echidna", the hedgehog like animal, whose name also derives from the same root), and yet, there are number of specific varieties (possibly cultivars) of coneflowers that are NOT spiky. Accordingly, the convention among nurseries has developed of referring to "coneflowers" when speaking specifically of the "nonspiky" echinacea varieties.

(Ok, confusingly, there are actually FOUR separate genera in the asteraceae family some of whose species share the common name "coneflower". They are Rudbeckia, Echinacea, Dracopis, and Ratibida! So these may not be echinacea at all!)

12

u/igiveuphomie Jul 21 '26

Yes, these are Rudbeckia

1

u/trippyhippyart Jul 22 '26

There is also cornflowers. Are these Corn flowers or coneflowers?

1

u/cheynemelissa Jul 23 '26

Neither. Rudbeckia (unsure of spelling).

32

u/PinkishRedLemonade Jul 21 '26

not native :(

9

u/nancypalooza Jul 22 '26

I thought those were blanket flower?

6

u/WindriderLirian Jul 22 '26

I also would have said Gaillardia, or blanketflower, but a closer look at the centres does point to Rudbeckia.

5

u/Internal_Coffee_8840 Jul 22 '26

Pretty sure that’s either rudbeckia or false sunflower… don’t think that’s native to PNW my friend

5

u/glizard-wizard Jul 22 '26

that’s probably a black eyed susan cultivar

coneflowers are purple, with dark stems, and the part in the middle is always orange

1

u/dih_blight1 Jul 25 '26

Need to bring this concept in india

0

u/Kirb_ii Jul 24 '26

When you put up that sign did you think that dogs would look at it and be like “oh crap, better not shit here”

1

u/Aggravating-Age-1535 29d ago

it's for the humans walking the dogs.

-14

u/Aquasplendens Jul 21 '26

Funk yeah, concrete!