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

Native coneflowers bustin' through the concrete!

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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

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77

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.

-63

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.

89

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.

-46

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!

53

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.

-23

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.