Plants like Dames Rocket (Hesperus matronalis) Greater Celandine (Chelidonium majus L) and False Lily of the Valley (Maianthemum dilatatum) may not be native to Maine, but I wouldn’t be without them. Dames Rocket and Greater Celandine are also considered to be invasive. Dames Rocket and False Lily of the Valley both have scents that are intoxicating.

All three flowers are visited by all manner of bees and insects. Swallowtails and other butterflies love them too. If you don’t like one of these plants, simply pull them up! They are easy to uproot. Greater Celandine’s cheerful lemony flowers bloom for at least three months. The others only blossom in May and June.

When I was a young woman (70s now) I learned about Pangea, a theory now considered scientific truth. It states that once, 200 – 300 million years ago, all of earth’s continents were connected – this is why a plant may be native to Maine and China too. A long time ago this single land mass split into separate continents – becoming broken pieces of an original whole.

I am not saying that we shouldn’t honor our native plants, but please, let’s make room for non-native plants too. And with all the climate changes occurring, maybe it’s time to reassess this idea of ‘invasives’? We are all connected through an ancient land mass as well as through and across space and time. When we think about the ‘bigger picture’, don’t we have to query: is there really such a thing as a non-native plant at all?

Plants that are happy in an environment do spread. That means these plants are healthy and doing well. It does not mean necessarily that they are invasive – ready to take over the biome. Take a walk into any woods that have not been destroyed by the logging machine/developments/or ‘managing’ (sometimes with a vengeance) and you will see cluster after cluster of one species spreading over a particular area.

Plants that are related like to grow together; this is how nature works. There is nothing invasive about this process – it’s natural. The problem seems to be that most humans need to control their plants, often placing them in neat little clumps or squares and expecting them to stay there. (Once I did this too as a lifetime gardener – sort of – my gardens were always on the wild side)! When plants wander people become upset and often label them invasive if they ‘won’t behave’.

One advantage to so-called ‘invasives’ is that they are tough! The Dames Rocket around here that is just coming into bloom survived recent blustery winds, hail, and a deluge. However, I used to have many fragrant Dames Rocket clusters, but now that the planet is heating up, the ground around my house is not as moist. One or two days of slow soaking rain no longer defines our spring seasons.

Dry soil will not support Dames Rocket, so I am gradually losing a lot of these late spring flowers (I do not water unless there has been rain, and my rain buckets are full). I also note that False Lily of the Valley is shrinking in size, although thankfully the plants are still thriving near the brook and along my woodland paths.

Only Greater Celandine seems to be shining even after last summer’s drought and deer predation. Every spring I look forward to these lovely wildflowers that all pollinators love. Because I never know where they will pop up next, every spring includes new wildflower surprises.

With all the changes that are occurring on this planet, I think we need to be grateful for all plants, regardless of whether they are native or not.

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