Taming the Wild
Ever driven down a country lane and noticed beautiful plants thriving along the roadside and wondered what they are, and if they might not look good in a domestic setting? My husband would tell you that I do it all the time. If we leave the city limits, the first thing I’m looking for is unique native plant life. Steve Love, a research professor in Idaho, has apparently spent years doing the same thing, only he isn’t just admiring these native plants, he’s now collecting them to study and breed for use in domestic gardens and landscapes. It’s something so obvious you wonder why someone hasn’t done this before now. With everyone searching for ways to conserve our natural resources, especially water, it only makes sense to incorporate an area’s native plants, plants that often times use very little water for survival, into eco friendly urban landscapes. This doesn’t mean though that Love just heads out into the rural countryside, grabs up some native plants, and brings them back for domestication. Out of roughly eight hundred species of plants only fifty have been deemed right for domestication, but it’s a step in the right direction.