Keystone Plants

The term ‘keystone plant’ has been popping up in my reading and in my native plant research. Keystone plants are native plants that form the foundation of an ecosystem. These plants are essential for the lifecycle of many species. They support a high percentage of caterpillars, insects, and birds. Fourteen percent of native plants support 90% of butterfly/moth species that are critical for biodiversity.

Keystone plants are essential for food webs and removing them can cause ecosystem collapse. Keystone plants feed a diversity and abundance of insects and 96% of local birds rely on those insects as their food source and the food source for their offspring. Fifteen to sixty percent of native bees rely on the pollen from specific keystone plants. So adding keystone plants strengthens the local ecosystem and makes it more diverse and healthy. In my area, keystone plants include:

• Oaks
• Willows
• Cherries/Plums
• River Birch
• Eastern White Pine
• Goldenrod
• Asters
• Sunflowers
• Black-eyed susan
• Coreopsis

I have oaks, wild cherries, and white pines on the property. I planted sunflowers in the autumn. I need to add asters, goldenrod, and coreopsis to my spring plant purchases. The goldenrod, asters, and sunflowers feed bees in the late summer and fall. In other gardens I have grown, Black-eyed susans spread and I needed to divide them to keep them from taking over the garden. The same with coreopsis. Most the keystone flowers are yellow, so adding some blue and pink and maybe red blooms will create a pretty garden pallet.

Asters and goldenrod go well together and I think the sunflowers, black-eyed susans, and coreopsis will go well with purple coneflower, blazing star, and beebalm.

The weather at the end of January is frigid and snowy. I’m hoping the deep snow is protecting the plant roots. The boxwood are completely covered in snow. Winter birds are at the feeders and I see rabbit tracks around the house. It is quiet here in the forest. I’m in a hibernating mode too. Reading. Knitting. Working on a sampler and hooking a rug. Doing a bit of baking. A few more weeks of this until Mother Nature starts wriggling her toes and awakening spring.