A Refuge for Native Plants in Cemeteries

 

Being in a suburban-transitioning-from-rural area, I pass a few cemeteries as I drive around. Their quiet spaces provide a visual respite from the increasing residential developments and shopping centers. Although grass is the primary source of green at most of them, I learned some years ago that some of them are worth exploring for the other plants that grow in these old spaces.

Moss phlox

I was searching one year for mature examples of American holly (Ilex opaca) and a friend suggested that I check cemeteries for good specimens. He was right and I found a nice one not far from me in Roswell. Well-behaved plants in cemeteries have time to grow into beautiful mature plants. And every spring I visit an even closer cemetery to enjoy the old moss phlox (Phlox subulata or Phlox nivalis, there may be both there) that blooms in the grass among the graves. Yuccas are an early summer flower at another nearby cemetery.

Could cemeteries be a place where native plants could thrive and even enrich the beauty of the area? I’ve been wanting to express this idea for several years. While green cemeteries would support this, the far more numerous traditional cemeteries could play an important role in adding to biodiversity. This article in Scientific American provides examples of that already happening in the US and around the world.

In Illinois, cemeteries where early European colonists were buried are sustaining patches of endangered prairie vegetation, which has largely been wiped out by modern agricultural practices. As of December 2020, more than 40 cemeteries are listed in the state’s Natural Areas Inventory for their high-quality prairie and savanna flora.

This year I visited another cemetery in late summer to get a closer look at some beautiful summer phlox (Phlox paniculata) that lights up one plot each year. This cemetery is always noticeably more floriferous than others, not just in the one plot but throughout. I found a number of native flowers besides the phlox: Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida), Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata), Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), beebalm (Monarda), Bluemist flower (Conoclinium coelestinum), native sages (Salvia), and more. Butterflies were visiting and bees were abundant. 

I read online that this cemetery has been refreshed since 2018 and most of the plants have been added by a woman who got involved after a nearby church took on management. She marvels at how well they’ve done but I think that is a testament to her selections. Our native perennials can be very durable once established and provide blooms for years. 

Mixed in were some of the hardy non-native perennials like Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ as well as annuals like zinnia. What a colorful and joyful space it is; well into the fall, a happy clump of perennial mums has just finished blooming.  

Another article I found talks about how several rare things (a beetle, a salamander, and a lichen) were found in a cemetery in Brooklyn, NY. Closer to home, this article by Trees Atlanta discusses the potential for supporting wildlife:

“Decatur Cemetery predates Atlanta’s founding by 10 years. The old-growth forest along the periphery—where our Forest Restoration program has been working to clear invasive species and reintroduce native plants—accommodates a thriving population of deer, foxes, coyotes, and more.”

That article includes a link to another article about birding in cemeteries (and birds are more abundant when there are native plants!) and some history about Mount Auburn Cemetery in Massachusetts, one of the first rural US cemeteries designed to be beautiful (they even have a What’s in Bloom feature on their website).  

Arlington Cemetery in Virginia is a well-known military cemetery whose sustainable policies include using native plants.

Let’s get growing in places like cemeteries. There is no reason they should be dull and boring, and using dependable resilient native plants to beautify them would help get more native plants back into our landscapes. A win-win!