Just like people and animals, plants have a history of migration. Granted, tulips and chrysanthemums don’t just pick up and walk to a new place; but with natural carriers and human movement, plants have made their way around the world. Here’s a glimpse at the history behind some well-traveled and well-adapted plants that make your home garden a global market of diverse flora that brings beauty and pleasure throughout all four seasons.

SPRING

Native to Europe, northern parts of Africa, and western parts of Asia and the Mediterranean, daffodils have traveled far from their native lands to become an important herald of spring for North Americans. All the plant parts are poisonous, making them unattractive to foraging deer, moles, voles, and mice.

Tulips, which hail from central Asia and Turkey, were introduced to Europe in the mid-1500s. In Holland, speculators began actively trading the prized bulbs and pushing up the price to the point where a single bulb would sell for more than ten times the annual income of a skilled artisan. The bulbs need an eight- to ten-week period of chilling, and in temperate regions, gardeners meet that requirement by storing the bulbs in the refrigerator before planting them outside.

SUMMER

One highlight of the summer blooms is Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia). This small, rounded shrub that typically grows two to four feet tall and wide is prized for its hardiness and long season of blue flower spikes. Curiously, it is neither native to Russia nor a sage. It comes from the steppes and hills of Southwestern and Central Asia. When Russian sage was introduced to the British Isles in 1904, garden tastemaker William Robinson wrote that it was, “worth a place in the choicest garden for its graceful habit and long season of beauty.” In the US, it thrives in USDA climate zones 3–9 (10 in the West although it does best with winter chill), gracing gardens with its spires of blue flowers from mid-summer through October.

We can thank the eighteenth-century Swedish merchant Magnus von Lagerström for introducing crepe myrtles to the western world. As the director of the Swedish East India Company, he was able to procure plants from India and China that he presented to botanist Carl Linnaeus, the man responsible for the current system of botanical nomenclature. Linnaeus bestowed the botanical name Lagerstroemia on crepe myrtle in honor of von Lagerström, and the plant was introduced between 1787 and 1796.

Crepe myrtles flower best in full sun in climates where the summers are hot. They come in a wide range of sizes and shapes, from knee-high shrubby dwarf plants to towering tree forms. To avoid them outgrowing their allotted space (lopping back branches that have grown too tall is a no-no, referred to as crepe murder) choose a variety to best fit your design purpose.