Local Doesn't Mean Native

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A sign outside the store read 'LOCAL MUMS,' meaning that those chrysanthemums were grown less than 30 miles away. Locally-grown plants help keep area farmers employed, use less fuel to reach you, and so, create a lot less air pollution than shipping containers of food or flowers from another state, country or a different continent!

So, locally-grown is a really great thing, but it doesn't mean native - those aren't 'local mums'. Native plants grow in our area naturally, but Chrysanthemums aren't even native to the US, they're from Asia.

A smarter choice is to plant Asters instead - they look a lot like mums, but will welcome butterflies to your yard to raise their babies. Butterflies can't bring up their babies on mums; they need native plants. So, look not only for locally-grown, but also native plants like New England Asters, to fill your yard with fall flowers every year along with lots of lovely butterflies too.

Reported By Phran Novelli, KYW Newsradio