Here are at least three garden myths:
Myth: There is a type of person I call a "horc" which is short for "horticulturally correct." The horc is a country cousin of the politically correct, those sanctimonious people who know they are always right and you are wrong. The horc's biggest myth is the idea of the invasive alien plant. ( Basically this is ANY plant whose ancestors did not evolve on this continent. )
They insist that you should plant only native plants in your yard because they are best suited genetically ( not true. ) They also say that foreign plants run rampant and ruin our ecology. ( Not true: Have you seen all those Japanese hostas overtaking our woodlands? )
They also say that there was once a pristine primeval ecology in North America that the Europeans ruined. ( Not true: The continent had been already absolutely altered by the indigenous people who may have invented the Great Plains by burning the original forests there to feed buffalo. ) In short, wading into forests to chop out invasive trees and shrubs is both silly and useless.
Much recent research says alien plants come in three types: the biggest group is utterly harmless. The second biggest group is useful or beautiful, and still harmless. The smallest group, only a few percent, is invasive and can push out native plants because the emigrants have no natural enemies here.
But fear not: Mother Nature is riding to the rescue. An example is the purple loosestrife, a gorgeous red/purple flower from Eurasia that has crowded cattails, a food for wild ducks. Nothing here ate the loosestrife until recently, when some native bugs said to themselves, "Um, um, foreign food. Tastes like tacos!" They're happily eating the horrible monster. Oh, by the way the plant is loved by a very necessary animal emigrant: the honeybee.
FYI: Here is a list of some things horcs don't want you to plantpeonies, daisies, peaches, cherries, iris, petunias, Japanese maples, Siberian squill, ad infin. Here's the skinny: If the plant comes from the same latitude around the world as your yard, it will likely do just fine.
Myth: Gardens have to have flowers, right? The Japaneseby all accounts, the best ornamental gardeners in the worldsay gardens have three elements: water, rocks and plants. And the plants are basically non-blooming.
Oh, there might be an occasional single peony or a mum or two, but the idea of large beds of bright annuals is just plain vulgar to the Japanese. ( And FYI, garden rocks should be half-buried so they look like they're emerging from the earth. Here's an anecdote about a snarky famous English-speaking Japanese gardener who was being shown a rich American's faux Japanese garden with large expensive rocks scattered randomly around on top of the soil. "Where's your pet?" "What pet?" "Your pet dinosaur." "My what!?!" "Your dinosaur. Aren't these dinosaur turds all around the yard?" A corollary of this non-flowering garden is the white flower garden. If you're mostly in your garden at night, bright colors and pastels fade out but white flowers shine. Sit and watch giant luna moths visit your enormous moonflowers as they bloom next to your patio.
Myth: Gardens are immobile and have to be stationary. Ahem. I have more than 200 houseplants, and every single one goes outdoors in summertime onto the decks, the patio and out in the yard. They love it. Just remember: Even heavily sun-loving plants like tropical hibiscus need protection from the sun for about a week. ( Just like you would if you went to the Bahamas. ) Put them in the shade or under cheesecloth for a few days.
Good luck in your gardens this summer. I would like to thank my 15-year-old cat, Arabella, for helping type this manuscript; she wasn't half an inch away from the keyboard the whole time!