According to Don Kinzler, AI’s fake plant images are bilking gardeners. He writes: “Education is an important first step in informing everyone that AI-generated plant images have infiltrated the gardening world.”
AI-Generated
While I was writing this blog post, my editor, Christian Nelson, sent me an image he had created using AI (artificial intelligence). He had asked his favorite AI model to create an image of a purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) in an incongruous setting – a girl reaching for a coneflower that was growing out of a crack in pavement in an urban setting. The image at the left shows the result.
I asked him about the flower in the image. Are the petals shortened? What color are the petals? Are there too many leaves? Are they too short? What had the AI done to the image? He explained that there was no original image for AI to “do” anything to. AI had created the entire image based on its own “learning,” which is based on analyzing millions of images on the Internet. The girl, the coneflower, the street, the crack, the background – that’s all created by the AI based on what he had asked it to do.
If you’re wondering about the petals, he explained that AI had done the best it could to “create” the coneflower and everything else in the image. He hadn’t tasked the AI model with perfection and accuracy – although he could have.
Natives vs. Hybrids/Cultivars
To tell the native vs. hybrid and cultivar flowers, pay attention to the name. Native flowers have a scientific name that is specific to their species, such as Rudbeckia fulgida – while hybrid and cultivar flowers often have additional names, usually in single quotes and not italicized, describing a specific characteristic, such as Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldsturm.’
Native plants (straight species) are those that naturally occur in a particular region or ecosystem and have evolved there over time.
Hybrids are the result of crossing two different species of the same plant genus. This is often done by humans to create plants with specific desired traits, such as increased bloom time, different colors, or disease resistance.
Cultivars (hybrids or native species) are plants that have been selected and bred by humans for specific traits, such as flower color, petals, size, or shape.
So be careful.
Wildflower in a Bag
No matter what the wildflower mix, read the label. It’s typically not native. Usually there are six to eight native and generally cultivars such as Chinese forget me not, columbine, snapdragon, aster, cosmos, bird’s eye, alyssum, four o’clock marvel, lemon mint, Maltese cross, jasmine, poppy, penstemon, sage, nasturtium, zinnia, butterfly milkweed, etc. No grasses.
Please remember wildflower does not necessarily mean native. A most important part of natural landscaping is the gardener’s education and planning. Learn about the plant communities you want to replicate to avoid spending money on the wrong plants and seeds. Native plants in a proper setting will endlessly reward the gardener and the environment.
Note: The World Flora Online (WFO) Plant List is the most comprehensive and authoritative list of vascular plants. It provides the accepted scientific name for all taxa (families, genera, species, etc.).
If you are a Wild Ones member, for more information, read Provenance is not a City in Rhode Island, page 1-2.
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