Hot take: Not every garden needs to be native plants only

I was at a gardening workshop last month and this guy kept going on about how anything non-native is basically trash and you're hurting the environment. He said if you're not planting 100% native species you're doing it wrong. Look, I get that native plants have benefits for local bugs and birds. But I've got a small backyard in Phoenix where the soil is basically rock. My lantana and rosemary have been thriving for 5 years with almost no water. My neighbor's native garden died after two heat waves. I think there's room for both. Some non-native plants are tough as nails and give you year-round color without being invasive. Has anyone else dealt with this pressure to go full native and felt pushed into something that just doesn't work for your specific patch of dirt?

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