define “local”

i try very hard to keep STILL local and seasonal. in my experience, digging deeper usually yield more interesting results than throwing my gaze wider, and by necessity, shallower.  so, does the spent planter in front of my coffee shop count as local and seasonal, if the summer plantings it contained included such non-natives as fan palms?  when it comes to flora and fauna, local gets gray very fast. no one would dispute that all native plants and animals are local. but what about the multitude of introduced species?  species that have become so naturalized, over centuries, that they even become symbolic and iconic of a place in which they are non-natives. species like the eucalyptus of california? i would venture to guess, that at least a full third of the plants i photograph in summer (all found within 5 miles of my home) are considered non-native invasives. most brought over by well-meaning western european immigrants for gardens or kitchens over 200 years ago. so, local is loaded. and gray. today, i am choosing to be liberal in my definition of local–as in, found locally.

palm frond in winter