Native Plant Smackdown

While reading a forum on native plants a few weeks back I came across a link to the article Garden Smackdown - Roll Call: Native Plants in my Garden. The article was a challenge was to list and share what native plants were growing in your garden. I found this an interesting idea since I have dedicated my gardening and planting energies over the last 10 years to one of 3 categories - food, medicinal, and native plants. So I've made a list of the native plants growing at my home that I or the previous owner planted or have encouraged to grow. There are many benefits to growing natives - hardy & pest resistant, support native fauna (like butterflies), need little special care once established, and many are simply beautiful. I've separated the plants into multiple lists to help you if you would like to try these in your gardens - which I strongly encourage!

Need more info: What are native plants? and How to and why to plant native plants

Sun-loving Perennials:
Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
Pale Purple Coneflower (Echinacea pallida)
Tennessee Purple Coneflower (Echinacea tennesseensis)

Yellow Coneflower (Echinacea paradoxa)
Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
Asters - multiple varieties (Asters spp.)
Goldenrod - multiple varieties (Solidago spp.)
Blue False Indigo (Baptisia australis)
Tickseed (Coreopsis lanceolata)
Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpureum)
Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)
Queen of the Prairie (Filipendula rubra)
Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosa)
Perennial Sunflower (Helianthus maximillian)
Bee Balm (Monarda didyma)
Sundrops (Oenothera fruticosa)
Black-eyed-Susan (Rudebeckia hirta)
Roseroot (Rhodiola rosea)
Mountain Mint (Pycanthemum virginianum)
Cherokee Sweet Mint (Pycanthemum incanum)
Blue Vervain (Verbena hastata)
Indian Hemp (Apocynum cannabinum)
Wild Qinine (Parthenium integrifolium)

Shade-loving, Woodland Perennials:

Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense)
Labrador Violet (Viola labradorica)
Red Trillium (Trillium erectum)
White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)
Prairie Trillium (Trillium recurvatum)
Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum peltatum)

Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)

White Baneberry (Actaea pachypoda)

Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)
Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa)
Bleeding Heart (Dicentra eximia)
Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis)
Twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla)
Ramps (Allium tricoccum)
American Spikenard (Aralia urticifolia)

Partial Sun/Shade Perennials:
Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)

Woody Plants - Trees/Shrubs:
Kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)
Sweet Birch (Betula lenta)
Sweet Shrub (Calycanthus floridus)

New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus)
Fringe Tree (Chionanthus virginicus)
Grey Dogwood (Cornus racemosa)
Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)
American Hazel (Corylus americana)
Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)
Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)
Pussy Willow (Salix discolor)
Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis)
High Bush Cranberry (Viburnum trilobum)
Arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum)
Serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis)
American Hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana)
Washington Hawthorn (Crataegus phaenopyrum)
Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana)
American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)
Tuliptree (Liriodendron tulipifera)
Red Pine (Pinus resinosa)
Slippery Elm (Ulmus rubra)

Vines:
Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa)


Feel free to post your own native plants list (via a comment to this post) or perhaps let us know how the plants you purchased from the native plant vendors we had at our Native American Dance & Music Festival last year are doing.

If you are feeling a bit confused and would love to read more, my favorite book on native plants of this region is Native Plants of the Northeast by Donald Leopold. I've included a link to the right for this book. Enjoy and go native!

-kim