Planting Natives

I've decided to plant more natives and wildflowers in my Virginia suburban garden (Zone 7-A).

No, I'm not getting rid of exotics (non-natives) -- as many of them can be workhorses in the garden, can be non-invasive, and attract birds, bees and butterflies...which is my ongoing goal. But I have introduced (and am learning about) native plants that will (hopefully) thrive here in my northern Virginia gardens.

I plan to document all of the native plants that I have added, and invite you to come along and share my discoveries as I learn to plant native! Feel free to share your knowledge and experiences with me by leaving a comment!

Here are a few North American native plants that I have planted and are currently in my garden, with highlighted links directed to posts I've written or featured a particular North American native in my garden. (I'm still working on locating and ID'ing more in the garden to add that are not yet here on the list...I did not always keep records in the past!)


Achillea Moonshine/Yarrow (hybrid cultivar)
Actaea pachypoda A.alba/White Baneberry
Actaea racemosa/Cimicifuga ramosa
Agastache 'Blue Boa'
Agastache 'Blue Fortune' Agastache x hybrid: A native cultivar, Anise Hyssop is a cross between: ( A. rugosum and A. foeniculum)
Agastache foeniculum, aka 'Anise Hyssop, Blue Giant Hyssop
Agastache Purple Pygmy
Agastache 'Summer Glow' (North American, cultivar)*Native

Amsonia x 'Blue Ice'
Amsonia tabernaemontana 'Montana'/Blue Star
Anemone multifida (Windflower) Annabella 'Deep Rose'
Anemone virginiana  (Thimbleweed)
Anemone thalictroides (Rue anemone)

Aquilegia caerulea (Rocky Mountain Blue Columbine)
Aquilegia canadense 'Corbett' / Columbine, Corbett , Dwarf Yellow micrantha ‘Purple Palace’

  "Little Lanterns"..Dwarf columbine (native)
Arisaema triphyllum - Jack in the Pulpit
Aruncus (Goatsbeard)
Asarum arifolium/Wild Ginger
Asarum canadense/Canadian Wild Ginger or Snakeroot
Asclepias (Milkweed)
  Asclepias incarnata 'rose'
  Asclepias-exaltata
  Asclepias-purpurascens
  sclepias-tuberosa-yellow/gold
  Asclepias-variegata

Aster nova-angliae/New England Aster
Aster x dumosus /Woods Purple 'Professor Anton Kippenberg'

  
Caryopteris x clandonensis (Bluebeard, Blue Mist Shrub)
   'Longwood Blue' and 'Dark Knight'
Chelone lyonii/Turtlehead (native 'Hot Lips')
Chrysogonum virginianum (Green and Gold)
Cimicifuga ramosa (Bugbane)
Clematis x niobe (Native Hybrid)
Clintonia umbellulata/Bead Lily, White Clintonia
Convallaria majalis/Lily of the Valley
Coreopsis grandiflora
   'Rising Sun'
  'Limerick Ruby'
  'Moonbeam'

Dicentra eximia/Fringed Bleeding Heart
Dodecatheon meadia / Shooting Stars

Echinacea purpurea
 varities: and cultivars:
  'pixie meadowbright'
  'kim's knee high'
 'magnus'
  'coconut lime'
  'pink double delight'

Erythronium americanum/Trout Lily

Gaillardia aristata 'Arizona Sun'/Blanket Flower
Gaura lindheimeri 'Whirling Butterflies'
Geranium maculatum (Wild Geranium or Wood Geranium)

Hamamelis virginiana/Withch Hazel (fall blooming)
Helenium x 'Rubinzwerg'/Dwarf Helen's Flower, Sneezewood

Helianthus salicifolius 'Low Down'/Dwarf Perennial Sunflower; Willow Leafed Sunflower

Helianthus angustifolia 'Gold Lace'/Swamp Sunflower
Helianthus angustifolia 'Shorty'
Heliopsis scabra 'Summer Sun'/False Sunflower, Oxeye Daisy

Hepatica acutiloba f. rosea/Sharp-lobed hepatica

Hepatica nobilis (var. obtusa)/Round-lobed hepatica;Anemone americana

Hepatica nobilis (var. acuta)
Hepatica nobilis v. pyrenaica 'Appleblossom'

Heuchera/Coral Bells

  many varieties:

  micrantha ‘Palace Purple’

Heucherella 'Stoplight' (Hybrid Cross between Heuchera and Tiarella)

Iris virginica
Itea virginica/Sweetspire 'Little Henry' 


Liatris spicata 'Kobold'
Lobelia cardinalis/Cardinal Flower (Red Lobelia)
Lobelia siphilitica/Cardinal Flower (BlueLobelia)
Lonicera sempervirens (Coral Red Honeysuckle)

Mertensia virginica/Virginia Bluebells
Monarda didyma (Bee Balm)


Oenothera 'Cold Crick'/Sundrops, Primrose
Oenothera fruiticosa ssp glauca 'Fireworks'/Narrowleaf Evening Primrose
Oenothera kunthiana 'Glowing Magenta'*Native to Texas & Arizona/introduced elsewhere
Oenothera speciosa 'Siskiyou'*Native to Central US, introduced elsewhere

Penstemon ''Fireworks' and 'Prairie Twilight'

Phlox divaricata (Sweet William,Woodland Phlox)
Phlox paniculata (Summer Phlox)
Phlox stolonifera (Creeping Phlox)...shade.
Phlox subulata (Moss Phlox)...sun.
Physostegia virginiana (Obedient Plant)

Polygonatum biflorum. Native Solomon's Seal


Polymonium caeruleum (Jacob's Ladder)


Polystichum (Ferns)-several native varities
Potentilla fruiticose/Shrubby Cinquefoil

Rhododendrun  'Rocket' (Eurasian and US Hybrid)
Rhus copallina/Dwarf sumac
Rudbeckia hirta, Rudbeckia fulgida
Rudbeckia laciniata (Cut-leaved Coneflower)

Salvia greggi 'Flame '/Autumn Sage

                    'Wild Thing' 

Salvia longispicata x farinacea 'balsalmisp'/Mystic Spires, Blue Salvia
Sanguinaria canadensis/ Bloodroot

Senecio aureaus (Golden Grounsel, Squaw Weed)
Sphaeralcea coccinea/Scarlett Globe Mallow

Spigelia marilandica/Woodland pinkroot, Indian Pink

Stylophorum diphyllum / Celandine Poppy, Wood Poppy

Tiarella cordifolia  / Foamflower
  varieties: 'Elizabeth Oliver'
                ''Brandywine' and several other Cultivars.
Tradescantia virginiana (Spiderwort)
Trillium catesbaei/Rosy or Pink Wakerobin
Trillium cuneatum / Trillium, Little Sweet Betsy

Trillium erectum/Red Wakerobin or Stinking Benjamin
Trillium flexipes / Trillium, Bent

Trillium grandiflorum/White Wakerobin
Trillium luteum / Yellow Wakerobin

Trillium pusillum/Dwarf Wakerobin

Trillium recurvatum/Bloody Butchar, Red Trillium

Trillium sessile/Red Trillium or Sessile Flowered Wake Robin, also called Toad Shade

Viola sororia/'Wild Violet' (native to N.E. US); must keep under control, watch for invasive behavior.

There are many more North American native plants in my gardens, which I will gradually feature in posts and  link them here. Some I have already included in posts but it takes a great deal of time to sort through them and list them here, so for now this page remains incomplete.

I'm also thinking a lot about the differences between:

• Native cultivars and hybrids (a cross between a native and exotic)
• Non-natives (exotics) that are workhorses in my garden and I wouldn't do without.

I started another blog, Planting Natives, to devote to this purpose--but due to time constraints I update it only occasionally. It is an ongoing 'work in progress', so to speak!