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Northern Spicebush
Scientific name: Lindera benzoin Crush a leaf. Smell it. Love it. Features: tolerant of dense shade grows well under black walnut, or beech trees (juglone tolerant) food and host plant for spicebush butterfly leaves can be used to repel mosquitoes (*yet to verify, but it still smells great*) early spring bloomers with yellow flowers that […]
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Silky Willow
Scientific name: Salix sericea This plant has a very high wildlife value (similar in value to oak trees). I’ve only had it in the ground for about 3 years and it always provides me with something exciting to watch (even when it’s not being visited by wildlife). In the wind, the willow-shaped leaves shimmer as […]
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Pokeberry
Scientific name: Phytolacca americana L. Growing up, I always thought of pokeberry as a weed because everyone told me it was just an ugly weed, and it is more commonly referred to as “Pokeweed”. When I saw it rising from the garden, I had to retrain my mind to appreciate its beauty. From its rose-colored stems […]
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Prickly Pear Cactus
Scientific name: Opuntia humifusa This prickly pear cactus was given to us by a neighbor, and freshly planted in the garden sometime in early September of 2021. We are very excited to see what it does and how well it grows. It’s native, and (bonus) edible! Planted in a dry location in full sun.
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Shortleaf Spikesedge
Scientific name: Kyllinga brevifolia Found some in the back yard. Seems to like part shade. It’s a native (according to the Seek app.) Also, according to the Seek app, the scientific name is Cyperus brevifolius, but according to Google, it also goes by Kyllinga brevifolia.
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Small-Flowered Crowfoot
Scientific name: Ranunculus micranthus It’s native and a prolific spreader. The deer occasionally eat it. I’ve been using it as stringy tall-ish ground cover. It only grows to about 16″ tall. Lately, I’ve been looking up the benefits of different plants, and I’ll need to get back to you on my observations for this one. […]
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Common Blue Violet
Scientific name: Viola sororia In searching for more information about this beautiful native plant, I found a lot of false information. Multiple websites call it “invasive”. People tend to falsely label plants as “invasive” because they don’t understand how it is used with respect to plant/animal life. By definition, an invasive plant or animal is […]
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Wild Senna
Scientific name: Senna marilandica We got this from a neighbor when it was just a few inches tall just a few months back. Now it’s about 3′ and with seed pods. The yellow flowers were nice, but I really like the almost fern-like leaves the best. While I’ve read it does well on wet-ish sites, […]
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Blue-Eyed Grass
Scientific name: Sisyrinchium Blue-eyed grass is not a true grass. It has delicate little flowers, short stature, stays green for much of the year, clumping. Seems to be popping in places I didn’t put it, which is great because it’s one of my favorites. When the flowers go away it looks like grass, and doesn’t […]
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Stonecrop
Scientific name: Sedum ternatum This one is pretty quick to spread, and is easily transplanted from cuttings or separating plants. I use it for plantings between rocks in full sun areas. It doesn’t really tolerate a lot of shade, but is okay in part shade.
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piedmont azalea
Scientific name: Rhododendron canescens. We got this azalea in fall of 2019, and had no idea it would have such showy flowers. It’s a US native that seems to be enjoying it’s full-sun location, though my understanding is that they are happier in part-shade and occur in the wild at the edge of forests in […]