Want a garden that has both beauty and substance? Plant native plants! They’ll grow lushly in your yard and provide habitat for many animal species.
Find Plant Sales and Events in Your Region
To find information about the plant species indigenous to your state or region, check your state native plant society website; you can find links at the North American Native Plant Society.
Get Tailor-Made Lists of Plants for Your Region
Native Plant Information Network, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: NPIN offers a comprehensive database of plants native to the United States and Canada. Searching by scientific or common name, gardeners can access detailed fact sheets about a plant’s natural habitat, distribution, soil and light needs, and benefits to wildlife. The site also allows visitors to create lists of species native to their states or provinces and suitable to the conditions of their own gardens.
Native Plants Database, The Audubon Society: Searchable by zip code, this native plant finder also allows gardeners to filter results for which plants attract which bird species. Local resources and plant sellers are also provided.
A Few of My Favorite Hometown Sources
For specific native plant recommendations in the Chesapeake Bay region, check out the Chesapeake Bay Native Plant Center, where you can search by type of plant and local conditions.
Chesapeake Natives, Upper Marlboro, Md.: Specializes in local ecotypes. Open by appointment and for special native plant sales; see details here.
Herring Run Nursery, Baltimore, Md.: Open on weekends from April through the end of October.
Kollar Nursery, Pylesville, Md.: Open daily, but Wednesday hours are by appointment.
Heartwood Nursery and Garden Shop, Felton, Pa.: On-site gardens give visitors a sense of what plants will look like in cultivation. Wednesdays-Saturdays, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., through December.
Adkins Arboretum, Native Plant Nursery, Ridgely, Md.: The grounds are also a destination for native plant and wildlife lovers. The nursery is open several days a week from spring through fall.
Earth Sangha, Springfield, Va.: The nursery specializes in local ecotypes and is open by appointment and during special native plant sales.
Izel Plants: An online marketplace for native plants, this company maintains a database of participating nursery inventories. Izel sells plants for the mid-Atlantic and Northeast but has plans for expansion.
Hi Nancy. I just moved to OH and can’t wait to add native and wildlife-friendly plants to my yard. For those of us who don’t want to approach neighbors directly about doing the same in their yards, do you know of any yard signage available? Something like “My yard supports native plants and provides food for wildlife. Ask me how?” or something like that? I think sometimes just setting a good example can get others interested, but if they don’t have any idea what’s going on, they are less likely to ask.
Hi Krista! That’s so exciting. I think I saw a pic of your yard on social media, and it looks like a beautiful space. We have a number of signs, all consolidated on one post — Humane Backyard, Pollinator Habitat (from the Xerces Society), Monarch Waystation, and a bat sign from the Organization for Bat Conservation, which unfortunately is no longer in operation. We also have a Pesticide-Free Zone from Beyond Pesticides that I still need to hang. I think you might be able to get a general native plant sign from Wild Ones, a national org based in Wisconsin. Also sometimes local and state entities have native plant signage programs to encourage both better stormwater management and wildlife habitat, so you might want to check your county extension office and some of the other sustainability initiatives. Here in Maryland we have something called Baywise, and you can get your yard certified as being bay-friendly through the Master Gardeners programs. There’s a sign that mentions native plants to go with it. Hope that helps, and let me know what else you find! 🙂