When is the best time to plant native plants?

Any time the ground is neither frozen nor saturated. Early fall is best in most of the eastern United States: warm soil, cool air and autumn rain let roots grow before winter. Spring is second best.

How often should I water new native plants?

Water well the day you plant and the day after, then twice a week for two weeks, then weekly through the first growing season, skipping any week with about an inch of rain. From the second year, water only in drought.

What are keystone plants?

Keystone plants are the few plant genera that host most of a region's caterpillars, which songbirds feed their young. In most of the country they include goldenrods, asters and sunflowers.

When should I cut back native perennials?

Leave stems standing through winter and cut them back in spring once days are reliably in the 50s, leaving 8 to 24 inches of stubble for stem-nesting bees.

When should I pull Japanese stiltgrass?

Pull or string-trim Japanese stiltgrass in August and September, just before it flowers. Earlier cuts regrow and still set seed.

How much full sun does a full-sun plant need?

Six or more hours of direct summer sun. Three to six hours is part shade, and morning sun is gentler than the same hours in the afternoon.

The Native Garden, Season by Season

Start here

Hello friends. This is the short version, for anyone who would rather plant than read.

If you do six things, do these

Plant the keystones for your region first. A few plant genera, goldenrods, asters and sunflowers in most of the country, host most of the caterpillars that songbirds feed their young. Find yours.
Keep something in bloom from March to November. Bees and butterflies need flowers every week, not a July spectacular. The bloom calendar finds your gaps.
Match the plant to the ground you have. Wet, dry, sun, shade: choose for the site instead of fixing the site. How to read your ground.
Pull the worst invasives, at the right time of year. Timing matters more than effort. What to pull, and when.
Leave the stems and the leaves. Most native bees nest in the ground or in old stems; fireflies and moth pupae winter in the litter. Winter habitat.
Water the first season, then stop. Water well the day you plant and the next, twice a week for two weeks, then weekly through the first growing season. Planting.

What grows here? What should I do this month? Is something always in bloom? Is this plant invasive? Can I grow it from seed? Native clematis Glossary

Who this is for, and who should skip it

It's for anyone turning part of a yard or a field over to native plants: a pollinator bed, a rain garden, a strip of meadow, a shady edge under trees. The tools work anywhere in the lower 48 states. The detailed species lists and the bloom calendar come from our own piedmont farm and suit the eastern forests best; for the West, the page points you to the lists written for your region.

If you are restoring a large natural area, working in a regulated wetland or stream buffer, or planting on public land, talk to your state's natural heritage program or a restoration professional first. The rules and the stakes are different there.

The honest summary of the evidence

The case for native plants rests on a simple, well-measured fact: most plant-eating insects, caterpillars above all, can only eat plants they evolved with, and those caterpillars are what most songbirds feed their nestlings. Research led by Doug Tallamy and Desirée Narango found that a small share of plant genera supports most of the caterpillar species in any region. That part is strong.

Less settled: exactly how much a named cultivar (a "nativar") gives up compared with the wild species, how much local-ecotype seed matters in a backyard, and how precisely bloom dates move from one place to another. We say where the evidence is thin, in section 10.

Plan your planting

Four short steps: where you are, how much sun, what the soil does, then pick plants. Each step narrows the list below it.

1Where
2Sun
3Soil & ground
4Pick plants
5Your calendar

1Where you are

ZIP code or city

Your microclimate

0 days

Slide right if spring comes late for you (a hollow, a north slope, high ground), left if early (a south wall, the city).

Your region

Mid-Atlantic piedmont

Ecoregion: Eastern Temperate Forests.

Last frost Mid AprilZone 7aSpring vs. Leesburg about the same

Where to go next, locally

Virginia Native Plant SocietyPlant lists, sales and local chapters
Virginia DCR Natural Heritage - Virginia Native Plant FinderOfficial or university native-plant resource
Xerces Society: Mid-Atlantic Region pollinator plantsSpecies with bloom times for your region
NWF Native Plant FinderPlants ranked by caterpillar species for your ZIP

Keystone plants for your ecoregion

goldenrod Solidago10442

aster Symphyotrichum10033

sunflower Helianthus6650

black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia2029

gumweed Grindelia–31

camphorweed Heterotheca–24

tickseed Coreopsis722

Maryland golden-aster Chrysopsis520

wingstem Verbesina2017

beggartick Bidens–15

Caterpillar species (green) and pollen-specialist bees (ochre) per genus, from the National Wildlife Federation keystone list for Eastern Temperate Forests. A dash means the list gives no count.

The location tool, the plant filters and the bloom calendar need JavaScript. Without it, this page shows the Mid-Atlantic piedmont, where our farm is, and everything else reads normally.

2How much sun

Count the hours of direct sun the spot gets on a clear day in June or July, not in April before the trees leaf out. When it comes matters too: morning sun is cool and gentle; the same hours in the afternoon are hot and hard on shade plants.

Hours of direct summer sun

Mostly when

Pick the hours and, if it's between 3 and 6, when the sun arrives.

3Soil and ground

After a soaking rain, the soil

The kind of ground

Not sure? Six kinds of ground, and how to read yours

Sunny meadow

Six or more hours of sun and ordinary soil. Little bluestem with goldenrods, asters, milkweeds, mountain mints and coneflowers. The easiest place to start, and where most keystone genera live.

Wet meadow and rain garden

Low ground that stays wet after rain. Swamp milkweed, blue vervain, boneset, Joe-Pye, cardinal flower, blue flag, sedges. Wet soil is habitat, not a defect to fix.

Floodplain and streamside

Ground that floods now and then. Wingstem, Virginia wild rye, sedges, bluebells, Jacob's ladder. Keep the soil covered, and check your county's stream-buffer rules before tilling or grading near water.

Woodland edge

Morning sun or dappled light. Columbine, golden alexanders, woodland phlox, wood asters, native clematis. Often the richest strip on a property.

Woodland shade

Under trees. Spring ephemerals (bloodroot, spring beauty, mayapple), ferns, sedges, wild ginger, blue-stemmed goldenrod. Leave the leaves: this is where the litter matters most.

Dry and rocky

Thin, fast-draining soil on slopes. Butterfly weed, aromatic aster, little bluestem, early goldenrod. These plants rot in rich, wet beds.

The drainage test: dig a hole a foot deep, fill it with water, let it drain, fill it again and time it. Gone within a few hours is dry; within a day is average; water still standing after two days means wet-meadow plants.

Soil: a soil test from your extension service costs little and gives your pH. Most natives here are content from pH 5.5 to 7.5; a few, such as our local pale leatherflower, want base-rich soil. For a larger property, the free USDA Web Soil Survey maps your soil series and drainage class; that's what we used to site the beds on our own floodplain.

4Pick plants

These come from the natives we grow and watch on our own farm in the Virginia piedmont. Most range across the eastern United States, but a plant native to your state may not be native to your county: check each against your state's list or the county maps at BONAP before you buy.

91 of 91 plants for your region, recorded in VA · 0 in my garden

Blue-stemmed goldenrod

Solidago caesia

Aug 14 – Oct 8

Wildflower · Shade to part shade · Average · 1–3 ft

Keystone genus: 104 caterpillars, 42 specialist beesMt. Cuba trialedDeer: Rutgers B

Wildlife, seed and sources

Mt. Cuba: Named by Mt
Seed: C(60), D
USDA range map · Photo: Michael J. Papay, CC BY · Report a correction

Wrinkleleaf goldenrod

Solidago rugosa

Aug 18 – Oct 17

Wildflower · Full sun · Average to moist · 1.5–5 ft

Keystone genus: 104 caterpillars, 42 specialist beesMt. Cuba trialedDeer: Rutgers BNesting stems

Wildlife, seed and sources

Birds: seed; insect food
Mt. Cuba: 'Fireworks' 4.6, tied top of 70 taxa with S
Seed: C(60), D
USDA range map · Photo: iNaturalist, CC0 · Report a correction

Zigzag goldenrod

Solidago flexicaulis

Aug 4 – Sep 28

Wildflower · Shade to part shade · Average to moist · 1–3 ft

Keystone genus: 104 caterpillars, 42 specialist beesMt. Cuba trialedDeer: Rutgers B

Wildlife, seed and sources

Mt. Cuba: Named by Mt
Seed: C(60), D
USDA range map · Photo: James Duncan, CC BY · Report a correction

Early goldenrod

Solidago juncea

Jul 4 – Sep 7

Wildflower · Full sun · Dry to average · 2–4 ft

Keystone genus: 104 caterpillars, 42 specialist bees

Wildlife, seed and sources

Birds: seed; insect food
Seed: C(60), D
USDA range map · Photo: aarongunnar, CC BY · Report a correction

Gray goldenrod

Solidago nemoralis

Jul 30 – Sep 28

Wildflower · Full sun · Dry · 0.5–2 ft

Keystone genus: 104 caterpillars, 42 specialist beesDeer: Rutgers B

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: C(60), D
USDA range map · Photo: Douglas Goldman, CC BY-SA · Report a correction

Silverrod

Solidago bicolor

Aug 13 – Oct 12

Wildflower · Part shade to sun · Dry · 1–3 ft

Keystone genus: 104 caterpillars, 42 specialist bees

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: C(60), D
USDA range map · Photo: Sandy Wolkenberg, CC BY · Report a correction

Woodland sunflower

Helianthus divaricatus

Jun 25 – Aug 19

Wildflower · Part shade to sun · Dry to average · 2–5 ft

Keystone genus: 66 caterpillars, 50 specialist beesDeer: Rutgers CNesting stems

Wildlife, seed and sources

Caterpillars: Silvery checkerspot
Birds: seed
USDA range map · Photo: Becky Dill, CC0 · Report a correction

Aromatic aster

Symphyotrichum oblongifolium

Sep 8 – Oct 23

Wildflower · Full sun · Dry · 1–3 ft

Keystone genus: 100 caterpillars, 33 specialist beesDeer: Rutgers BCheck range

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: A
Range: In Virginia: Rare in the Piedmont, on moderately to strongly calcareous rock only.
USDA range map · Photo: aarongunnar, CC BY · Report a correction

Blue wood aster

Symphyotrichum cordifolium

Aug 19 – Oct 8

Wildflower · Shade to part shade · Average · 1–3 ft

Keystone genus: 100 caterpillars, 33 specialist beesDeer: Rutgers B

Wildlife, seed and sources

Caterpillars: Pearl crescent
Seed: C(60)
USDA range map · Photo: Alan Rockefeller, CC BY · Report a correction

Calico aster

Symphyotrichum lateriflorum

Aug 18 – Oct 22

Wildflower · Part shade · Average to moist · 1–3.5 ft

Keystone genus: 100 caterpillars, 33 specialist bees

Wildlife, seed and sources

Caterpillars: Pearl crescent
Birds: seed
Seed: C(60)
USDA range map · Photo: naturalist charlie, CC BY · Report a correction

New England aster

Symphyotrichum novae-angliae

Aug 19 – Oct 8

Wildflower · Full sun · Average to moist · 3–6 ft

Keystone genus: 100 caterpillars, 33 specialist beesDeer: Rutgers BNesting stems

Wildlife, seed and sources

Caterpillars: Pearl crescent
Birds: seed
Seed: C(60)
USDA range map · Photo: er-birds, CC BY · Report a correction

Purple-stemmed aster

Symphyotrichum puniceum

Aug 23 – Oct 22

Wildflower · Sun to part shade · Wet · 3–6.5 ft

Keystone genus: 100 caterpillars, 33 specialist beesWet soil OK

Wildlife, seed and sources

Caterpillars: Pearl crescent
Seed: C(60)
USDA range map · Photo: Douglas Goldman, CC BY-SA · Report a correction

Black-eyed Susan

Rudbeckia hirta

May 31 – Aug 19

Wildflower · Full sun · Dry to average · 1–3 ft

Keystone genus: 20 caterpillars, 29 specialist beesDeer: Rutgers B

Wildlife, seed and sources

Birds: seed (goldfinches)
Seed: C(30)
USDA range map · Photo: Brady Reed, CC0 · Report a correction

Cutleaf coneflower

Rudbeckia laciniata

Jun 30 – Aug 29

Wildflower · Full sun · Moist · 4–8 ft

Keystone genus: 20 caterpillars, 29 specialist beesWet soil OKDeer: Rutgers BNesting stems

Wildlife, seed and sources

Caterpillars: Silvery checkerspot; wavy-lined emerald
Birds: seed (goldfinches)
Seed: C(30)
USDA range map · Photo: Will Kuhn, CC BY · Report a correction

Tall coreopsis

Coreopsis tripteris

Jun 30 – Aug 19

Wildflower · Full sun · Average to moist · 4–8 ft

Keystone genus: 7 caterpillars, 22 specialist beesMt. Cuba trialed

Wildlife, seed and sources

Mt. Cuba: 'Gold Standard' and 'Flower Tower' both 4.7 (Coreopsis trial 2012-14)
Seed: C(60)
USDA range map · Photo: Mark Eanes, CC BY · Report a correction

Threadleaf coreopsis

Coreopsis verticillata

May 26 – Jul 30

Wildflower · Full sun · Dry · 1–2.5 ft

Keystone genus: 7 caterpillars, 22 specialist beesMt. Cuba trialed

Wildlife, seed and sources

Mt. Cuba: 'Zagreb' among Mt
USDA range map · Photo: Carol Ann McCormick, CC BY · Report a correction

Wingstem

Verbesina alternifolia

Jul 29 – Sep 22

Wildflower · Sun to part shade · Moist · 5–8 ft

Keystone genus: 20 caterpillars, 17 specialist beesNesting stems

Wildlife, seed and sources

USDA range map · Photo: ingret9, CC BY · Report a correction

New York ironweed

Vernonia noveboracensis

Jul 30 – Sep 18

Wildflower · Full sun · Moist to wet · 4–6.5 ft

Keystone genus, 12 specialist beesMt. Cuba trialedWet soil OKNesting stems

Wildlife, seed and sources

Mt. Cuba: South Carolina ecotype 4.0, a top performer
USDA range map · Photo: iNaturalist, CC0 · Report a correction

Purple coneflower

Echinacea purpurea

Jun 5 – Aug 9

Wildflower · Full sun · Dry to average · 2–4 ft

Keystone genus, 6 specialist beesMt. Cuba trialedDeer: Rutgers BCheck range

Wildlife, seed and sources

Birds: seed (goldfinches)
Mt. Cuba: 'Pica Bella' 5.0, top overall and preferred by pollinators
Seed: A
Range: Native to the Midwest and parts of the South; only an escape in Virginia.
USDA range map · Photo: Sandy Wolkenberg, CC BY · Report a correction

Sneezeweed

Helenium autumnale

Jul 30 – Sep 23

Wildflower · Full sun · Moist to wet · 2–5 ft

Keystone genus, 5 specialist beesMt. Cuba trialedWet soil OKDeer: Rutgers B

Wildlife, seed and sources

Mt. Cuba: Straight species 3.9
USDA range map · Photo: iNaturalist, CC0 · Report a correction

Sundrops

Oenothera fruticosa

May 11 – Jun 15

Wildflower · Full sun · Dry to average · 1–2 ft

Keystone genus, 7 specialist bees

Wildlife, seed and sources

USDA range map · Photo: Lena Struwe, CC BY-SA · Report a correction

Blue false indigo

Baptisia australis

May 1 – May 26

Wildflower · Full sun · Periodically flooded, well drained · 3–4 ft

Mt. Cuba trialedDeer: Rutgers A

Wildlife, seed and sources

Caterpillars: Wild indigo duskywing (Erynnis baptisiae); frosted elfin historically
Mt. Cuba: Not in the top 10 of 46
Seed: C(10), H, I
USDA range map · Photo: Evan M. Raskin, CC BY · Report a correction

Creeping phlox

Phlox stolonifera

Apr 6 – May 6

Wildflower · Shade to part shade · Average to moist · 0.5 ft

Mt. Cuba trialedDeer: Rutgers CCheck range

Wildlife, seed and sources

Mt. Cuba: 'Fran's Purple' 4.2 (top of Phlox for Shade), 'Sherwood Purple' 4.0, 'Pink Ridge' 3.5, 'Home Fires' 3.4
Range: In Virginia: Infrequent in the mountains, north to Augusta County; rare in the southwestern Piedmont. Not a northern Piedmont plant.
USDA range map · Photo: boletejones, CC BY · Report a correction

Eastern bluestar

Amsonia tabernaemontana

Apr 10 – May 15

Wildflower · Full sun to part shade · Average to moist · 2–3.5 ft

Mt. Cuba trialedCheck range

Wildlife, seed and sources

Mt. Cuba: 'Short Stack' (4.8 of 5, 2013-23)
Range: In Virginia: Infrequent in the southern Piedmont and inner Coastal Plain, from the James River south.
USDA range map · Photo: John B., CC BY · Report a correction

Garden phlox

Phlox paniculata

Jul 1 – Aug 29

Wildflower · Full sun to part shade · Average to moist · 2–4 ft

Mt. Cuba trialedDeer: Rutgers C

Wildlife, seed and sources

Mt. Cuba: 'Jeana' 4.8 of 5, highest in Phlox for Sun
USDA range map · Photo: Tom Scavo, CC BY · Report a correction

Hairy alumroot

Heuchera villosa

Jul 20 – Sep 8

Wildflower · Shade to part shade · Average · 1–2 ft

Mt. Cuba trialedDeer: Rutgers BCheck range

Wildlife, seed and sources

Mt. Cuba: 'Autumn Bride' 4.0, not in the top 10 (flowers flop
Range: In Virginia: Common in the mountains of southwestern Virginia, less common northward to Rockingham County.
USDA range map · Photo: Michael J. Papay, CC BY · Report a correction

Pennsylvania sedge

Carex pensylvanica

Mar 27 – Apr 26

Sedge · Shade to part shade · Dry to average · 0.5 ft

Mt. Cuba trialedDeer: Rutgers A

Wildlife, seed and sources

Mt. Cuba: Top performer 4.3/4.2
USDA range map · Photo: Evan M. Raskin, CC BY · Report a correction

Scarlet bee balm

Monarda didyma

Jun 15 – Jul 30

Wildflower · Part shade to sun · Moist · 2–4 ft

Mt. Cuba trialedDeer: Rutgers BNesting stemsCheck range

Wildlife, seed and sources

Birds: nectar (hummingbirds)
Mt. Cuba: 'Jacob Cline': hummingbirds' strong favorite at Mt
Range: In Virginia: Mountains; rare (partly introduced) in the Piedmont.
USDA range map · Photo: Paul Roots, CC BY · Report a correction

Sensitive fern

Onoclea sensibilis

no flowers

Fern · Part shade to sun · Wet · 1–3 ft

Mt. Cuba trialedWet soil OK

Wildlife, seed and sources

Mt. Cuba: In trial: 'Supersize' and 'Texan Too Tall' among the entries
USDA range map · Photo: Laura Clark, CC BY · Report a correction

White-tinged sedge

Carex albicans

Mar 26 – May 1

Sedge · Part shade to sun · Dry · 0.5–1 ft

Mt. Cuba trialedDeer: Rutgers A

Wildlife, seed and sources

Mt. Cuba: Top performer 4.3/4.1 (Carex trial 2018-22)
USDA range map · Photo: Nathan Aaron, CC BY · Report a correction

Wild bergamot

Monarda fistulosa

Jun 15 – Jul 30

Wildflower · Full sun · Dry to average · 2–4 ft

Mt. Cuba trialedDeer: Rutgers BNesting stems

Wildlife, seed and sources

Mt. Cuba: 'Claire Grace' 4.5, tied top of 40 with 'Dark Ponticum'
Seed: A
USDA range map · Photo: tzeducation, CC BY · Report a correction

Wild hydrangea

Hydrangea arborescens

May 25 – Jul 20

Shrub · Part shade · Average to moist · 3.5–5 ft

Mt. Cuba trialedDeer: Rutgers C

Wildlife, seed and sources

Birds: insects
Mt. Cuba: 'Haas' Halo' 5.0 (lacecap with many fertile flowers)
USDA range map · Photo: Douglas Goldman, CC BY-SA · Report a correction

Woodland phlox

Phlox divaricata

Apr 11 – May 16

Wildflower · Shade to part shade · Average to moist · 0.5–1.5 ft

Mt. Cuba trialedDeer: Rutgers C

Wildlife, seed and sources

Mt. Cuba: Straight species and 'Blue Moon' both 3.5
Seed: C(60)
USDA range map · Photo: Alicia Ballard, CC BY · Report a correction

Oxeye sunflower

Heliopsis helianthoides

Jun 14 – Sep 2

Wildflower · Full sun · Average to dry · 3–5 ft

Keystone genus, 5 specialist beesNesting stems

Wildlife, seed and sources

Birds: seed (goldfinches)
Seed: C(30)
USDA range map · Photo: Joshua Mayer, CC BY-SA · Report a correction

Allegheny monkeyflower

Mimulus ringens

Jun 14 – Sep 2

Wildflower · Full sun to part shade · Wet · 1–3 ft

Wet soil OK

Wildlife, seed and sources

Caterpillars: Common buckeye; Baltimore checkerspot (occasional)
Seed: C(60), D
USDA range map · Photo: Brandon Wheeler, CC0 · Report a correction

American alumroot

Heuchera americana

Apr 21 – May 31

Wildflower · Shade to part shade · Dry to average · 1–2 ft

Deer: Rutgers B

Wildlife, seed and sources

USDA range map · Photo: John Michael, CC BY · Report a correction

Big bluestem

Andropogon gerardii

Jul 20 – Sep 18

Grass · Full sun · Dry to moist · 5–8 ft

Deer: Rutgers A

Wildlife, seed and sources

Birds: seed; winter cover
Seed: A
USDA range map · Photo: Douglas Goldman, CC BY-SA · Report a correction

Black cohosh

Actaea racemosa

Jun 9 – Jul 19

Wildflower · Part shade to shade · Average to moist · 4–7 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

Caterpillars: Appalachian azure (specialist)
Seed: E
USDA range map · Photo: Douglas Goldman, CC BY-SA · Report a correction

Bloodroot

Sanguinaria canadensis

Mar 21 – Apr 15

Wildflower · Shade to part shade · Average to moist · 0.5–1 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: L, F
USDA range map · Photo: mrdace, CC BY · Report a correction

Blue vervain

Verbena hastata

Jun 25 – Aug 19

Wildflower · Full sun · Moist to wet · 3–5 ft

Wet soil OKNesting stems

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: C(30), D
USDA range map · Photo: Skyler Principe, CC BY · Report a correction

Butterfly weed

Asclepias tuberosa

May 21 – Jul 30

Wildflower · Full sun · Dry to average · 1–2.5 ft

Deer: Rutgers B

Wildlife, seed and sources

Caterpillars: Monarch; queen; milkweed tussock moth
Seed: 30 days cold-moist stratification; deep taproot, resents transplanting
USDA range map · Photo: Michael J. Papay, CC BY · Report a correction

Cardinal flower

Lobelia cardinalis

Jul 15 – Aug 29

Wildflower · Part shade to sun · Moist to wet · 2–4 ft

Wet soil OK

Wildlife, seed and sources

Birds: nectar (hummingbirds)
Seed: Surface-sow (needs light) after about 60 days cold-moist
USDA range map · Photo: Douglas Goldman, CC BY-SA · Report a correction

Christmas fern

Polystichum acrostichoides

no flowers

Fern · Shade to part shade · Average · 1–2 ft

Deer: Rutgers A

Wildlife, seed and sources

USDA range map · Photo: Michael J. Papay, CC BY · Report a correction

Cinnamon fern

Osmundastrum cinnamomeum

no flowers

Fern · Shade to part shade · Moist to wet · 2–4 ft

Wet soil OKDeer: Rutgers A

Wildlife, seed and sources

USDA range map · Photo: Judy Gallagher, CC BY-SA · Report a correction

Clustered mountain mint

Pycnanthemum muticum

Jun 30 – Aug 19

Wildflower · Full sun to part shade · Average to moist · 2–3 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: A, D
USDA range map · Photo: iNaturalist, CC0 · Report a correction

Common blue violet

Viola sororia

Mar 26 – May 11

Wildflower · Part shade to sun · Average to moist · 0.5 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

Caterpillars: Great spangled and other fritillaries
Seed: C(60), M, D
USDA range map · Photo: iNaturalist, CC0 · Report a correction

Common boneset

Eupatorium perfoliatum

Jul 10 – Aug 29

Wildflower · Full sun · Wet · 2–4 ft

Wet soil OKNesting stems

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: C(30), D
USDA range map · Photo: Thomas Koffel, CC BY · Report a correction

Common milkweed

Asclepias syriaca

Jun 1 – Jul 29

Wildflower · Full sun · Average to dry · 3–5 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

Caterpillars: Monarch; milkweed tussock moth
Seed: C(30)
USDA range map · Photo: Randy Nonenmacher, CC BY-SA · Report a correction

Curlyheads

Clematis ochroleuca

Apr 11 – May 17

Native vine · Sun to part shade · Dry · 1–2 ft

Deer: Rutgers C

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: varies by species; fall sowing outdoors is the safe default
USDA range map · Photo: iNaturalist, CC0 · Report a correction

Dwarf crested iris

Iris cristata

Apr 6 – May 1

Wildflower · Shade to part shade · Average · 0.5 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

USDA range map · Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region, CC BY · Report a correction

Eastern red columbine

Aquilegia canadensis

Apr 6 – May 11

Wildflower · Part shade to sun · Dry to average · 1–2 ft

Deer: Rutgers B

Wildlife, seed and sources

Birds: nectar (hummingbirds)
Seed: C(60), M
USDA range map · Photo: Nick Block, CC BY · Report a correction

Flat-topped white aster

Doellingeria umbellata

Jul 19 – Sep 12

Wildflower · Sun to part shade · Moist to wet · 3–6 ft

Wet soil OK

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: C(60)
USDA range map · Photo: Michael J. Papay, CC BY · Report a correction

Foamflower

Tiarella cordifolia

Apr 6 – May 11

Wildflower · Shade to part shade · Moist · 0.5–1 ft

Deer: Rutgers B

Wildlife, seed and sources

USDA range map · Photo: Tom Kennedy, CC BY · Report a correction

Fox sedge

Carex vulpinoidea

May 11 – Jun 20

Sedge · Full sun · Wet · 1–3 ft

Wet soil OKDeer: Rutgers A

Wildlife, seed and sources

USDA range map · Photo: Douglas Goldman, CC BY-SA · Report a correction

Foxglove beardtongue

Penstemon digitalis

May 6 – Jun 5

Wildflower · Full sun · Average to moist · 2–4 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: C(30)
USDA range map · Photo: Michael Ellis, CC BY · Report a correction

Golden alexanders

Zizia aurea

Apr 21 – May 26

Wildflower · Part shade to sun · Average to moist · 1–2.5 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

Caterpillars: Black swallowtail; Zizia-specialist mining bees
Seed: C(60), M, G
USDA range map · Photo: christine123, CC BY · Report a correction

Golden ragwort

Packera aurea

Apr 6 – May 11

Wildflower · Part shade to sun · Moist · 0.5–2 ft

Wet soil OK

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: C(60)
USDA range map · Photo: Nicholas, CC BY · Report a correction

Gray's sedge

Carex grayi

Apr 30 – Jun 14

Sedge · Part shade · Moist to wet · 2–3 ft

Wet soil OK

Wildlife, seed and sources

USDA range map · Photo: Craig Martin, CC0 · Report a correction

Great blue lobelia

Lobelia siphilitica

Jul 20 – Sep 8

Wildflower · Part shade to sun · Moist to wet · 2–3 ft

Wet soil OK

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: Surface-sow (needs light) after about 60 days cold-moist
USDA range map · Photo: Michael J. Papay, CC BY · Report a correction

Indiangrass

Sorghastrum nutans

Jul 30 – Sep 18

Grass · Full sun · Dry to average · 4–6.5 ft

Deer: Rutgers A

Wildlife, seed and sources

Birds: seed; winter cover
USDA range map · Photo: aarongunnar, CC BY · Report a correction

Jack-in-the-pulpit

Arisaema triphyllum

Apr 10 – May 15

Wildflower · Shade · Moist · 1–2 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

Birds: berries (late summer)
Seed: Clean the red pulp; 60-90 days cold-moist
USDA range map · Photo: Alex Abair, CC BY · Report a correction

Jacob's ladder

Polemonium reptans

Apr 10 – May 15

Wildflower · Part shade to shade · Moist · 0.5–1.5 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: C(60)
USDA range map · Photo: Rose Zappa, CC BY · Report a correction

Joe-Pye weed

Eutrochium fistulosum

Jul 5 – Aug 29

Wildflower · Full sun · Moist · 5–8 ft

Wet soil OKNesting stems

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: C(60)
USDA range map · Photo: Douglas Goldman, CC BY-SA · Report a correction

Little bluestem

Schizachyrium scoparium

Jul 30 – Sep 28

Grass · Full sun · Dry · 2–4 ft

Deer: Rutgers A

Wildlife, seed and sources

Birds: seed; winter cover
USDA range map · Photo: iNaturalist, CC0 · Report a correction

Mayapple

Podophyllum peltatum

Apr 20 – May 15

Wildflower · Shade to part shade · Average to moist · 1–1.5 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: Sow fresh; warm then cold; slow
USDA range map · Photo: mefisher, CC0 · Report a correction

Narrowleaf mountain mint

Pycnanthemum tenuifolium

Jun 15 – Jul 30

Wildflower · Full sun · Dry to average · 1.5–3 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: A, D
USDA range map · Photo: iNaturalist, CC0 · Report a correction

Northern leatherflower, vase-vine

Clematis viorna

May 1 – Aug 1

Native vine · Part shade to sun · Dry to mesic · 6.5–13 ft

Deer: Rutgers C

Wildlife, seed and sources

Caterpillars: Clematis clearwing and Thyris moths also use other native Clematis (verify)
Seed: varies by species; fall sowing outdoors is the safe default
USDA range map · Photo: Brian Finzel, CC BY-SA · Report a correction

Obedient plant

Physostegia virginiana

Jul 29 – Sep 12

Wildflower · Full sun to part shade · Moist · 2–4 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: C(60)
USDA range map · Photo: iNaturalist, CC0 · Report a correction

Poke milkweed

Asclepias exaltata

Jun 1 – Jul 14

Wildflower · Part shade · Average · 2–5 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

Caterpillars: Monarch
Seed: C(30)
USDA range map · Photo: Michael J. Papay, CC BY · Report a correction

River oats

Chasmanthium latifolium

Jun 30 – Aug 29

Grass · Part shade to sun · Moist · 2–4 ft

Wet soil OKDeer: Rutgers A

Wildlife, seed and sources

USDA range map · Photo: Douglas Goldman, CC BY-SA · Report a correction

Shallow sedge

Carex lurida

May 15 – Jul 14

Sedge · Sun to part shade · Wet · 1–3 ft

Wet soil OK

Wildlife, seed and sources

USDA range map · Photo: naturalist charlie, CC BY · Report a correction

Solomon's seal

Polygonatum biflorum

Apr 21 – May 21

Wildflower · Shade to part shade · Average · 1–3 ft

Deer: Rutgers C

Wildlife, seed and sources

Birds: berries (late summer)
Seed: L, F
USDA range map · Photo: nancyellivc, CC BY · Report a correction

Southern blue flag

Iris virginica

May 5 – Jun 9

Wildflower · Full sun to part shade · Wet · 2–3 ft

Wet soil OK

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: C(60)
USDA range map · Photo: Michael J. Papay, CC BY · Report a correction

Spring beauty

Claytonia virginica

Mar 6 – Apr 21

Wildflower · Part shade to sun · Average to moist · 0.5 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

USDA range map · Photo: Michael J. Papay, CC BY · Report a correction

Swamp leatherflower

Clematis crispa

Apr 17 – Aug 1

Native vine · Full sun to part shade · Wet to moist · 6.5–10 ft

Wet soil OKDeer: Rutgers CCheck range

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: varies by species; fall sowing outdoors is the safe default
Range: In Virginia: Coastal Plain, from Hanover County south; no northern Virginia records. Breeding bed only.
USDA range map · Photo: mfeaver, CC BY · Report a correction

Swamp milkweed

Asclepias incarnata

Jun 15 – Jul 30

Wildflower · Full sun · Moist to wet · 3–5 ft

Wet soil OK

Wildlife, seed and sources

Caterpillars: Monarch; milkweed tussock moth
Seed: C(30)
USDA range map · Photo: aarongunnar, CC BY · Report a correction

Swamp rose mallow

Hibiscus moscheutos

Jun 30 – Aug 19

Wildflower · Full sun · Wet · 3.5–6.5 ft

Wet soil OKDeer: Rutgers C

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: C(60)
USDA range map · Photo: Douglas Goldman, CC BY-SA · Report a correction

Sweet Joe-Pye weed

Eutrochium purpureum

Jul 14 – Sep 7

Wildflower · Part shade to sun · Average to moist · 4–7 ft

Nesting stems

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: C(60)
USDA range map · Photo: KatieLMiller, CC BY · Report a correction

Switchgrass

Panicum virgatum

Jul 10 – Sep 8

Grass · Full sun · Dry to wet · 3.5–6.5 ft

Wet soil OKDeer: Rutgers A

Wildlife, seed and sources

Birds: seed; winter cover
USDA range map · Photo: aarongunnar, CC BY · Report a correction

Tall meadow-rue

Thalictrum pubescens

Jun 9 – Jul 19

Wildflower · Sun to part shade · Moist to wet · 3–8 ft

Wet soil OK

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: C(60)
USDA range map · Photo: s shepherd, CC BY · Report a correction

Turk's cap lily

Lilium superbum

Jun 25 – Jul 25

Wildflower · Full sun · Moist · 3.5–6.5 ft

Deer: Rutgers C

Wildlife, seed and sources

Birds: nectar (hummingbirds)
Seed: Warm-moist then cold-moist (like Prairie Moon's code E for L
USDA range map · Photo: Michael J. Papay, CC BY · Report a correction

Virgin's bower

Clematis virginiana

Jul 1 – Sep 1

Native vine · Full to part sun · Average to moist · 10–19.5 ft

Wet soil OKDeer: Rutgers C

Wildlife, seed and sources

Caterpillars: Clematis clearwing (Alcathoe caudata); window-winged moths Thyris maculata and T. sepulchralis; Horisme intestinata (BAMONA, Illinois Wildflowers)
Seed: C(30), M
USDA range map · Photo: Michael J. Papay, CC BY · Report a correction

Virginia bluebells

Mertensia virginica

Mar 26 – Apr 27

Wildflower · Shade to part shade · Moist · 1–2 ft

Wet soil OKDeer: Rutgers B

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: C(60)
USDA range map · Photo: Bob Gutowski, CC BY · Report a correction

Virginia spiderwort

Tradescantia virginiana

May 5 – Jun 14

Wildflower · Part shade to sun · Average · 1–2 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: C(60)
USDA range map · Photo: Michael J. Papay, CC BY · Report a correction

Virginia wild rye

Elymus virginicus

May 30 – Jul 14

Grass · Part shade to sun · Average to moist · 2–4 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

Caterpillars: Skippers
Birds: seed; winter cover
Seed: A
USDA range map · Photo: Sam Kieschnick, CC BY · Report a correction

White snakeroot

Ageratina altissima

Aug 13 – Oct 12

Wildflower · Part shade to shade · Average · 2–4 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: C(60)
USDA range map · Photo: Douglas Goldman, CC BY-SA · Report a correction

White turtlehead

Chelone glabra

Jul 25 – Sep 13

Wildflower · Part shade to sun · Wet · 2–4 ft

Wet soil OKDeer: Rutgers C

Wildlife, seed and sources

Caterpillars: Baltimore checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton), a specialist
Seed: C(90), M
USDA range map · Photo: Colette Descent, CC0 · Report a correction

White wood aster

Eurybia divaricata

Jul 30 – Sep 23

Wildflower · Shade to part shade · Dry to average · 1–2 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

USDA range map · Photo: Michael J. Papay, CC BY · Report a correction

Wild geranium

Geranium maculatum

Apr 16 – May 21

Wildflower · Part shade to sun · Average · 1–2 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: C(60), M
USDA range map · Photo: Erica Krimmel, CC0 · Report a correction

Wild ginger

Asarum canadense

Apr 10 – May 10

Wildflower · Shade · Moist · 0.5 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

Seed: L, F
USDA range map · Photo: Nathan Aaron, CC BY · Report a correction

Wild senna

Senna hebecarpa

Jul 9 – Aug 18

Wildflower · Full sun to part shade · Average to moist · 3–6 ft

Wildlife, seed and sources

Caterpillars: Cloudless sulphur; sleepy orange
Seed: H
USDA range map · Photo: Lena Struwe, CC BY-SA · Report a correction

What these lists do not know

Keystone numbers are for whole genera. "Goldenrod supports 104 caterpillar species" is a count across every goldenrod in the ecoregion, not a promise about the one in your bed.
Native to the East is not native to your county. Range maps, not labels, decide it.
Sun ratings are ranges. A plant listed for sun to part shade flowers most in the sun end of its range.
Deer ratings are nursery and university averages. Local deer did not read them. Your own browse notes are the real test.

Your bloom calendar

When each plant flowers where you live, and the weeks your garden leaves the bees with nothing.

Dates start from what we see in the Virginia piedmont and move with your spring: a plant flowers roughly as many days later as your spring arrives later than ours. That is an old and rough rule (Hopkins' bioclimatic law puts it at about four days per degree of latitude and per 400 feet of elevation), so treat the dates as give or take a week or two. Your own notes beat any calendar after one season.

Your garden is empty. Add plants in step 4, or switch to Everything that suits my site.

Filling the gaps

The bars below count how many of your plants are in flower each week from March to November. Weeks with fewer than three are marked; each gap lists plants from the list above that would fill it, keystone genera first. Tap one to add it.

Plan the bed and make a shopping list

Enter the bed's size and the plants in your garden become a planting plan: how many plugs of each, and where each goes so the tall ones don't hide the short ones.

Bed size (feet)

What these dates are not

A forecast. A warm March can move everything two weeks early; the USA National Phenology Network's spring index maps show how this year is running.
A western calendar. Outside the eastern forests the species here mostly don't belong, and the page says so rather than guess.

This month in your garden

What to do now where you live, and what your own plants are up to.

Dates move with your spring: later up north and in the mountains, earlier down south. Join our email list and we'll send the month's short list from the farm.

Planting and the first year

Plugs in spring or fall, water the first season, then leave them alone.

When to plantEarly fall is best in most of the East; spring is second.

Any time the ground is neither frozen nor saturated. Early fall is best in most of the East: warm soil, cool air and autumn rain let roots grow before winter. Spring is second best. Midsummer planting works only if you will water.

WateringThe first-season schedule, then only in drought.

The first seasonPlant NOVA Natives' rule

The day you plant, and the day afterwater well
The next two weekstwice a week
Through the first growing seasonweekly
Skip any watering after about an inch of rain—
From the second yearonly in drought

Plugs, pots or seedPlugs for beds, seed for anything bigger than a few hundred square feet.

Plugs (small deep cells) are the best value for beds: cheap, quick to establish, and planted about a foot apart they close in by the second summer. For areas bigger than a few hundred square feet, seed is the only affordable way; see the meadow notes below and section 06.

Starting a meadow from seedClear a season ahead, sow in winter, mow high the first year.

Clear the ground a season ahead. Smother turf and weeds under a tarp or cardboard through a growing season, or solarize in summer. Tilling brings up years of weed seed, and near a stream it may need a permit.
Sow in the dormant season, late fall to late winter, onto bare soil, and press it in. Many native seeds need winter's cold and wet to germinate.
Mow high in the first year whenever growth reaches your knee, cutting to about half that, so the slow natives get light.
From the second year, mow once in late winter, and mow only part of the meadow each year so insects wintering in the stems survive.

Expect "sleep, creep, leap": little to see in the first year, some flowers in the second, a meadow in the third.

Deer, and what to expectWhat deer leave alone, what they eat first, and caging new plants.

Where deer are heavy, cage new plants for the first season. Grasses, sedges, ferns and wild indigo are rarely touched; phlox, lilies and native clematis are eaten first. Keep notes on what gets browsed. After two seasons you will know your deer better than any list.

Straight species, local ecotypes and nativarsBuy local seed where you can; skip double flowers and purple leaves.

Where you can, buy straight species grown from regional seed (a local ecotype). Named cultivars are fine in a garden bed, with two exceptions worth avoiding: double flowers, which often give pollinators little, and purple- or red-leaved forms, which in one study fed fewer caterpillars. Mt. Cuba Center's trials found that many of the best garden performers were straight species anyway.

Where to buyNative plant society sales, and two questions to ask any nursery.

Your state native plant society (linked in section 02) lists nurseries and runs plant sales; that's the surest route to local-ecotype plants. In northern Virginia, the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy's sales at Morven Park bring several local-ecotype growers together each spring and fall. Ask any nursery where its seed came from, and whether plants were treated with systemic insecticides.

Growing from seed

Most native seed is asleep on purpose, and each kind wakes differently.

Seed companies use short codes for what each species needs. These are Prairie Moon Nursery's, which many growers follow; each plant card above shows its code where we have checked it.

Code	What it means	How to do it at home
A	No treatment	Sow when warm; most mints and Monarda.
C(30), C(60), C(90)	Cold-moist stratification for that many days	Mix seed with damp sand in a labeled bag in the fridge, or simply sow outdoors in fall or winter and let the weather do it.
D	Needs light to germinate	Press onto the surface; don't cover.
E	Warm, then cold	Warm and moist for a couple of months, then cold; or sow in late summer outdoors.
F	Slow: may take two years	Keep the pot outside and don't give up on it.
H	Hard seed coat	Nick it or rub on sandpaper, or soak in hot water.
I	Needs its bacteria	Legumes such as wild indigo: add the matching inoculant at sowing.
L	Sow fresh	Never let it dry out: spring ephemerals such as bloodroot.
M	Or sow outdoors in fall	The easy way for many cold-needing seeds.

Collecting seed responsiblyAsk first, take little, take from many plants, and leave rare ones alone.

Ask first. Collect only with the owner's permission, and never in a park or preserve without a permit.
Take little. A common rule of thumb is no more than 10 to 20 percent of a population's seed in a year.
Take from many plants. Seed from ten or more mother plants carries far more genetic variety than a big harvest from one.
Leave rare plants alone. State-listed threatened and endangered plants are protected by law; in Virginia, taking one is lawful only on your own land. Buy those from nurseries that propagate them legally.

The invasives to pull first

A new native bed fails most often to what was already growing there.

The list below is Virginia's (the Department of Conservation and Recreation's 2024 list, ranked for the piedmont), with when to act on each. Much of it applies across the East. Outside Virginia, use your state's list: EDDMapS maps reported infestations near you, and the National Invasive Species Information Center links every state's council.

Plant	VA rank	Form	Invades	Act in	What works
Lesser celandine Ficaria verna	High	herb	floodplain	Feb–Mar	Before it flowers (Feb-Mar): dig small patches keeping every bulblet, or foliar-spray an aquatic-labeled glyphosate once leaves are up and natives are still dormant. Gone by June: don't bother then.
Garlic mustard Alliaria petiolata	High	herb	floodplain, woodland	Mar–May	Pull rosettes in March and flowering plants before seed (by late May); bag plants with pods. Biennial: 5+ years of seed bank.
Japanese stiltgrass Microstegium vimineum	High	grass	floodplain, woodland, edge	Aug–Sep	Pull or string-trim in Aug-Sep just before it flowers; earlier cutting lets it regrow and seed. Annual: stop seed for several years.
Mile-a-minute Persicaria perfoliata	High	vine	floodplain, edge, meadow	Mar, Jun–Jul	Pre-emergent in early-mid March where legal, or pull (gloves: barbs) from May through late June before blue fruit; recheck through fall.
Japanese knotweed Reynoutria japonica	High	herb	floodplain	Jun, Aug–Sep	Cut in June, then foliar or stem-inject regrowth after flowering (Aug-Sep); repeat for years. Don't mow fragments into the stream.
Yellow flag iris Iris pseudacorus	High	herb	wet meadow, floodplain	May–Jun	Cut seed heads after flowering (May-Jun); dig rhizomes (gloves: sap irritates) or treat with aquatic-labeled herbicide.
Marsh dewflower Murdannia keisak	High	herb	wet meadow, floodplain	Jul–Sep	Pull before seed (late summer); annual of wet ground.
Johnson grass Sorghum halepense	High	grass	meadow, edge	Jun–Aug	Dig rhizomes or spot-spray when 18-24 in tall, before seed heads.
Spotted knapweed Centaurea stoebe ssp. micranthos	High	herb	meadow, dry	Jun–Jul	Pull (gloves) before flowering in June-July; tap-rooted.
Canada thistle Cirsium arvense	High	herb	meadow	Jun, Sep	Cut at bud stage (June) to drain roots; spot-treat fall rosettes (September).
Sericea lespedeza Lespedeza cuneata	High	herb	meadow, dry	Jun–Jul	Mow or spot-treat in early summer before it flowers; seed bank lasts decades.
Common reed Phragmites australis ssp. australis	High	grass	wet meadow	Aug–Sep	Aquatic-labeled herbicide after tasseling (Aug-Sep), then cut dead stalks in winter. Large stands need a professional.
European stinging nettle Urtica dioica ssp. dioica	High	herb	floodplain	May–Jun	Check the ID first: the native Urtica dioica ssp. gracilis grows on the same floodplains and hosts red admirals. Remove only confirmed European plants.
Cinnamon vine (chinese yam) Dioscorea polystachya	High	vine	floodplain, edge	Jun–Aug	Collect the aerial bulbils (Jul-Oct) and pull or treat vines before they form.
Porcelain-berry Ampelopsis glandulosa	High	vine	edge, floodplain	Jun–Sep	Cut vines and treat stumps, or foliar-spray regrowth; pull seedlings. Before berries ripen.
Oriental bittersweet Celastrus orbiculatus	High	vine	edge, woodland	Jul–Oct	Cut vines at the ground and treat stumps immediately; pull seedlings with the orange root.
Japanese honeysuckle Lonicera japonica	High	vine	edge, woodland, floodplain	Jul–Nov	Foliar spray after July 4 through early winter, when natives are dormant but it stays green; pull small patches any time.
Japanese hops Humulus japonicus	Medium	vine	floodplain	May–Jun	Annual: pull (gloves) in May-June before seed.
Multiflora rose Rosa multiflora	High	shrub	meadow, edge, floodplain	Jun–Sep	Cut in June and treat the stump, or treat regrowth; pull seedlings. Takes over meadows that aren't managed.
Wineberry Rubus phoenicolasius	High	shrub	edge, woodland, floodplain	Jun–Sep	Pull canes when soil is moist (easy) or cut and treat; before fruit.
Autumn olive Elaeagnus umbellata	High	shrub	meadow, edge	Aug–Oct	Cut and treat stumps, or basal-bark treat, late summer to fall. Cutting alone makes it resprout.
Tree-of-heaven Ailanthus altissima	High	tree	edge, meadow	Jul–Sep	Hack-and-squirt in July-September, don't cut first (it suckers). Host of spotted lanternfly.
Winged euonymus (burning bush) Euonymus alatus	High	shrub	woodland, edge	Sep–Nov	Pull seedlings; cut and treat large shrubs in fall when it's easy to spot (red).
Chinese privet Ligustrum sinense	High	shrub	floodplain, edge	Oct–Dec	Cut and treat stumps or basal-bark in late fall to winter, when natives are leafless.
Amur honeysuckle Lonicera maackii	High	shrub	edge, woodland	Oct–Nov	Cut and treat stumps in fall (it stays green later than natives).
Japanese barberry Berberis thunbergii	Medium	shrub	woodland, edge	Apr, Oct–Nov	Pull or dig (gloves) in early spring or late fall when it leafs out first/last. Harbors ticks.
Callery pear Pyrus calleryana	Medium	tree	meadow, edge	Apr, Sep–Oct	Pull seedlings (thorny); cut and treat or basal-bark treat saplings. Easy to spot in April bloom.
Mimosa Albizia julibrissin	Medium	tree	edge	Jun–Jul	Cut and treat stumps in summer; pull seedlings.
Royal paulownia Paulownia tomentosa	Medium	tree	edge	Jul–Aug	Hack-and-squirt or cut and treat; pull seedlings.
English ivy Hedera helix	Medium	vine	woodland	Jan–Mar, Nov–Dec	Cut climbing vines at shoulder height and ground (a 'lifesaver' ring), then pull ground ivy; winter is fine.
Sweet autumn clematis Clematis terniflora	Medium	vine	edge, floodplain	Aug–Sep	Pull or cut before seed in late summer. Look-alike of native C. virginiana: terniflora has entire (untoothed) leaflets and blooms a few weeks later. Never use it as a breeding parent.
Sheep sorrel Acetosa acetosella	Medium	herb	meadow, dry	Apr–May	Pull and improve soil; spreads by rhizome.
Joint head grass Arthraxon hispidus var. hispidus	Medium	grass	floodplain, wet meadow	Aug–Sep	Pull before seed like stiltgrass (annual).
Bull thistle Cirsium vulgare	Medium	herb	meadow	May–Jun	Dig rosettes or cut before flowering (biennial).
Gill-over-the-ground Glechoma hederacea	Medium	herb	floodplain, edge	Apr–May	Hand-pull runners when soil is moist.
Common velvet grass Holcus lanatus	Medium	grass	meadow, wet meadow	May–Jun	Mow or pull before seed.
Moneywort Lysimachia nummularia	Medium	herb	floodplain, wet meadow	May–Jul	Pull mats; spot-treat large wet-ground patches with an aquatic-labeled product.
Rough bluegrass Poa trivialis ssp. trivialis	Medium	grass	wet meadow	Apr–May	Smother or spot-treat before planting.
Colonial bent-grass Agrostis capillaris	Medium	grass	meadow	Apr–May	Smother or spot-treat before planting.
Common chickweed Stellaria media	Medium	herb	edge	Mar–Apr	Pull in cool season before seed.

Ranks: Virginia DCR 2024 (High, Medium) for the piedmont. Control timing: Piedmont Master Gardeners and Blue Ridge PRISM.

Before you pull or spray

Be sure of the plant. Native stinging nettle grows in the same floodplains as the European one; sweet autumn clematis is easy to confuse with our native virgin's bower (the invasive has smooth-edged leaflets and blooms a few weeks later).
Pulling beats spraying for small patches, and most annual invaders only need to be stopped from seeding for a few years.
Near water, only products labeled for aquatic use, and only as the label directs. The label is the law.

Beyond flowers

Flowers feed adult insects. The rest of the life cycle happens in stems, leaves and bare ground.

Leave stems standing

Cut old stems in spring to mixed heights of about 8 to 24 inches and leave the stubble. Small carpenter bees and others nest in pithy and hollow stems such as bee balm, Joe-Pye and ironweed through the next season.

Leave the leaves

Rake them off paths and lawn into beds, not into bags. Fireflies, moth pupae and many butterflies spend the winter in leaf litter.

Some bare ground

About 70 percent of native bees nest in the ground. A sunny, unmulched patch of soil is a nest site.

Milkweed, the right kind

Plant milkweeds native to your region. Avoid tropical milkweed, which keeps growing into winter in the South and is linked to a parasite that weakens monarchs.

Lights off at night

Outdoor lights draw moths from their work and interfere with firefly signals. Motion sensors and warm-colored bulbs help.

No insecticides

A native garden is supposed to be eaten. Chewed leaves mean it is working, and the birds will take care of the rest.

Watching who visitsA one-minute count, repeated, tells you more than a season of impressions.

Mt. Cuba Center rates its trial plants for pollinators with a simple method: watch one plant for 60 seconds and count every insect that lands on a flower. We use it on the farm, with a few rules borrowed from the Xerces Society's bee-monitoring protocol so the counts compare fairly:

Count on warm days (60°F or more), with light wind and enough sun to cast a shadow, mid-morning to mid-afternoon.
Count bumble bees, other native bees, honey bees, butterflies, moths, flies and beetles separately. Honey bees are livestock; keep them out of your native-visitor total.
Note how many flowers or flower heads you were watching, so a young plant isn't unfairly compared with a big clump.
Watch every plant you want to compare in the same session, in random order, and repeat on many days. A plant needs twenty or so watches before its number means much.

Photograph what you can't name and post it to iNaturalist or, for bumble bees, Bumble Bee Watch. Your sightings become data that researchers actually use.

From our fields

Our own records start with the 2027 season.

Our native clematis work

A small breeding program on the farm, built around Virginia's own clematis.

Virginia has more native clematis than most people realize: the vining leatherflowers with their thick, bell-shaped flowers, a handful of rare upright species on shale barrens and limestone, and virgin's bower, the frothy white vine of late-summer fence rows. Almost none of the clematis sold in garden centers has any of them in its family tree.

We are working to change that, slowly. The aim is garden plants with a native parent: compact, hardy, resistant to mildew, and still worth something to the insects that use the wild species, which means single flowers and ordinary green leaves. It is a program of years, and we'll share results as they earn it.

A few principles guide it, and they apply to anyone who grows these plants:

Local species first. For the piedmont around Leesburg that's the pale leatherflower (Clematis ochroleuca) and virgin's bower (C. virginiana). The mountain and coastal species stay in our trial beds, not in restoration plantings.
Nothing from the wild. Several Virginia clematis are rare, and two are state-listed. We work only from legally propagated plants and never collect from wild populations.
Keep the invader out. Sweet autumn clematis, the Asian look-alike of virgin's bower, is on Virginia's invasive list and has no place in the program.

See it for yourself

The trial beds are part of a visit to the farm, by appointment. If you know of an old garden planting of native leatherflower, or grow one yourself, we would love to hear about it; please don't share the locations of wild plants publicly.

What the evidence says

How sure we are about each claim on this page.

A few plant genera host most caterpillars

Across US counties, about 14 percent of native plant genera host about 90 percent of caterpillar species (Narango, Tallamy and Shropshire 2020). The regional keystone lists come from the same database.

Narango et al., Nature Communications 2020 · NWF keystone lists

Well established

Native yards raise more chickadees

In suburban Washington, D.C. yards, chickadees bred successfully only where native plants made up about 70 percent or more of the plant mass; non-native plants supported far fewer caterpillars.

Narango, Tallamy and Marra, PNAS 2018

Well established

Cultivars are usually fine, with exceptions

Most cultivars tested supported caterpillars about as well as the wild species; purple- or red-leaved forms supported fewer, and double flowers draw fewer pollinators in Mt. Cuba's coneflower trial. Few genera have been tested.

Baisden, Tallamy, Narango and Boyle, HortTechnology 2018 · Mt. Cuba Center trials

Mixed, limited

Local ecotypes survive better

Local adaptation is well documented in restoration research, but the size of the effect in a watered garden bed is rarely measured. We favor local seed because it costs little and protects local genetics.

Restoration genetics literature; our own survival records

Plausible, variable

Bloom shifts four days per degree

Hopkins' 1918 rule is an average; modern studies find the rate varies by region and year, and warming is changing it. We use it only to move a calendar roughly.

Hopkins 1918 via Alabama Extension · USA-NPN

Rough guide

Deer-resistance ratings

Ratings such as Rutgers' A to D summarize grower experience, not controlled trials, and local deer pressure changes everything.

Rutgers NJAES deer-resistance list

Experience, not trials

Glossary

Keystone plant: A plant genus that hosts an outsized share of a region's caterpillars or specialist bees.
Specialist bee: A bee that collects pollen from only one plant group, such as the mining bees that use only golden alexanders.
Ecoregion: An area with similar climate, soils and vegetation, as mapped by the EPA; keystone lists are made for these, not for states.
Local ecotype: Plants grown from seed collected in your region, carrying its adaptations.
Nativar: A named cultivar of a native species, selected or bred for a garden trait.
Straight species: The wild form of a plant, grown from seed rather than a named clone.
Plug: A young plant in a small, deep cell; cheap and quick to establish.
Stratification: Giving seed the cold (or warmth) and moisture it needs before it will germinate.
Spring ephemeral: A woodland wildflower that blooms and fades before the trees leaf out.
Invasive: A non-native plant that spreads into natural areas and displaces native plants; a legal term in some states.
Leatherflower: A native clematis with thick, bell- or urn-shaped flowers, such as Clematis viorna.
Hydric soil: Soil formed under saturated conditions: wetland soil.

Sources

Everything on this page traces to something below. Peer‑reviewed papers, extension services and state agencies carry the weight; nurseries and practitioner accounts are named as such. Last checked September 2026.

Keystone plants and wildlife7 sources

Narango, Tallamy and Shropshire (2020). Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species. Nature Communications 11:5751. Link
Narango, Tallamy and Marra (2018). Nonnative plants reduce population growth of an insectivorous bird. PNAS 115:11549. Link
National Wildlife Federation. Keystone plants by ecoregion (the lists used in section 02). Link
National Wildlife Federation. Native Plant Finder. Link
Fowler and Droege. Pollen specialist bees of the eastern United States. Link
Homegrown National Park. Link
Audubon. Native Plants Database (Plants for Birds). Link

Pollinators and habitat6 sources

Xerces Society. Regional pollinator plant lists. Link
Xerces Society. Streamlined Bee Monitoring Protocol. Link
Xerces Society. Tropical milkweed: a no-grow. Link
Mt. Cuba Center. Getting the buzz from pollinators in the trial garden (via Ecological Landscape Alliance). Link
Bumble Bee Watch. Link
iNaturalist. Link

Plants, trials and cultivars8 sources

Mt. Cuba Center. Trial Garden reports. Link
Mt. Cuba Center. Do leaf-eating insects eat nativars? Link
Baisden, Tallamy, Narango and Boyle (2018). Do cultivars of native plants support insect herbivores? HortTechnology 28:596. Link
Rutgers NJAES. Landscape plants rated by deer resistance. Link
Prairie Moon Nursery. How to germinate native seeds (germination codes). Link
BONAP. North American Plant Atlas (county range maps). Link
USDA PLANTS Database. Link
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Native Plant Database. Link

Where you are4 sources

Hopkins' bioclimatic law, explained by Alabama Cooperative Extension. Link
USA National Phenology Network. Status of spring. Link
USDA Web Soil Survey. Link
Plant NOVA Natives. Quick start guide (planting and watering). Link

Invasive plants5 sources

Virginia DCR. Invasive Plant Species List (2024). Link
Piedmont Master Gardeners. Invasive plant control calendar. Link
Blue Ridge PRISM. Invasive plant fact sheets. Link
EDDMapS. Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System. Link
National Invasive Species Information Center. Resources by state. Link

Virginia and our farm5 sources

Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora. Link
Virginia DCR. Virginia Native Plant Finder. Link
Virginia Native Plant Society. Link
Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy. Native plant sales. Link
Code of Virginia 3.2-1003 (endangered plant species). Link

Come see it growing

Home Farm 1760 is a veteran- and minority-owned farm and nursery on a 1760 Quaker farmstead in Leesburg, Virginia, open by appointment. Questions, corrections and local observations are welcome; we'd rather hear about an error than leave it up.

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