WHAT ARE NATIVES? For more information, refer to field guides and publications ABOUT THE NATIVE PLANTS FOR CONSERVATION, Native species evolved within specific regions and on local natural history for color, shape, height, bloom times RESTORATION AND LANDSCAPING PROJECT dispersed throughout their range without known and specific wildlife value of the plants that grow in your This project is a collaboration between the Virginia Depart- human involvement. They form the primary region. Visit a nearby park, natural area preserve, forest or ment of Conservation and Recreation and the Virginia Native component of the living landscape and provide wildlife management area to learn about common plant Plant Society. VNPS chapters across the state helped to fund the 2011 update to this brochure. food and shelter for native animal species. associations, spatial groupings and habitat conditions. For Native plants co-evolved with native specific recommendations and advice about project design, The following partners have provided valuable assistance animals over many thousands to millions consult a landscape or garden design specialist with throughout the life of this project: of years and have formed complex experience in native plants. The Nature Conservancy – Virginia Chapter • Virginia and interdependent relationships. Our native fauna depend on native flora to Tech Department of Horticulture • Virginia Department of WHAT ARE NON-NATIVE PLANTS? provide food and cover. Many animals Agriculture and Consumer Services • Virginia Department Sometimes referred to as “exotic,” “alien,” or “non- require specific plants for their survival. of Environmental Quality, Coastal Zone Management indigenous,” non-native plants are species introduced, Program • Virginia Department of Forestry • Virginia intentionally or accidentally, into a new region by humans. Department of Game and Inland Fisheries • Virginia Native BENEFITS OF NATIVE PLANTS Over time, many plants and animals have expanded their Department of Transportation Using native species in landscaping ranges slowly and without human assistance. As people reduces the expense of maintaining began cultivating plants, they brought beneficial and cultivated landscapes and minimizes the favored species along when they moved into new regions likelihood of introducing new invasive or traded with people in distant lands. Humans thus species. It may provide a few unexpected became a new pathway, enabling many species to move Plants benefits as well. into new locations. for Conservation, Native plants often require less water, fertilizer and Restoration & Landscaping pesticide, thus adding fewer chemicals to the landscape WHAT ARE INVASIVE PLANTS? and maintaining water quality in nearby rivers and streams. Invasive plants are introduced species that cause health, Fewer inputs mean time and money saved for the gardener. economic or ecological damage in their new range. More than 30,000 species of plants have been introduced to the Native plants increase the presence of desirable wildlife, United States since the time of Columbus. Most were such as birds and butterflies, and provide sanctuaries for introduced intentionally, and many provide great benefits to these animals as they journey between summer and winter society as agricultural crops and landscape ornamentals. habitats. The natural habitat you create with native plants Some were introduced accidentally, for example, in ship can become an outdoor classroom for children, or a place ballast, in packing material and as seed contaminants. Of for you to find peace and quiet after a busy day. these introduced species, fewer than 3,000 have naturalized FOR MORE INFORMATION Native plants evoke a strong sense of place and regional and become established in the United States outside Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation character. For example, live oak and magnolia trees are cultivation. Of the 3,500 plant species in Virginia, more than Natural Heritage Program strongly associated with the Deep South. Redwood trees 800 have been introduced since the founding of Jamestown. 804-786-7951 characterize the Pacific Northwest. Saguaro cacti The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural_heritage/nativeplants.shtml call to mind the deserts of the Southwest. currently lists more than 100 of these species as invasive. In the United States, invasive species cause an estimated FOR A LIST OF NURSERIES THAT PROPAGATE BUYING AND GROWING $120 billion in annual economic losses, including costs to NATIVE SPECIES, CONTACT: NATIVE PLANTS manage their effects. Annual costs and damages arising Virginia Native Plant Society More gardeners today are discovering the benefits from invasive plants alone are estimated at $34 billion. 400 Blandy Farm Lane, Unit 2 of native plants and requesting them at their local Boyce, VA 22620 garden centers. Because of this increased demand, 540-837-1600 | [email protected] NATIVE PLANTS VS. INVASIVE PLANTS retailers are offering an ever-widening selection of www.vnps.org Invasive plants have competitive advantages that allow vigorous, nursery-propagated natives. them to disrupt native plant communities and the wildlife FOR A LIST OF NURSERIES IN A PARTICULAR Once you’ve found a good vendor for native plants, dependent on them. For example, kudzu (Pueraria montana) REGION OF VIRGINIA, CONTACT: the next step is choosing appropriate plants grows very rapidly and overtops forest canopy, thus The Virginia Nursery and Landscape Association for a project. One of the greatest benefits shading other plant species from the sunlight necessary for 383 Coal Hollow Road of designing with native plants is their their survival. A tall invasive wetland grass, common reed Christiansburg, VA 24073 adaptation to local conditions. However, it (Phragmites australis ssp. australis), invades and dominates 540-382-0943 | [email protected] is important to select plants with growth marshes, reducing native plant diversity and sometimes To search for species in VNLA member catalogs, visit: requirements that best match conditions eliminating virtually all other species. www.vnla.org/search.asp in the area to be planted. Invasive species can marginalize or even cause the loss of If you’re planning a project using native species. With their natural host plants gone, many ILLUSTRATIONS COURTESY OF native plant species, use the list in this insects disappear. And since insects are an essential part of THE FLORA OF VIRGINIA PROJECT. brochure to learn which plants grow in the diet of many birds, the effects on the food web become Illustrators: Lara Gastinger, Roy Fuller your region of Virginia. Next, study the far reaching. Habitats with a high occurrence of invasive and Michael Terry. To learn more, visit: minimum light and moisture requirements plants become a kind of “green desert.” Although green and www.floraofvirginia.org for each species, noting that some plants grow healthy in appearance, far fewer native species of plants and Virginia Coastal Plain well under a variety of conditions. Many of the animals are found in such radically altered places. recommended species are well-suited to more than one of these categories. 9/2011 Scientific Name Common Name Uses Light Moisture Scientific Name Common Name Uses Light Moisture W H C D S P F L M H W H C D S P F L M H Virginia Herbs Vines Achillea millefolium common yarrow • • • • Bignonia capreolata crossvine • • • • • • Ageratina altissima white snakeroot • • • • Campsis radicans trumpet creeper • • • • • Coastal Amsonia tabernaemontana blue star • • • • • Celastrus scandens climbing bittersweet • • • • • • Anemone quinquefolia wood anemone • • • • • Clematis virginiana virgin’s bower • • • • Anemonella thalictroides rue anemone • • • Decumaria barbara climbing hydrangea • • • • • • Plain Aquilegia canadensis wild columbine • • • • • • Gelsemium sempervirens Carolina jasmine • • • • • • • • Arisaema triphyllum Jack-in-the-pulpit • • • Lonicera sempervirens trumpet honeysuckle • • • • Aruncus dioicus goatsbeard • • • • Parthenocissus quinquefolia Virginia creeper • • • • • • Asarum canadense+ wild ginger • • • • Passiflora incarnata Purple passionflower • • • • • • Asclepias incarnata swamp milkweed • • • • • • Wisteria frutescens Atlantic wisteria • • • • • Virginia’s Coastal Plain Asclepias syriaca+ common milkweed • • • • • extends from the sands Asclepias tuberosa butterfly weed • • • • • Shrub & Small Trees Baptisia tinctoria yellow wild-indigo • • • • • Alnus serrulata hazel alder • • • • • • • of Virginia Beach west to Bidens cernua+ nodding beggar-ticks • • • • • • • • Aronia arbutifolia red chokeberry • • • • • • Boltonia asteroides* aster-like boltonia • • • Aronia melanocarpa black chokeberry • • • • • • • the fall line. Formed by Caltha palustris marsh marigold • • • • • Baccharis halimifolia high tide bush • • • • • • Chamaecrista fasciculata+ partridge pea • • • • Callicarpa americana American beautyberry • • • • • marine sediments eroded Chelone glabra white turtlehead • • • • • Castanea pumila Allegheny chinkapin • • • • • • • Chrysogonum virginianum green and gold • • • • Ceanothus americanus New Jersey tea • • • • • • from the Appalachian Chrysopsis mariana Maryland golden aster • • • • • • Cephalanthus occidentalis buttonbush • • • • • Highlands, the Coastal Cimicifuga racemosa black cohosh • • • • Clethra alnifolia sweet pepper-bush • • • • • • • Clitoria mariana Maryland butterfly pea • • • • • Cornus amomum silky dogwood • • • • • • Plain varies in topography