Best Bets: Plants for Particular Uses
What kind of light does your garden have?
These plants are recommended by Extension Master Gardeners for use in sunny gardens.
- Sun: The site receives more than 6 hours of direct sunlight each day during the growing season.
In addition to Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic, this page also includes additional MGNV resources such as recorded public education classes and articles with information on this topic.
Annuals, Bulbs, and Corms | Grasses, Sedges & Rushes | Ground Covers
Perennials | Shrubs | Trees | Vines | How to Use the Fact Sheets
Annuals, Bulbs, and Corms
Native Grasses, Sedges & Rushes
Native Ground Covers
Native Perennials
Native Shrubs
Native Trees
![Prunus serotina ([Wild] Black Cherry)](https://i0.wp.com/mgnv.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Prunus_serotina_Flowers1_May_ELM-e1638444871503.jpg?resize=400%2C400&ssl=1)
Native Vines
What kind of light does your garden have?
Before choosing plants for your property, be sure to know the amount of direct sun light each location will receive over the course of a day and over the course of the growing season – May through September – because the sun’s position in the sky changes and nearby tall objects – manmade structures, trees, shrubs – can obscure the sun at certain times.
Over time, the character of a garden can change as plants grow taller and tall plants die. This knowledge will help you to choose the right plant for the right place, which may not be the same plant for the same place as time goes by.
- A south facing location (assuming no obstructions) receives direct sunlight for most of the day, making it hotter and drier. Radiated heat from pavement and buildings can increase temperatures even more.
- A north facing location near a building will receive less direct sunlight because the building casts a midday shadow. Here it will be cooler and the soil will retain more moisture, perhaps even becoming waterlogged in winter.
MGNV Resources
The Sunny Garden at Bon Air Park
Created in 1990, the Sunny Garden displays a great number of perennials, most for sunny locations and, under the canopy of the white oak, shade-tolerant plants and late winter to early spring bloomers. The Garden offers four season interest with its variety of flowering plants and grasses. Over the years, it has developed and expanded to meet changing conditions and its beds now incorporate more native plants.