Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic

Over the past several years, our Master Gardeners have identified and described a broad variety of native* plants that thrive in our local conditions and benefit our local wildlife. To help you determine if a plant is the right plant for your landscape, The Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic fact sheets highlight the beauty, main characteristics and attributes, ease of care, and seasonal interest of these wonderful plant varieties, grouped in eight broad categories:

Magnolia virginiana (Sweet Bay Magnolia) — *Magnolia virginiana* (Sweetbay Magnolia). Photo © Christa Watters

Annuals, Bulbs & Corms

For help in using the fact sheets or for background and information sources, click on: How To Use the Fact Sheets; Acknowledgments; Sources and References; and Conditions of Use.

*Each fact sheet for our Tried and True Native Plant Selections specifies the areas in which the plant is indigenous. Most of the recommended species are native to (some parts of) the Mid-Atlantic Region. The featured plant for the week will indicate this with our MGNV Native Plants logo. This does not necessarily mean, though, that every plant is native to your particular area. For example, Hibiscus moscheutos and Matteuccia struthiopteris are not native to all parts of Northern Virginia (NoVA). Clethra alnifolia is common in the Mid-Atlantic Coastal Plain but grows well in cultivation in NoVA. (For plants specifically native to (most of) NoVA, look for the Plant NoVA Natives logo at the bottom of the fact sheet.)

We do recommend a few plants that can flourish in our area, but are native elsewhere in the United States. For example, Pachysandra procumbens is a southern native concentrated in the Allegheny Mountains and Echinacea purpurea, a Mid-Western native commonly cultivated in Virginia, has escaped to establish populations in some parts of NoVA. If one of these plants is the weekly feature, it will not show the MGNV Native Plants logo. However, like the other fact sheets, the areas to which they are indigenous will be so noted.