Ohio Native Plants

Purple coneflower Echinacea purpurea and Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia fulgida

Monthly Theme: Let’s Talk About Native Plants!

It’s finally SPRINGTIME in Ohio!  That glorious time of the year when all gardeners rise up, dust off their garden gloves, dig out their gardening tools, and head outside to work in their gardens.  This month let’s talk about plants that are native to Ohio. 

Gardeners tend to be people who honor and appreciate nature, and more than likely are ecofriendly and concerned about biodiversity, which is why gardening trends like woodland, wildflower, prairie, and rain gardens are all the buzz. 

WHAT IS A NATIVE PLANT?

In nature, a plant is considered native if it evolved naturally in a specific area, region, or habitat without being introduced to the location by human intervention.  If a plant originated in another part of the world or was cultivated by humans, it would not be considered a native plant. 

WHY PLANT NATIVE PLANTS? 

Native plants support birds, animals, and insects by providing food and shelter (think nest and rest).  When you incorporate native plants into your outdoor space, you will also invite native insects, which are beneficial for the perfect dance of nature.  Native plants thrive in the area and grow longer roots, which help filter pollutants and results in cleaner water.  The long roots help prevent erosion of the soil.  Refer to the below diagram to see the difference in the root system of non-native vs. native plants..

Many native plants bloom from early spring until late fall whereby providing a great food source for birds, animals, and insects.  By planting berry-producing native plants, you will be providing food for wildlife and birds over the winter months.  The native plants and insects work together to create an organic and sustainable ecosystem, which means you will need less or NO fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides.  Non-native plants require more fertilizer, water, and are prone to more diseases. Native plants are a WIN-WIN situation!

As you grow more native plants, you will notice more and more birds and pollinators visiting your yard.  Apparently, I’m not the only one who loves berries, nuts, and seeds! 

I’m sure you have heard about how monarch butterflies use native milkweed as a host plant to procreate and survive.  This is just one known example, but there are hundreds of other stories just like the monarch butterfly story.  By creating an environmental healthy landscape, you become a part of the story of living in harmony with nature! 

Try to wait until mid to late spring to clean up your flowerbeds.  I know it’s tough because it doesn’t look aesthetically nice, but those old leaves provide a perfect habitat for some caterpillars, pollinators, and other creatures.  Also, hold back on your pruning last year’s dead material because insects use the hollow stems as their winter homes.

Go BIG!  If you have the space, don’t forget about native trees.  Trees provide food and shelter to wildlife, they help prevent flooding and erosion, clean our air, provide protection against strong winds, and cool our houses.  When you mulch around your trees, don’t pile the mulch up around the base of the tree – give it a little breathing room!

You may want to consider a wildflower, prairie or woodland garden.  Unfortunately, so many of our gorgeous native wildflowers are being lost to invasive species or removal of our forests to make more room for another Ryan Home development.  Remember those early pollinators depend upon the nectar from certain wildflowers that emerge early in spring.

If you have low areas with standing water, you may want to consider planning and planting a rainwater garden.  Rainwater gardens provide much needed water for native wildlife while absorbing stormwater.  Think of your yard as a wildlife-friendly (user-friendly) environment.

Some authors suggest incorporating dead or dying wood somewhere in your yard for the wildlife.  I know it doesn’t look attractive, but if you have the space, consider a pile of wood for the critters.  I left a stump of a tree, which quickly became a home for bugs and fungi.  It honestly doesn’t look bad.

Balance your landscape by layered the plants.  Plant the largest trees around the perimeter, the next inner layer would include the shorter trees and shrubs, and finally the tall grasses and flowers.  Think less turf and more plants (bonus – less mowing and more beauty!).

Below are some suggestions for native berries, flowers, and trees/shrubs. Over the years, I’ve added many native species of plants to my yard.  I put an asterisk (*) next to each plant I personally have in my yard.  These lists are not all-inclusive (unlike the Breezes Resort in the Bahamas!), but it will give you a good start.  For additional lists of native plants, check out:  http://nativespec.com/nativebrower.

BERRIES

• Black Chokeberry Aronia melanocarpa

• *Common Juniper Juniperus communis

• *Elderberry Sambucus spp.

• Highbush Cranberry Viburnum trilobum

• Nannyberry Viburnum lentago

• *Purple Flowering Raspberry Rubus odoratus

 FLOWERING PLANTS

• Big Red Stem Moss Pleurozium schreberi

• *Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia fulgida

• *Blue False Indigo Baptisia australis

• Blue Vervain Verbena hastata

• *Cardinal Flower Lobelia cardinalis (FUN FACT Cardinal flowers attract ruby-throated hummingbirds.)

• *Common Blue Violet Viola sororia

• Culvers Root Veronicstrum virginicum

• Golden Alexander Zizia aurea

• Inkberry Ilex glabra (this one is on my ‘Wish List’)

• *Jacob’s Ladder Polemonium reptans

• *Lanceleaf Coreopsis Coreopsis lanceolata

• Late Goldenrod Solidago gigantea

• Little Bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium (bunch grass)

• Maidenhair Fern Adiantum spp.

• New England Aster Symphyotrichum nova-angliae

• *Ox-eye Sunflower Heliopsis helianthoides

• Pug Moth Eupithecia spp.

• *Purple Cornflower Echinacea spp.

• Red Trillium Trillium erectum

• *Scarlet Bee Balm Monarda didyma

• Skunk Cabbage Symplocarpus foetidus (found all over Summit Metro Parks)

• Stokes Aster Stokesia laevis

• Swamp Milkweed Asclepias incarnata

• Threadleaf Coreopis Coreopis verticillate

• Tickseed Coreopsis verticillate

• Trumpet Vine Campsis radicans

• *White Wild Geranium Geranium maculatum f. albiflorum

• Wild Blue Phlox Phlox divaricate

• Winterberry Ilex verticillata

• Wintergreen Gaultheria procrumbens

 TREES/SHRUBS 

• American Beech Fagus grandifolia

• American Hornbeam Carpinus caroliniana

• American Plum Prunus americana

• Black Cherry Prunus serotina

• Blackgum/Tupelo Nyssa sylvatica

• Choke Cherry Prunus virginiana

• Common Ninebark Physocarpus opulifolius

• *Common Pawpaw Asimina triloba

• Eastern Cottonwood Populus deltoides

• Hazelnut Corylus Americana Sassafras

• Northern Red Oak Quercus rubra

• Ohio Buckeye Aesculus glabra (FUN FACT - Ohio’s state tree)

• *Pin Oak Quercus palustris

• Pussy Willow Salix discolor (it’s not just for Easter!)

• Red Maple Acer rubrum

• Red Twig Dogwood Cornus servicea

• Scarlet Oak Quercus coccinea

• *Serviceberry species Amerlachier spp.

• Silky Dogwood Cornus amomum

• *Spicebush Lindera benzoin

• Staghorn Sumac Rhus typhina

• Sugar Maple Acer saccarum

• Swamp White Oak Quercus bicolor (FUN FACT – the White Oak absorbs more water than the Swamp White Oak)

• Sweet Birch Betula lenta

• Sweet Gum Liquidambar 

• White Oak Quercus alba (FUN FACT – White Oak is the #1 plant for wildlife not just in Ohio, but throughout the country!)

• Witch Hazel Hamamelis virginiana (also on my “Wish List”)

 Here’s some invasive plants that I would strongly encourage you to remove or not plant in your yard. 

• Autumn Olive Elaeagnus umbellate

• *Bradford Pear Tree Pyrus calleryana (I didn’t plant it!)

• Callery Pear Pyrus calleryana

• Common Reed Grass Phragmites

• Garlic Mustard Alliaria petiolata

• Honeysuckle Lonicera

• *Japanese Barberry Berberis vulgaris (Again, I didn’t plant it!)

• Multiflora Rose Rosa multiflora

• Purple Loosestrife Lythrum salicaria (I spent years digging this out!)

In summary, make a commitment to introduce at least one new native plant to your yard this season.  Even if you don’t have a large yard, you can plant native species in window boxes or containers.  The birds, bees, squirrels, neighbors, butterflies, and I will thank you!  Next winter when you are sitting with hot java by the fireplace, you can look out your window knowing that you have helped Mother Nature provide food and shelter for native wildlife.  Your backyard habitat will become an important resource for that flock of chickadees in the dead of winter or a home for that first baby robin in the spring.