Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia
Over 40 Years of Growing Gardens and Gardeners
Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic
This lovely wildflower is native to rich forests and fields in areas of the Mid-Atlantic including NoVA (except Prince William County). As the species name “divaricata" suggests, this shade-loving phlox has a horizontal spreading habit, making it a good woodland ground cover.
Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic
Nothing sings spring like drifts of pink and blue Mertensia virginica carpeting the woodlands. Buds, coiled like scorpions' tails, open into nodding, bell-shaped flowers. Enjoy these ephemerals, which the Virginia Native Plant Society named Wildflower of the Year in 1989, before they fade away.
Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic
Native to the eastern United States, Spotted Beebalm inhabits dry prairies and sandy areas. This showy plant with tubular flowers, colorful bracts, and a stacked, whorled appearance provides interesting form and texture to gardens and attracts a variety of pollinators and beneficial insects.
Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic
Golden sprays of flowers brighten gardens and natural habitats across the Mid-Atlantic Region from late summer to frost, supporting 115 species of pollinators—moths, butterflies, native bees... The cultivar ‘Fireworks’ is more compact, easier to contain, and flowers more vigorously than the species.
This is the time of year when the changing leaves pique our interest. If you pick up a leaf and look at it closely you’ll notice its veins follow a certain pattern. The arrangement of veins on a leaf is called venation, which is a starting point for many plant identification systems. One of the most common forms of venation is pinnate.
Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic
Fall phlox has large trusses of fragrant, showy flowers in a range of pinks, purples, reds, and white. Despite its somewhat finicky disposition, it is a popular garden plant. Its native status ranges from frequent in the mountains and northern Piedmont of Virginia to adventive in Delaware.
