Native Plants

What is a native plant, again?

Native plants are generally considered to be those which occurred in a region prior to European settlement. Native plants evolved in relationships within communities, not just as individual species. Those communities consist of other plants, the soil, insects and other wildlife, etc.

The USDA P.L.A.N.T.S. database is a valuable resource for determining whether a plant is native to a given area and can be searched by common or scientific name here: https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/java/
(read more)

Why use native plants in gardens or landscapes?

• A healthy and diverse ecosystem is important for clean air and water, soil stability and provides critical food and shelter for wildlife.

• Native plants evolved in a location or region within a community; they are adapted to the soil, climate and other natural conditions.

Keystone Native Plants

Eastern Temperate Forests- Ecoregion 8
Keystone plants are native plants critical to the food web and necessary for many wildlife species to complete their life cycle. Without keystone plants in the landscape, butterflies, native bees, and birds will not thrive. 96% of our terrestrial birds rely on insects supported by keystone plants.

Soft Landings

Soft landings are diverse native plantings under keystone trees (or any other regionally appropriate native tree). These plantings provide critical shelter and habitat for one or more life cycle stages of moths, butterflies, and beneficial insects.

Native Plants Benefit Wildlife

• Insects - Natives support the 90% of plant-eating insects that rely on a specific family of host plants. A host plant is a plant on which organisms such as butterflies and other insects lodge and subsist. Specialist insects have co-evolved with their plant hosts.

• Birds - By providing hosts for specialist plant-eating insects, native plants support 96% of North American terrestrial birds that feed their young insects, an important protein source. Example: A single pair of breeding chickadees must find 6,000 to 9,000 caterpillars to rear one clutch of young (more than 400 caterpillars each day)

• Pollinators - Native plants are the heart of a pollinator friendly garden. Research shows that native plants are 4 times more attractive to pollinators than non-natives (Penn State Center for Pollinator Research). Locally native plants attract native pollinators. Native plants offer nectar, pollen and other nutrients in quantities that native pollinators need. Consider adding more locally native trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants to the garden (Ohioline).

Native Plants Are in Decline in Many Areas

The decline is due to:

• Development

• Pressure from non-native invasive species
  (see Invasive Plants page)

A species is considered invasive when it is both (1) non-native to the ecosystem in which it is found and (2) capable of causing environmental, economic or human harm. These species thrive in their new ecosystem to the point of displacing native species and disrupting important ecosystem processes.

Beyond the Backyard

A commitment to replacing invasive species with high value native plants will increase the diversity and number of animal species, especially insects. But to really support insects, birds, and pollinators, we must provide more than just some isolated areas of good natural habitat. Our gardens can become part of something much larger, something of vital importance to wildlife: wildlife corridors, or pollinator pathways or habitat highways.

Wildlife corridors connect habitats and:

• Provide food, water and shelter

• Allow wildlife to migrate and disperse with changing seasons

• Boost biodiversity and resilience in degraded ecosystems

• Safeguard genetic diversity

Gardeners can help reestablish wildlife corridors:

• Parks/nature preserves alone cannot provide enough habitat to support native species (only 7 percent of land in Ohio is publicly owned)

• If wildlife populations are to be successfully conserved, habitat must also be available on private lands

Native Plant Identification

Central Region Seedling ID Guide for Native Prairie Plants
Very helpful resource for early season identification of natives. From Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA.

Choosing Native Plants

• DCMGA Native Plant Profiles

• DCMGA Plant Spotlights

• Ohio Department of Natural Resources Selected Ohio Native Plants

  • Field and Prairie Species

  • Floodplain Species

  • Upland Woods Species

  • Wet Field and Prairie Species

  • Wet Woods Species

  • Wetlands Species

• Plant recommendations for Ohio from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

• Native Plant Finder (beta)
  From US Forest Service, National Wildlife Federation, and University of Delaware

• Native Plants

• Native Plants of Ohio
  Selection for Ohio Gardens compiled by Hope Taft and Debra Knapke - 1/2020

Propagating Native Plants

Milk Jug Method

• Winter Seed Sowing (PDF)

• Spring & Summer Sowing Method (PDF)

• Recorded webinar about milk jug seed starting by horticulturalist Dolly Foster via Purdue University Extension

• Perennials for Winter Sowing (PDF)

• Hardy Annuals for Winter Sowing (PDF)