Resources

Websites

http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/

Native Plant Trust/Garden in the Woods

  • Click on the Go Botany tab to find an extensive database of plants you will find in the wild in New England.  This is searchable by type of plant, by name, and by plant characteristics (e.g. leaf shape, flower type, etc.)
  • Click on For Your Garden, then Garden Plant Finder.  This is a searchable database of the native plants that are more available in the nursery trade, including their Garden Shop, along with good information about the plant and the conditions it prefers.

http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/

Missouri Botanical Garden

  • Click on Gardens and Gardening>Plant Finder to access a searchable database of highly useful specifics about native plants, cultivars, hybrids, and some non-natives that are in the nursery trade. This is my go-to site to find out more about a plant, including its origins.

Plant Lists

These are all plants I have successfully grown in my Cape Cod garden, updated through June 2021.

Sunny Pollinator Perennials
Anise Hyssop Agastache foeniculum
Bluestar Amsonia hubrechtii
Bluestar Amsonia tabernaemontana
Canana anemone Anemone canadensis
Virginia anemone Anemone virginiana
Swamp milkweed Asclepias incarnata
Butterfly weed Asclepias tuberosa
False indigo Baptisia australis
Tickseed Coreopsis verticillata ‘Zagreb’
Tickseed Coreopsis ‘Jethro Tull’
Boneset Eupatorium perfoliatum
Coastal Joe-Pye weed Eutrochium dubium ‘Little Joe’
Blanketflower Gaillardia ‘Arizona Apricot’
Wild Geranium Geranium maculatum
Sneezeweed Helenium autumnale ‘Salsa’
False sunflower Heliopsis helianthoides, ‘Tuscan Gold’
Blazing star Liatris spicata
Blue lobelia Lobelia siphilitica
Bee balm Monarda didyma ‘Jacob Cline’
Spotted beebalm Monarda punctata
Common sundrops Oenothera fruiticosa
Eastern prickly pear Opuntia humifusa
Beardtongue Penstemon digitalis, P. ‘Dark Towers’
Obedient plant Physostegia virginiana ‘Miss Manners’
Blunt mountain mint Pycnanthemum muticum
Slender mountain mint Pycnanthemum tenuifolium
Common mountain mint Pycnanthemum virginianum
Black-eyed susan Rudbeckia hirta
Mad dog skullcap Scutellaria laterifolia
Goldenrod Solidago ‘Fireworks’, S. odora, S. canadensis, S. rugosa
Spiderwort Tradescantia virginiana ‘Concord Grape’
Culver’s root Veronicastrum virginicum
Golden Alexander Zizia aurea
Shade Perennials
Black cohosh Actaea racemose
Baneberry Actaea rubra
Maidenhair fern Adiantum pedantum
Wild columbine Aquilegia canadensis
Goatsbeard Aruncus dioicus
Spikenard Aralia racemose
Wild ginger Asarum canadense
Lady fern Athyrium angustum
Turtlehead Chelone glabra
Wood fern Dryopteris marginalis
Trailing arbutus Epigaea repens
White wood aster Eurybia divaricate
Wild strawberry Fragaria virginiana
Barren strawberry Geum fragarioides
Coralbells Heuchera ‘Black Pearl’
Mayflower Maianthemum canadense
False Solomon’s seal Maianthemum racemosum
Partridgeberry Mitchella repens
Christmas fern Polystichum acrostichoides
Bloodroot Sanguinaria canadensis
Grasses
Pennsylvania sedge Carex pensylvanicum
Tufted hairgrass Deschampsia fluxuosa
Switchgrass Panicum virgatum
Little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium
Prairie dropseed Sporobolus heterolepsis
Shrubs
Chokeberry Aronia melanocarpa
Sweet pepperbush Clethra alnifolia ‘Ruby Spice’
Sweet pepperbush Clethra alnifolia ‘Sixteen Candles’
Sweet fern Comptonia peregrinis
Fothergilla Fothergilla gardenia
Black huckleberry Gaylussacia baccata
Smooth hydrangea Hydrangea arborescens
Oak-leaf hydrangea Hydrangea quercifolium
St. John’s wort Hypericum perforatum cultivar
Inkberry Ilex glabra
Winterberry Ilex verticillate
Virginia sweetspire Itea virginica
Sheep laurel Kalmia angustifolia
Bayberry Myrica pensylvanica
Virginia creeper Parthenocissus quinquefolia
Ninebark Physocarpus opulifolius
Beach plum Prunus maritima
Great rosebay Rhododendron maximum
Fragrant sumac Rhus aromatica ‘Gro-Low’
Silky dogwood Swida amomum
Yellow twig dogwood Swida sericea
Arrowwood viburnum Viburnum dentatum
Witherod viburnum Viburnum nudum
Yellowroot Xanthorhiza simplicissima
Trees
 Red maple Acer rubrum
Redbud Cercis canadensis
Witch hazel Hamamelis virginiana
Red cedar Juniperus virginiana
White pine Pinus strubus
Black cherry Prunum serotine
Black Oak Quercus velutina
White oak Quercus alba
Winged sumac Rhus copallina