More Resources: Learn More
About Plants Native to Virginia
Virginia Specific - online
Digital Atlas of the Virginia Flora
Partnership between the Flora of Virginia Project, Virginia Botanical Associates and Virginia Tech. Users can search for species by county.
http://vaplantatlas.org/
Virginia Native Plant Finder
Virginia Dept. of Conservation and Recreation, Natural Heritage
www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural_heritage/nativeplants.shtml
Create a custom list of native plants based on your region (Mountain, Piedmont, Coastal) and habitat conditions. Brochures also downloadable for the regions, which generally have different soils, elevation, hydrology and climate, so the plants in each are generally different. Bear in mind that counties along boundaries may fall within two regions. For specific information about regions, visit the Virginia Natural Community overview (PDF).
Common Native Trees of Virginia and Common Native Shrubs and Woody Vines of Virginia,
Virginia Department of Forestry
www.dof.virginia.gov
Field Guide to Virginia Salt and Brackish Marsh Plants
William & Mary Virginia Institute of Marine Science
www.ccrm.vims.edu/wetlands/wetland_plants/8x11brochureannotated2rh.pdf
Piedmont Virginia Native Plant Database
www.albemarle.org/nativeplants/
Flora of Virginia Project
www.floraofvirginia.org
Virginia Native Plant Society
www.vnps.org/
Regional and United StateS - online
Flora of North America
www.fna.org/
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center of the University of Texas at Austin
www.wildflower.org/
Native Plant Center: Chesapeake Bay Watershed Native Plants for
Wildlife and Habitat Conservation (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
http://nativeplantcenter.net/
National Wildlife Federation Native Plant Finder
https://www.nwf.org/NativePlantFinder
Find the best native plants specifically for your area that attract butterflies and moths and the birds that feed on their caterpillars, based on the scientific research of Dr. Douglas Tallamy. This tool focuses on butterflies and birds, but many other wildlife species also benefit when you plant natives. No other online resource offers zip code specific lists of native plants ranked by the number of butterflies and moths that use them as caterpillar host plants.
Native Gardening with Wildflowers
U. S. Forest Service
www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/Native Plant_Materials/Native_Gardening/index.shtml
Plants for Birds (National Audubon Society)
www.audubon.org/native-plants
USDA Plants Database
United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service
http://plants.usda.gov/
resources In print
The American Woodland Garden, Rick Darke, 2002
Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants, Douglas W. Tallamy, 2009
Essential Native Trees and Shrubs, Tony Dove and Ginger Woolridge, 2018
Ferns and Mosses of Virginia’s Coastal Plain, Helen Hamilton, 2016
Flora of Virginia, Alan S. Weakley, J. Christopher Ludwig & John E. Townsend, 2012
Garden Revolution, Larry Weaner and Thomas Christopher, 2016
Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, Michael A. Dirr, 2009
Native Ferns, Mosses, and Grasses, William Cullina, 2008
Native Trees, Shrubs, & Vines: A Guide to Using, Growing, and Propagating North American Woody Plants, William Cullina, New England Wild Flower Society, Houghton Mifflin, 2002
Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping, US Fish and Wildlife Service (also available online), 2003
Nature’s Best Hope, Douglas W. Tallamy, 2020
Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web, Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis, 2010
The Living Landscape: Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden, Rick Darke and Doug Tallamy, 2014
The New England Wild Flower Society Guide to Growing and Propagating Wildflowers of the United States and Canada, William Cullina, 2000
The Pollinator Victory Garden, Kim Eierman, 2020
Wildflowers and Grasses of Virginia’s Coastal Plain, Helen Hamilton and Gustavus Hall, 2013
William Cullina’s books:
Growing and Propagating Wildflowers, 2000
Native Ferns, Mosses, and Grasses, 2020
Native Trees, Shrubs, & Vines, 2019
Invasive species
Invasive Alien Plant Species of Virginia, Natural Heritage/Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation
www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural_heritage/invspinfo.shtml
USDA National Invasive Species Information Center
www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/plants/main.shtml
Blue Ridge Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management (PRISM)
www.blueridgeprism.org
Mistaken Identity–Invasive Plants and Their Native Look-Alikes (pub):
ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/DE/publications/Mistaken_Identity_Final.pdf
