Landscaping in Small Spaces

Native plant gardens can also be grown in small spaces. As with any other situation, it requires that you match the amount and type of space with your needs and the plant's needs, such as sun, shade, moisture, roots, wind, pets, views, and access for maintenance. On apartment balconies a diverse mix of potted forbs, vines, grasses, and ferns can provide pollinator habitat. Mixing spring, summer, and fall-blooming plants in a planter or group of planters can provide beauty and color throughout the growing season. Below is a list of Virginia native plants to get started! 

Key:
Central Rapp - Central Rappahannock Region
RVA - Richmond Region
HR - Hampton Roads Region
ES - Eastern Shore Region
NP - Northern Piedmont
NOVA - Northern Virginia

Natives for full sun patios, decks, planters, containers, baskets, and vertical gardens

Perennials (Forbs)

• Asclespias incarnata - Swamp Milkweed (Central Rapp, RVA, HR, ES, NP)

• Asclepias tuberosa - Butterfly-weed (Central Rapp, RVA, NOVA, HR, ES, NP)

• Coreopsis verticillata - Threadleaf Coreopsis (Central Rapp, RVA, NOVA, NP)

• Hibiscus moscheutos - Eastern Swamp Rose Mallow (Central Rapp, RVA, HR, ES, NP)

• Lobelia cardinalis - Cardinal Flower (check NOVA, ES, NP)

• Lobelia siphilitica - Great Blue Lobelia (check - NOVA, NP)

• Maianthemum racemosum - False Solomon’s Sea (Central Rapp, RVA, NOVA,)

• Penstemon digitalis - Foxglove Beardtongue (Central Rapp, NOVA, NP)

• Phlox stolonifera - Creeping Phlox (Central Rapp, NOVA)

• Pycnanthemum tenuifolium - Narrow-leaved Mountain Mint (Central Rapp, RVA, NOVA, HR, NP)

• Salvia lyrata - Lyre-leaf Sage (Central Rapp, RVA, NOVA, HR, ES, NP)

• Sedum ternatum - Wild Stonecrop (Central Rapp, NOVA, HR)

• Sisyrinchium angustifolium - Blue-eyed Grass (check - NOVA, HR, ES)

Grasses, Sedges, Rushes

• Elymus hystrix - Bottlebrush Grass (NOVA, NP)

• Carex pennsylvanica - Pennsylvania Sedge (NOVA, RVA, HR, NP)

• Carex stricta - Tussock or Upright Sedge (NOVA, ES, RVA, HR)

• Schizachyrium scoparuim - Little Bluestem (NOVA, ES, RVA, HR, NP)

Vines

• Lonicera sempervirens - Coral Honeysuckle (Central Rapp, RVA, NOVA, HR, ES, NP)

• Passiflora lutea - Yellow Passionflower (Central Rapp, RVA, NOVA, HR)

Shrubs

• Itea Virginica - Sweetspire (Central Rapp, RVA, ES)

• Clethra alnifolia - Pepperbush (Central Rapp, RVA, ES)

Natives for full shade spaces - alleys, patios, containers, and balconies:

Pernnials (Forbs)

• Aquilegia canadensis - Canadian Wild Columbine (Central Rapp, RVA, NOVA, NP)

• Asarum canadense - Wild Ginger (Central Rapp, RVA, NOVA)

• Arisamea triphyllum - Jack-in-the-pulpit (Central Rapp, RVA, ES)

• Chrysogonum virginianum - Green and Gold (Central Rapp, RVA, NOVA, NP)

• Claytonia virginica - Virginia Spring Beauty (Central Rapp, RVA)

• Dicentra eximia - Wild Bleeding Heart (Central Rapp, NOVA)

• Eurybia divaricata - White Wood Aster (Central Rapp, RVA, NOVA, NP)

• Geranium maculatum - Wild Geranium (Central Rapp, RVA, NOVA, NP)

• Heuchera Americana - American Alumroot (Central Rapp, RVA, NOVA)

• Phlox divaricata - Woodland Phlox (Central Rapp, NOVA, NP)

• Podophyllum peltatum - Mayapple (Central Rapp, RVA, ES)

• Polygonatum biflorum - Solomon’s Seal (Central Rapp, RVA, NOVA, ES)

• Tiarella cordifolia - Foamflower (Central Rapp, RVA, NOVA, NP )

• Viola cucullata - Marsh Blue Violet (Central Rapp, RVA, ES, NP)

Grasses, Sedges, Rushes

• Carex pennsylvanica - Pennsylvania Sedge (NOVA, RVA, HR, NP)

Ferns

• Adiantum pedatum - Northern Maidenhair (Central Rapp, RVA, NOVA, NP)

• Asplenium platyneuron - Ebony Spleenwort (Central Rapp, RVA, NOVA, ES, NP)

• Athyrium asplenoides - Southern Lady Fern (Central Rapp, RVA, NOVA, ES, NP)

• Dryopteris marginalis - Wood Fern (Central Rapp, RVA, NOVA, NP)

• Polystichum acrostichoides - Christmas Fern (Central Rapp, RVA, NOVA, ES, NP)

SHRUBS

• Hydrangea arboescens - Wild Hydrangea (Central Rapp, RVA, HR, NP)