1. Container Gardening with Native Plants
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

2. What exactly is a Native Plant?
Native Plants are the species that occur naturally in a given area.
Native Plants include ferns, grasses, water and marsh plants, herbaceous perennials, shrubs, trees and vines.
There are so many choices!
They come in many colors,
shapes and sizes.
Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)

3. Why Containers? Physical limitations Landscape limitations Propagation
Low maintenance
Easy access
Landscape limitations
Propagation
-You can separate some of your perennials annually and gift or plant in your landscape.
Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
Coreopsis (lanceolata)
Recycle
-Great way to reuse many household items

4. Containers 101 Plan your container
Determine light and moisture requirements
Select type of container
Mix soil and any soil amendments needed according to VTE recommendations
Virginia Sweetspire (Itea virginica)

5. Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)
About
Small, non-spreading grass with blue-green leaves that turn reddish orange in the fall
Fluffy silver seed heads are ornamental through winter
Grows to 2’-3’ X 1’
Full Sun
Well drained, dry soil
Benefits
Deer resistant
Drought tolerant
Attracts butterflies and birds
Uses
Dried flowers
Cut flowers
Rock gardens
Bonsai
Companions
Butterfly Milkweed
Pale purple coneflower
Stiff Goldenrod

6. Woodland Phlox (Phlox paniculata)
About
Partial to Full Shade
Average Size 6”-1.5’
Average to moist soil
Prefers Organically rich soil
Benefits
Attracts Hummingbirds and Butterflies
Beautiful Spring Flowers
Companion Plants
Virginia Bluebells
Christmas Fern
Goat’s Beard

7. Madienhair Fern (Adiantum pedatum)
About
Full Shade/Deep Shade
Moderate Moisture
Organically rich soil
Deciduous
Height 18”-2’
Can be divided in Autumn or Winter
Facts
Maidenhair fern is the source of a pleasantly aromatic volatile oil long used as a rinse or shampoo that rendered black hair very shiny, hence the name Maidenhair.
The tough, water-repellant, shiny black stems were used by Native American peoples in basket weaving.

8. Where Can I Purchase Native Plants Locally?
Colonial Nursery – Williamsburg Sassafras Farm – Gloucester Cooke’s Garden – Williamsburg Let it Grow – Williamsburg Homestead Garden Center – Toano
2011 Native Plant Sales
John Clayton Chapter/Native Plant Society
Virginia Living Museum 4-16 & 4-17 &

9. Where Can I See Native Plants?
VIMS Teaching Marsh
Williamsburg Botanical Garden
Melissa’s Meadow at William & Mary
Stonehouse Elementary School
W&M Wildflower Refuge
Virginia Living Museum
New Quarter Park
Norfolk Botanical Garden
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
JCC Human Services (Master Gardener Project)

10. Websites of Note www.wildflower.org
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center site has excellent articles on gardening with natives, including guidelines for container gardening
Web and PDF versions of handbook, Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping, Chesapeake Bay Watershed, now out of print.
John Clayton Chapter, Virginia Native Plant Society, extensive plant lists by county, excellent photo gallery.
Extensive how-to information for environmental stewardship for homeowners, schools and businesses.
Comprehensive research project publishing 2012 will describe more than 3,500 native plants with photos and illustrations.
Virginia Cooperative Extension (VA Tech & VSU)
Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia heliopsidis)

11. Great Resources for Native Plant Information
Virginia Habitat Partnership
State Certification
The Essential Guide Just updated with FAQ’s and a regional plant list.
John Clayton Chapter
VNPS- Local Experts
National Wildlife Federation
140,000+ registered habitats

12. Why use Native Plants?
Want to do less watering? Native plants are survivors and adapt to whatever is happening in their environment.
Feel concerned about excess nitrogen causing algae blooms in the Chesapeake Bay? Natives don’t require fertilizer.
Native Plants provide familiar sources of food and shelter for wildlife.
On a broader ecological scale, planting native species contributes to the overall health of natural communities.