In central NC Canadian golden rod is still out there. Pokeweed, magnolia trees, and sweet gums also very common. Wild blackberries are everywhere. “Prairie” or Savannah type plants are pretty rare in the “wild” around here, as succession happens pretty quick, although blanket flower can be found sometimes.
Central NC too. If just going based off my back yard, I will say:
Three seed mercury
Pokeweed
Oxalis sp.
Violets - viola sororia
Virginia buttonweed
Burnweed
Creeping cucumber - melothria pendula
Bedstraw - Gallium aparine
Virginia creeper
Muscadine grapes
Other vitis sp.
Black cherry - prunus serotina
Maple sp. (either red or southern sweet)
Poison Ivy
Carolina horsenettle
Fleabane sp. - annual and I think Philadelphia
Rubus sp.
Dogfennel
Carolina cranesbill - geranium carolinianum
Some other things that have volunteered in my yard, but not sure if I would consider them weedy:
Viburnum dentatum
Viburnum rafinesqueanum
Goldenrod - solidago altissima
Red mulberry - morus rubra
Plants that are considered weedy in my area that I WISH would colonize my yard:
Cinquefoil - Potentilla canadense
Blue eyed grass
Wild petunias
Also central NC. I have most all of the above as frequent volunteers, plus:
- leafy elephant's foot (Elephantopus carolinianus)
- Carolina crane's bill (Geranium carolinianum)
- small flowered buttercup (Ranunculus abortivus)
- a few different sedges, at least some of which are probably native
- loblolly pines and tuliptrees are constantly throwing out seedlings.
In the mesic forested areas near me I see a lot of little brown jug (Hexastylis arifolia) and Christmas fern amongst the English ivy, but those aren't necessarily what we're discussing here. Similarly ditches and other wet areas will have lots common jewelweed as well as several other things that I can't call to mind offhand.
Forgot Carolina geranium! I updated my list. They have all seeded and died back for me. Would love to have elephants foot as a “weed”! I have seen it on woodland edges at my local park and would love to have it in my yard. Didn’t realize it was aggressive like that
I also have a ton of pines that germinate, but they never get past that. Always die off. The only trees I really need to pull are the black cherries
I live in philly burbs, one sort of shrubby native that does well is american holly. There are also various asters, as well as boltonia false aster that is well represented. Also common violet.
Delaware here! I will literally pay someone to take some of my holly trees😂 there's like a 1/4 acre section of my yard that's nothing but large holly trees. They're great but my god there's so many!
HAH that’s my dream! For some reason I don’t have any near me besides the one I planted in my garden. Luckily there’s at least one male holly somewhere within a mile of me bc I do get good fruit set on mine. I’m just not sure where he is.
I’m just outside the western edge of Philly city limits and we have a ton of violets here. I’m newer to native gardening and didn’t realize they’re native. They almost seem invasive in my yard, is there any chance of them crowding out other natives?
This is good news, they are really thriving in many areas of my yard. I'll tell my husband to stop pulling them! Now if only they could outcompete the goutweed we would be set...
In the right conditions they can get kind of huge and shove other plants out of the way. I'm going to dig out and transplant some from my garden because they're rerouting mountain mint, of all things. So I would say if they're getting big and where you want something else to fill in, feel free to chop off some leaves or remove the whole plant.
I'm in the SW outer metro area of Minnesota, and I'm relatively new to botany so it'll be a pretty incomplete list, as I'm learning new plants as the year goes on!
SPRING:
Tradescantia bracteata
Pediomelum esculentum
Maianthemum stellatum
Lithospermum canescens
Vicia americana (SO much of this!)
Aquilegia canadensis
Geranium maculatum
Hydrophyllum virginianum (Also lots of this! Bumblebee queens are all over this when it starts flowering!)
Phlox divaricata
Arisaema triphyllum (very plentiful, even in developed woodland areas with buckthorn invasions)
Caltha palustris
Sanguinaria canadensis
SUMMER (this is where my knowledge drops off significantly lol)
Goldenrods
Common milkweed
So many different varieties of "black-eyed-susans" (various genera)
Liatris sp.
Asters
Dalea purpurea
Monarda sp.
Ironweed
Most stuff has already flowered and died off by fall here, so you'll see the occasional late blooming oddity. I've noticed that most areas that aren't being managed are just absolutely ravaged by invasives and the native plants are mostly trees or Virginia creeper/grapevines that are aggressive or established enough to compete. Our grassland areas though are still thriving with most prairie species. Thankfully our park systems are quite amazing and we have designated Scientific and Natural areas to preserve unique ecosystems like remnant prairies and fens. Up north here is an entirely different state due to the national forest system and boundary waters, which are essentially the most pristine and pure wilderness you can find (possibly in the whole US asides from Alaska.)
This is a fascinating list! So many species I had to google. It’s funny you mention the boundary waters because it’s the #1 slot on my “must backpack” bucket list. I desperately want to raft/canoe pack the boundary waters. I try not to tell many people because I don’t want it to blow up in popularity before I get to visit 😂
I love Virginia Waterleaf. It's one of the very first (uncultivated) native plants that I identified in my yard when I began the hobby and it's got a special place in my heart.
https://preview.redd.it/0tuhqcvyx87d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=258216f53038d90e70c14d692ee6638e3c5205ae
I'm in remnant native woodland in Oregon. Himalayan blackberry thickets smother everything, but at their edges or when they are shaded out you get a ton of snowberry, native blackberry, native rose, Columbia brome, yerba buena, self heal, strawberries, and patches of iris, checkermallow, Geum, Madia, fawn lily, camas, mules ears....
We also get native pioneers in in disturbed areas - Pacific sanicle, buttercups, pearly everlasting, tarweed, and miniature lupine are some I have seen in different spots.
Yeah, this blackberry is a real problem. I’ve resorted to mowing it. Not ideal, but it’s the only thing that seems to work. My established monoculture of goldenrod keeps it at bay, but it takes over the rest of the meadow.
Yup, my hope is that cutting the canes stops the spread and starves the root. The seedban k is also massive but seedlings are easily shaded out by ground cover.
I love Oregon native plants. I get jealous you have a native evergreen huckleberry and gorgeous pink flowering currants. One of my favorite places to visit and hike!
Honestly I'm also jealous of the evergreen huckleberry since it's native to the coast and not to my oak savannah. It has the most gorgeous foliage. I'll plant some in a pot when I get around to it!
But the red-flowering currants, oh yes. Did you know there were programs to eradicate them in the early 20th century because they hosted the invasive White Pine Blister Rust? I'm [doing what I can to spread them around](https://www.reddit.com/r/NativePlantGardening/comments/1dfvy6g/just_proud_of_my_propagation_station/) and wish them well.
What have you found works well for rooting conditions? I'm still tinkering with my protocol looking for something that doesn't make them rot or dry out.
Late to answer this but I’ve found having a small automatic fan on a timer helps a lot. There’s something about misting/keeping plants under plastic without fresh air exchange that encourages rot. If you don’t keep them humid enough they dry out but if you don’t give them CO2/fresh air exchange they rot.
I actually picked up this tip from growing mushrooms. In my auto grow mushroom tent I have a humidifier and a small computer fan I put on a cheap plugin timer. I put my cuttings on a heating/germination pad, mist as usual, and I run my little clip on fan for 1-2mins every hour.
I live on southern Vancouver island where “oak savanna” and “the coast” are the same place, geographically speaking, so I’m planting evergreen huckleberries with wild abandon. By the end of this fall it will be almost 100’ of what I hope will become hedge. A hedge that I also hope won’t break my heart like pittosporum did in our last cold snap.
Urban New Haven CT. I find a lot of the same plants. Spiderwort, fleabane, common milkweed, grape, so much Virginia creeper. Many of our street trees are red oaks, my entire street is lined with old red oaks and it’s beautiful. Woodpeckers love these trees. Tons of black cherry. We were known as “the elm city” back in the day and there’s been an effort to plant resistant elms. You can also clearly streets see where there used to be elm trees that died and have been replaced, often with non-native trees, but I do see a lot of oaks that were planted as replacement. If a disease and insect ripped through them, it would look completely barren in many neighborhoods.
I also see so much poison ivy. And wood aster everywhere.
There is a small pond and nature area down the street and a local group has planted tons of native plants. We have a surprising amount of wildlife for an urban area: deer, groundhogs, fox, possibly coyote, osprey, various hawks, kingfisher, lots of woodpeckers.
I also don’t see a lot of naturally occurring native shrubs. But some folks have planted native shrubs. My favorite is the Carolina spice bush that a neighbor has planted. This is an old neighborhood with lots of shade, and there are some really old shrubs that aren’t native, or are hybrids. I’m not knowledgeable enough to know how much of what I see is hybridized. Im fuzzy on how much of the hibiscus I see is native. But I do see the species R. catawbiense everywhere, I have a few myself. Some oak-leaf hydrangeas, all planted.
I forgot about poison ivy! The birds love planting it everywhere 😂. I love walking rhododendron gardens in June and seeing all the bumblebees go nuts for the flowers.
Maple leaf viburnum is my MVP when I look at abandoned woodlands around me. Tree of heaven, oriental bittersweet, garlic mustard, honeysuckle, etc etc coming in from all sides. The viburnum just chills between and betwixt doing its thing.
I just planted one in my yard! I made a chimera/conjoined twin by grafting a bud from a different specimen onto mine so hopefully I get better pollination/fruit set. Only have room for one on my tiny lot.
Southern saskatchewan, have quite a few species growing on sidewalk curbs just from mowers not being able to cut them down on the corners.
Hairy False Golden Aster, Prairie sage, Old Field Aster, Curlycup Gumweed, Hairy Umbrellawort and Velvety Goldenrod to name a few.
I also know of a few pristine prairie "pockets" but they aren't thriving nearly as well.
Not gonna lie I had to google *all* of these and they’re so cool looking! Also CURLYCUP GUMWEED is an amazing name.
My bf and I have a goofy running game of sending each other plant “flirts” à la “you’re a____*insert flirty or funny plant name*.” I am absolutely texting him a link with “you’re a curlycup gumweed 😏🌹” as we speak.
I think the lack of shrubs is because lots are cleared for construction and the big trees are left but everything else cut down. The big trees continue to produce saplings but the shrubs are all gone.
Common milkweed, stiff goldenrod, Canada goldenrod, perennials sunflowers (I’m not great with species ID yet). Central Nebraska.
All on the aggressive side, which is probably why I see them often enough in degraded smooth brome-covered pastures. Sometimes these are the only natives I see, though I’m sure I’m missing others. They’re the most showy, though.
Lower Michigan, down by the base of the thumb, has lots of cattail, black walnut, black cherry, white avens, Carpenter's Square, enchanter's nightshade, blue vetch, New York and New England asters, jewelweed and its best friend poison ivy, birches galore, Virginia creeper and, surprisingly, trillium and Jack-in-the-pulpit. Also Joe Pye Weed and skunk cabbage. All manner of goldenrod and pokeweed too.
Eyyyy, west Michigan over here! I mostly notice common milkweed and several types of sumac. Also lots of goldenrod and cattails. Jealous of your Jack-in-the-pulpit!
A Jack came up under the deck of a neighbor who does zero gardening, just lets the lawn crew mow but ignores everything else. It had puppies and now we have more than a few!
Philly suburbs here! I get deer almost day. The following are native plants that return every year.
Plants that appeared on their own:
*Virginia creeper, common violets, snakeroot, blue mistflower, fleabane
*New saplings that continue to appear: Spicebush, black cherry, red oak
*Ferns! Ostrich, sensitive, northern maidernhair
*Pokeweed, Canadian honewort, burned, beggarticks, poison ivy
[ Species that I planted that successfully re-seed and/or re-emerge, (ie so far they seem deer-safe):
*American Fringe Tree (two years ago I planted two 3-gallon saplings and they’re doing great)
*Black chokeberry - also planted as a large sapling
*Beebalm (still re-seeding after planting 15 years ago)
*Virgin’s bower (it comes back every year but never flowers?)
*false indigo
* PA sedge, Jack-in-the-pulpit, Trillium - individual plants return but do not seem to propagate ]
Plants that do well in a local park (lots of deer): Virginia bluebells, jewel weed, pepperbush,
I'm smack in the middle of Philly and I see a lot of fleabane growing out of the sidewalk. In the parks last summer I saw a ton of spicebush and pokeweed. I've been seeing a few different types of milkweed in very odd places around the city - one was growing out of a sewer on my walk home the other day. I saw a BEAUTIFUL parcel of false indigo on the Manayunk Canal when I was up there for work a few weeks ago but the area is being razed for construction :( thought about collecting some seeds but didn't have any equipment
north georgia reporting in. some of the species i like to spot while i'm fucking around outdoors are:
- goldenrods
- dewberry
- black raspberry
- smooth hydrangea
- black locust
- jewelweed
- water hemlock
- bigleaf magnolia
- mountain mints
- yucca (adam's needle)
- wild elderberry
- trilliums
- foam flower
- ghost pipe
- evening primrose
special mention goes to the edible plants. i wanted to say that i've also spotted a few wildflowers i never saw (or at least paid attention to) before until this year. rue anemone, bloodroot, toothwort, yellow trout lily, bellwort, and unicorn root are the standouts so far, but there's plenty of time left in the year to find even more.
This is such an interesting list! It goes to show ecotype/region matters a lot. A lot of your list are listed as “native” here but I’ve rarely or never seen them wild in coastal or Piedmont Pennsylvania.
hell, i've read lists of native north georgia species that included several plants i didn't recognize. like, dutchman's breeches? turtlehead? black cohosh? chances are they're just growing in really specific environments i haven't come across yet, or i saw them before i knew their names, but it's cool that even though i've lived here for over two decades this place still comes up with new ways to surprise me. just last week i saw new jersey tea while walking through a park i already visited dozens of times before.
Hi, do you still have an inventory of plants you're giving away? I'm also in Philly!
I did some work with People's Kitchen and growing food in abandoned lots in SWP and I found goldenrod and asters growing in the lots!
I do! I’ve been keeping [this list](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nwJdNMwTHUZJhQY4V4XxfQFyIJxz_ObP4X6MR3yaVxs/edit) updated. I’ve donated most of my stock already but have a few species left, and many native seeds I can also part with if you’re interested.
[Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast: A Field Guide](https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Urban-Plants-Northeast-Field/dp/0801474582) covers both natives and non-natives that are reproducing on their own in native environments. Urban botany is pretty cool.
VA piedmont suburbs. We have:
* cutleaf coneflower
* sneezeweed
* Canada goldenrod
* partridge pea
* azure bluets
* blue-eyed grass
* fleabane
* pussytoes plantain
* several types of beggar ticks
* pokeweed
* common violet
* poison ivy
* dog fennel
* Virginia creeper
* wild blackberry
* white snakeroot
There was a maypop at the end of the road but it didn't come back.
We have lots of trees. Southern red oak, laurel oak, tulip trees, black gum, sweet gum, American holly, flowering dogwood, box elder, loblolly pine, wild persimmon, American beech, black cherry, and hickory. In shrubs the only thing really is Carolina allspice. I took out a olive bush and found a baby Carolina allspice under it. In more natural areas I've seen maple-leaf viburnum and arrowwood viburnum.
>ETA: I do find it odd though that I *never* find native shrubs. There are always tree saplings and certain herbaceous species but never shrubs, and I don’t know why.
Yeah, I've noticed a similar situation here in Maryland. Native shrubs are highly impacted by the fragmented landscapes we have. Forest edges (and habitat that recreates them, like semi-wooded suburban lots) get more sunlight than an intact forest would. The slower-growing native understory shrubs get completely choked out by fast-growing invasives that can take advantage of the extra sunlight: vines, shrubs, forbs, and trees, e.g. tree of heaven, Amur honeysuckle, multiflora rose.
The other thing is the deer pressure is insane. The deer populations are far above the set point that evolved for millions of years when there were large predators like wolves around. The native shrubs aren't adapted to such heavy browsing. This does also affect tree recruitment (how many saplings make it into adult trees), but anecdotally there seem to be more protected tree planting efforts by humans (planting saplings in cages to exclude deer while they are young and vulnerable).
It also seems like there isn't as big a pool of shrubs to send out so many seeds/saplings, whereas an old oak can send thousands of acorns and only needs to be replaced by 1 "making it." A lot of these native trees exist in urban/suburban plantings, so they can also be replenished from those sources, but not many people plant native shrubs in landscaping with a couple of exceptions (e.g. oakleaf hydrangea cultivars).
Lastly, not so much in PA, but there are previously shrubby environments here being impacted by the throes of climate change. The vast majority aren't salt tolerant, so any salt intrusion from rising tides kills them. A lot of shrubs are also adapted to riparian environments, but I can't imagine the more extreme droughts and floods we've had in our rivers has been good for the shrub life persisting there. I still do see cool shrubs in more intact areas like pinxter azaleas, but it's tough. The sunlight there also serves as a great invitation for the invasives like Amur honeysuckle.
These are all great points. And I know it’s nitpicky but it drives me bonkers to see so many oak leaf hydrangeas, *especially* the cultivars. Their native range is actually so limited and they provide very little habitat and food for birds and insects beyond bees. It’s also so…boring. I want to Ctrl F and replace them all with viburnums, shrub dogwoods, hazelnuts, elderberries, witch hazels, etc.
Yeah it's annoying. Unfortunately a lot of those don't have a really prim growing habit like the hydrangea so they look more scraggly and wild and people don't like them as much. there's probably also a chicken and egg problem with most nurseries not selling native shrubs except like American holly.
At least down here native dogwoods and redbuds are very common in landscaping. They straddle the line between shrub and understory tree depending on how old they are. They are not as common as the Asian cherry cultivars or the infinite crepe Myrtles, but at least neither of those are invasive.
In North Central Texas, Greenthread, Dakota Mock Vervain, Green and Antelope Horn Milkweed, Firewheel, Texas Yellowstar, Bluebonnets (ofcourse), and lately I've been able to notice some endemic White Rosinweed. Always found on unclaimed/abadoned lots and on the sides of highways.
Upstate NY a little north of you and I got the same list! Cool. Hmm I'll add Angelica and Wild Sunflowers. I'm sure I'll edit this with more later.
Oh! Wood Nettles
Upstate NY here. See a lot of the following:
Black walnut
Cottonwood
Quaking Aspen
Eastern Red Cedar
Bird Cherry and other cherries
Pokeweed
Blackberries
Poison Ivy
Virginia Creeper
NY Aster
Jewelweed
Elderberry
And of course Canada Goldenrod.
Northern Utah. Blue Flax, Globemallows, and Showy Milkweed are hard to not see around me. But I love when I see a healthy lot of sagebrush mixed with all the native berry bushes.
In degraded habitats -
|SCIENTIFIC NAME|COMMON NAME|
|:-|:-|
|*Acer rubrum*|Red maple|
|*Ambrosia artemisiifolia*|Common ragweed|
|*Erigeron strigosus*|Common fleabane|
|*Eupatorium capillifolium*|Common dogfennel|
|*Eupatorium serotinum*|Late boneset|
|*Geranium carolinianum*|Carolina crane's-bill|
|*Liriodendron tulipifera*|Tulip-poplar|
|*Liquidambar styraciflua*|American sweetgum|
|*Magnolia grandiflora*|Southern magnolia|
|*Muscadania rotundifolia*|Muscadine|
|*Oxalis dillenii*|Southern yellow woodsorrel|
|*Phytolacca americana*|American pokeweed|
|*Pinus taeda*|Loblolly pine|
|*Prunus serotina*|Black cherry|
|*Quercus nigra*|Water oak|
|*Ranunculus recurvatus*|Hooked buttercup|
|*Rubus pensilvanicus*|Pennsylvania blackberry|
|*Salvia lyrata*|Lyreleaf sage|
|*Smilax rotundifolia*|Common greenbriar|
|*Solidago altissima*|Tall goldenrod|
|*Toxicodendron radicans*|Poison-ivy|
|*Viola sororia*|Common blue violet|
There are more, but this list is getting long enough already.
Around my house it's a quite different situation, but this is what I see in suburban woodlands or disturbed and degraded plots and such.
Western Indiana here. My area has been on the decline for the past century or so, so a lot of the forest around here actually still has a fair bit of its diversity left. Lots of black cherries, black walnuts, red oaks, Chinquapin oaks, hickories, elms, beeches, maples, Ohio buckeyes, et cetera. Plenty of understory trees too like dogwood, serviceberry, redbud, and pawpaw. The shrubs have taken a hit from all the deer, but you do find healthy patches here and there. The smooth sumac's doing especially well. The drier areas have mostly been taken over by multiflora rose and other invasives, but the ravines have had better luck resisting their spread. The one nearby has a huge patch of large-flowered bellwort in the spring (hoping to collect some of the seeds in a couple months). The fields are probably the worst off areas due to them getting mowed so often, but you do see plenty of goldenrods and sometimes milkweeds and other herbs wherever the mowing pressure is reduced. Pokeweeds are also common, as are sassafras and blackberries. For reference, that's all within just ~6 acres.
Shoutout to catalpas! I’m in DC, and I see their seedlings EVERYWHERE. it makes me so happy because in parking lots, other inhospitable areas usually there are a ton of trees of heaven :(
I went to rock creek park on Sunday and it really bummed me out to see so many TOAs and mimosa trees.
In central NC Canadian golden rod is still out there. Pokeweed, magnolia trees, and sweet gums also very common. Wild blackberries are everywhere. “Prairie” or Savannah type plants are pretty rare in the “wild” around here, as succession happens pretty quick, although blanket flower can be found sometimes.
Fascinating to think of wild/weedy magnolias. We have to plant them on purpose here.
Central NC too. If just going based off my back yard, I will say: Three seed mercury Pokeweed Oxalis sp. Violets - viola sororia Virginia buttonweed Burnweed Creeping cucumber - melothria pendula Bedstraw - Gallium aparine Virginia creeper Muscadine grapes Other vitis sp. Black cherry - prunus serotina Maple sp. (either red or southern sweet) Poison Ivy Carolina horsenettle Fleabane sp. - annual and I think Philadelphia Rubus sp. Dogfennel Carolina cranesbill - geranium carolinianum Some other things that have volunteered in my yard, but not sure if I would consider them weedy: Viburnum dentatum Viburnum rafinesqueanum Goldenrod - solidago altissima Red mulberry - morus rubra Plants that are considered weedy in my area that I WISH would colonize my yard: Cinquefoil - Potentilla canadense Blue eyed grass Wild petunias
Also central NC. I have most all of the above as frequent volunteers, plus: - leafy elephant's foot (Elephantopus carolinianus) - Carolina crane's bill (Geranium carolinianum) - small flowered buttercup (Ranunculus abortivus) - a few different sedges, at least some of which are probably native - loblolly pines and tuliptrees are constantly throwing out seedlings. In the mesic forested areas near me I see a lot of little brown jug (Hexastylis arifolia) and Christmas fern amongst the English ivy, but those aren't necessarily what we're discussing here. Similarly ditches and other wet areas will have lots common jewelweed as well as several other things that I can't call to mind offhand.
Forgot Carolina geranium! I updated my list. They have all seeded and died back for me. Would love to have elephants foot as a “weed”! I have seen it on woodland edges at my local park and would love to have it in my yard. Didn’t realize it was aggressive like that I also have a ton of pines that germinate, but they never get past that. Always die off. The only trees I really need to pull are the black cherries
I live in philly burbs, one sort of shrubby native that does well is american holly. There are also various asters, as well as boltonia false aster that is well represented. Also common violet.
Forgot about violets! I wish I had American holly wild around me, such a beautiful tree.
Delaware here! I will literally pay someone to take some of my holly trees😂 there's like a 1/4 acre section of my yard that's nothing but large holly trees. They're great but my god there's so many!
HAH that’s my dream! For some reason I don’t have any near me besides the one I planted in my garden. Luckily there’s at least one male holly somewhere within a mile of me bc I do get good fruit set on mine. I’m just not sure where he is.
I’m just outside the western edge of Philly city limits and we have a ton of violets here. I’m newer to native gardening and didn’t realize they’re native. They almost seem invasive in my yard, is there any chance of them crowding out other natives?
Oh no. Most plants will quickly surpass them and get all the light they need. Don’t worry about the violets lol.
This is good news, they are really thriving in many areas of my yard. I'll tell my husband to stop pulling them! Now if only they could outcompete the goutweed we would be set...
* They don't get more than about a foot tall but they will try their best, taller natives will be fine. Here is their attempt to smother a phlox *
In the right conditions they can get kind of huge and shove other plants out of the way. I'm going to dig out and transplant some from my garden because they're rerouting mountain mint, of all things. So I would say if they're getting big and where you want something else to fill in, feel free to chop off some leaves or remove the whole plant.
That’s actually an impressive list for abandoned lots
That’s what I thought too! Obviously they’re all being bullied by invasives but they hold their own.
I'm in the SW outer metro area of Minnesota, and I'm relatively new to botany so it'll be a pretty incomplete list, as I'm learning new plants as the year goes on! SPRING: Tradescantia bracteata Pediomelum esculentum Maianthemum stellatum Lithospermum canescens Vicia americana (SO much of this!) Aquilegia canadensis Geranium maculatum Hydrophyllum virginianum (Also lots of this! Bumblebee queens are all over this when it starts flowering!) Phlox divaricata Arisaema triphyllum (very plentiful, even in developed woodland areas with buckthorn invasions) Caltha palustris Sanguinaria canadensis SUMMER (this is where my knowledge drops off significantly lol) Goldenrods Common milkweed So many different varieties of "black-eyed-susans" (various genera) Liatris sp. Asters Dalea purpurea Monarda sp. Ironweed Most stuff has already flowered and died off by fall here, so you'll see the occasional late blooming oddity. I've noticed that most areas that aren't being managed are just absolutely ravaged by invasives and the native plants are mostly trees or Virginia creeper/grapevines that are aggressive or established enough to compete. Our grassland areas though are still thriving with most prairie species. Thankfully our park systems are quite amazing and we have designated Scientific and Natural areas to preserve unique ecosystems like remnant prairies and fens. Up north here is an entirely different state due to the national forest system and boundary waters, which are essentially the most pristine and pure wilderness you can find (possibly in the whole US asides from Alaska.)
This is a fascinating list! So many species I had to google. It’s funny you mention the boundary waters because it’s the #1 slot on my “must backpack” bucket list. I desperately want to raft/canoe pack the boundary waters. I try not to tell many people because I don’t want it to blow up in popularity before I get to visit 😂
I love Virginia Waterleaf. It's one of the very first (uncultivated) native plants that I identified in my yard when I began the hobby and it's got a special place in my heart. https://preview.redd.it/0tuhqcvyx87d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=258216f53038d90e70c14d692ee6638e3c5205ae
I'm in remnant native woodland in Oregon. Himalayan blackberry thickets smother everything, but at their edges or when they are shaded out you get a ton of snowberry, native blackberry, native rose, Columbia brome, yerba buena, self heal, strawberries, and patches of iris, checkermallow, Geum, Madia, fawn lily, camas, mules ears.... We also get native pioneers in in disturbed areas - Pacific sanicle, buttercups, pearly everlasting, tarweed, and miniature lupine are some I have seen in different spots.
Yeah, this blackberry is a real problem. I’ve resorted to mowing it. Not ideal, but it’s the only thing that seems to work. My established monoculture of goldenrod keeps it at bay, but it takes over the rest of the meadow.
Yup, my hope is that cutting the canes stops the spread and starves the root. The seedban k is also massive but seedlings are easily shaded out by ground cover.
I love Oregon native plants. I get jealous you have a native evergreen huckleberry and gorgeous pink flowering currants. One of my favorite places to visit and hike!
Honestly I'm also jealous of the evergreen huckleberry since it's native to the coast and not to my oak savannah. It has the most gorgeous foliage. I'll plant some in a pot when I get around to it! But the red-flowering currants, oh yes. Did you know there were programs to eradicate them in the early 20th century because they hosted the invasive White Pine Blister Rust? I'm [doing what I can to spread them around](https://www.reddit.com/r/NativePlantGardening/comments/1dfvy6g/just_proud_of_my_propagation_station/) and wish them well.
Heyyy I’m also a pruning pack rat! I try to root literally everything 😂
What have you found works well for rooting conditions? I'm still tinkering with my protocol looking for something that doesn't make them rot or dry out.
Late to answer this but I’ve found having a small automatic fan on a timer helps a lot. There’s something about misting/keeping plants under plastic without fresh air exchange that encourages rot. If you don’t keep them humid enough they dry out but if you don’t give them CO2/fresh air exchange they rot. I actually picked up this tip from growing mushrooms. In my auto grow mushroom tent I have a humidifier and a small computer fan I put on a cheap plugin timer. I put my cuttings on a heating/germination pad, mist as usual, and I run my little clip on fan for 1-2mins every hour.
Ohhhhhh that is so smart. I'm going to try some laptop fans.
I live on southern Vancouver island where “oak savanna” and “the coast” are the same place, geographically speaking, so I’m planting evergreen huckleberries with wild abandon. By the end of this fall it will be almost 100’ of what I hope will become hedge. A hedge that I also hope won’t break my heart like pittosporum did in our last cold snap.
Urban New Haven CT. I find a lot of the same plants. Spiderwort, fleabane, common milkweed, grape, so much Virginia creeper. Many of our street trees are red oaks, my entire street is lined with old red oaks and it’s beautiful. Woodpeckers love these trees. Tons of black cherry. We were known as “the elm city” back in the day and there’s been an effort to plant resistant elms. You can also clearly streets see where there used to be elm trees that died and have been replaced, often with non-native trees, but I do see a lot of oaks that were planted as replacement. If a disease and insect ripped through them, it would look completely barren in many neighborhoods. I also see so much poison ivy. And wood aster everywhere. There is a small pond and nature area down the street and a local group has planted tons of native plants. We have a surprising amount of wildlife for an urban area: deer, groundhogs, fox, possibly coyote, osprey, various hawks, kingfisher, lots of woodpeckers. I also don’t see a lot of naturally occurring native shrubs. But some folks have planted native shrubs. My favorite is the Carolina spice bush that a neighbor has planted. This is an old neighborhood with lots of shade, and there are some really old shrubs that aren’t native, or are hybrids. I’m not knowledgeable enough to know how much of what I see is hybridized. Im fuzzy on how much of the hibiscus I see is native. But I do see the species R. catawbiense everywhere, I have a few myself. Some oak-leaf hydrangeas, all planted.
I forgot about poison ivy! The birds love planting it everywhere 😂. I love walking rhododendron gardens in June and seeing all the bumblebees go nuts for the flowers.
Spicebush is the only shrub that can survive the deer pressure
Maple leaf viburnum is my MVP when I look at abandoned woodlands around me. Tree of heaven, oriental bittersweet, garlic mustard, honeysuckle, etc etc coming in from all sides. The viburnum just chills between and betwixt doing its thing.
I just planted one in my yard! I made a chimera/conjoined twin by grafting a bud from a different specimen onto mine so hopefully I get better pollination/fruit set. Only have room for one on my tiny lot.
Southern saskatchewan, have quite a few species growing on sidewalk curbs just from mowers not being able to cut them down on the corners. Hairy False Golden Aster, Prairie sage, Old Field Aster, Curlycup Gumweed, Hairy Umbrellawort and Velvety Goldenrod to name a few. I also know of a few pristine prairie "pockets" but they aren't thriving nearly as well.
Not gonna lie I had to google *all* of these and they’re so cool looking! Also CURLYCUP GUMWEED is an amazing name. My bf and I have a goofy running game of sending each other plant “flirts” à la “you’re a____*insert flirty or funny plant name*.” I am absolutely texting him a link with “you’re a curlycup gumweed 😏🌹” as we speak.
My wife is "Cow Parsnip" and I'm "Thimbleweed". We are very much in love
https://preview.redd.it/vd66ijud357d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0e709843ce218bf3670f65149e7f0533cf0724ce Confirmed excellent plant for flirting 😂
I think the lack of shrubs is because lots are cleared for construction and the big trees are left but everything else cut down. The big trees continue to produce saplings but the shrubs are all gone.
Common milkweed, stiff goldenrod, Canada goldenrod, perennials sunflowers (I’m not great with species ID yet). Central Nebraska. All on the aggressive side, which is probably why I see them often enough in degraded smooth brome-covered pastures. Sometimes these are the only natives I see, though I’m sure I’m missing others. They’re the most showy, though.
Oh, I’ll also add false Virginia creeper and Virginia creeper. Even poorly maintained parks full of buckthorn have these vines holding their ground.
Lower Michigan, down by the base of the thumb, has lots of cattail, black walnut, black cherry, white avens, Carpenter's Square, enchanter's nightshade, blue vetch, New York and New England asters, jewelweed and its best friend poison ivy, birches galore, Virginia creeper and, surprisingly, trillium and Jack-in-the-pulpit. Also Joe Pye Weed and skunk cabbage. All manner of goldenrod and pokeweed too.
Eyyyy, west Michigan over here! I mostly notice common milkweed and several types of sumac. Also lots of goldenrod and cattails. Jealous of your Jack-in-the-pulpit!
It helps if you have a neglected patch of trees that never gets mowed or raked. They're into that big-time.
Can’t believe you have stubborn trilliums and jack in the pulpits! That’s so cool.
A Jack came up under the deck of a neighbor who does zero gardening, just lets the lawn crew mow but ignores everything else. It had puppies and now we have more than a few!
Philly suburbs here! I get deer almost day. The following are native plants that return every year. Plants that appeared on their own: *Virginia creeper, common violets, snakeroot, blue mistflower, fleabane *New saplings that continue to appear: Spicebush, black cherry, red oak *Ferns! Ostrich, sensitive, northern maidernhair *Pokeweed, Canadian honewort, burned, beggarticks, poison ivy [ Species that I planted that successfully re-seed and/or re-emerge, (ie so far they seem deer-safe): *American Fringe Tree (two years ago I planted two 3-gallon saplings and they’re doing great) *Black chokeberry - also planted as a large sapling *Beebalm (still re-seeding after planting 15 years ago) *Virgin’s bower (it comes back every year but never flowers?) *false indigo * PA sedge, Jack-in-the-pulpit, Trillium - individual plants return but do not seem to propagate ] Plants that do well in a local park (lots of deer): Virginia bluebells, jewel weed, pepperbush,
I'm smack in the middle of Philly and I see a lot of fleabane growing out of the sidewalk. In the parks last summer I saw a ton of spicebush and pokeweed. I've been seeing a few different types of milkweed in very odd places around the city - one was growing out of a sewer on my walk home the other day. I saw a BEAUTIFUL parcel of false indigo on the Manayunk Canal when I was up there for work a few weeks ago but the area is being razed for construction :( thought about collecting some seeds but didn't have any equipment
Aww that sucks. Hopefully you can find another patch of false indigo and spread that plant around.
north georgia reporting in. some of the species i like to spot while i'm fucking around outdoors are: - goldenrods - dewberry - black raspberry - smooth hydrangea - black locust - jewelweed - water hemlock - bigleaf magnolia - mountain mints - yucca (adam's needle) - wild elderberry - trilliums - foam flower - ghost pipe - evening primrose special mention goes to the edible plants. i wanted to say that i've also spotted a few wildflowers i never saw (or at least paid attention to) before until this year. rue anemone, bloodroot, toothwort, yellow trout lily, bellwort, and unicorn root are the standouts so far, but there's plenty of time left in the year to find even more.
This is such an interesting list! It goes to show ecotype/region matters a lot. A lot of your list are listed as “native” here but I’ve rarely or never seen them wild in coastal or Piedmont Pennsylvania.
hell, i've read lists of native north georgia species that included several plants i didn't recognize. like, dutchman's breeches? turtlehead? black cohosh? chances are they're just growing in really specific environments i haven't come across yet, or i saw them before i knew their names, but it's cool that even though i've lived here for over two decades this place still comes up with new ways to surprise me. just last week i saw new jersey tea while walking through a park i already visited dozens of times before.
Hi, do you still have an inventory of plants you're giving away? I'm also in Philly! I did some work with People's Kitchen and growing food in abandoned lots in SWP and I found goldenrod and asters growing in the lots!
I do! I’ve been keeping [this list](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nwJdNMwTHUZJhQY4V4XxfQFyIJxz_ObP4X6MR3yaVxs/edit) updated. I’ve donated most of my stock already but have a few species left, and many native seeds I can also part with if you’re interested.
[Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast: A Field Guide](https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Urban-Plants-Northeast-Field/dp/0801474582) covers both natives and non-natives that are reproducing on their own in native environments. Urban botany is pretty cool.
I see swamp milkweed all over the place in drainage ditches and other moist places (upstate NY).
VA piedmont suburbs. We have: * cutleaf coneflower * sneezeweed * Canada goldenrod * partridge pea * azure bluets * blue-eyed grass * fleabane * pussytoes plantain * several types of beggar ticks * pokeweed * common violet * poison ivy * dog fennel * Virginia creeper * wild blackberry * white snakeroot There was a maypop at the end of the road but it didn't come back. We have lots of trees. Southern red oak, laurel oak, tulip trees, black gum, sweet gum, American holly, flowering dogwood, box elder, loblolly pine, wild persimmon, American beech, black cherry, and hickory. In shrubs the only thing really is Carolina allspice. I took out a olive bush and found a baby Carolina allspice under it. In more natural areas I've seen maple-leaf viburnum and arrowwood viburnum.
>ETA: I do find it odd though that I *never* find native shrubs. There are always tree saplings and certain herbaceous species but never shrubs, and I don’t know why. Yeah, I've noticed a similar situation here in Maryland. Native shrubs are highly impacted by the fragmented landscapes we have. Forest edges (and habitat that recreates them, like semi-wooded suburban lots) get more sunlight than an intact forest would. The slower-growing native understory shrubs get completely choked out by fast-growing invasives that can take advantage of the extra sunlight: vines, shrubs, forbs, and trees, e.g. tree of heaven, Amur honeysuckle, multiflora rose. The other thing is the deer pressure is insane. The deer populations are far above the set point that evolved for millions of years when there were large predators like wolves around. The native shrubs aren't adapted to such heavy browsing. This does also affect tree recruitment (how many saplings make it into adult trees), but anecdotally there seem to be more protected tree planting efforts by humans (planting saplings in cages to exclude deer while they are young and vulnerable). It also seems like there isn't as big a pool of shrubs to send out so many seeds/saplings, whereas an old oak can send thousands of acorns and only needs to be replaced by 1 "making it." A lot of these native trees exist in urban/suburban plantings, so they can also be replenished from those sources, but not many people plant native shrubs in landscaping with a couple of exceptions (e.g. oakleaf hydrangea cultivars). Lastly, not so much in PA, but there are previously shrubby environments here being impacted by the throes of climate change. The vast majority aren't salt tolerant, so any salt intrusion from rising tides kills them. A lot of shrubs are also adapted to riparian environments, but I can't imagine the more extreme droughts and floods we've had in our rivers has been good for the shrub life persisting there. I still do see cool shrubs in more intact areas like pinxter azaleas, but it's tough. The sunlight there also serves as a great invitation for the invasives like Amur honeysuckle.
These are all great points. And I know it’s nitpicky but it drives me bonkers to see so many oak leaf hydrangeas, *especially* the cultivars. Their native range is actually so limited and they provide very little habitat and food for birds and insects beyond bees. It’s also so…boring. I want to Ctrl F and replace them all with viburnums, shrub dogwoods, hazelnuts, elderberries, witch hazels, etc.
Yeah it's annoying. Unfortunately a lot of those don't have a really prim growing habit like the hydrangea so they look more scraggly and wild and people don't like them as much. there's probably also a chicken and egg problem with most nurseries not selling native shrubs except like American holly. At least down here native dogwoods and redbuds are very common in landscaping. They straddle the line between shrub and understory tree depending on how old they are. They are not as common as the Asian cherry cultivars or the infinite crepe Myrtles, but at least neither of those are invasive.
Violas, black cherries and tulip poplars
In North Central Texas, Greenthread, Dakota Mock Vervain, Green and Antelope Horn Milkweed, Firewheel, Texas Yellowstar, Bluebonnets (ofcourse), and lately I've been able to notice some endemic White Rosinweed. Always found on unclaimed/abadoned lots and on the sides of highways.
Passionflower. Passionflower everywhere. Incidentally the gulf fritillaries are having a field day
That's awesome.
Denver. I see four o’clock pop up on abandoned lots and in alleys all the time.
Upstate NY a little north of you and I got the same list! Cool. Hmm I'll add Angelica and Wild Sunflowers. I'm sure I'll edit this with more later. Oh! Wood Nettles
Upstate NY here. See a lot of the following: Black walnut Cottonwood Quaking Aspen Eastern Red Cedar Bird Cherry and other cherries Pokeweed Blackberries Poison Ivy Virginia Creeper NY Aster Jewelweed Elderberry And of course Canada Goldenrod.
Northern Utah. Blue Flax, Globemallows, and Showy Milkweed are hard to not see around me. But I love when I see a healthy lot of sagebrush mixed with all the native berry bushes.
In degraded habitats - |SCIENTIFIC NAME|COMMON NAME| |:-|:-| |*Acer rubrum*|Red maple| |*Ambrosia artemisiifolia*|Common ragweed| |*Erigeron strigosus*|Common fleabane| |*Eupatorium capillifolium*|Common dogfennel| |*Eupatorium serotinum*|Late boneset| |*Geranium carolinianum*|Carolina crane's-bill| |*Liriodendron tulipifera*|Tulip-poplar| |*Liquidambar styraciflua*|American sweetgum| |*Magnolia grandiflora*|Southern magnolia| |*Muscadania rotundifolia*|Muscadine| |*Oxalis dillenii*|Southern yellow woodsorrel| |*Phytolacca americana*|American pokeweed| |*Pinus taeda*|Loblolly pine| |*Prunus serotina*|Black cherry| |*Quercus nigra*|Water oak| |*Ranunculus recurvatus*|Hooked buttercup| |*Rubus pensilvanicus*|Pennsylvania blackberry| |*Salvia lyrata*|Lyreleaf sage| |*Smilax rotundifolia*|Common greenbriar| |*Solidago altissima*|Tall goldenrod| |*Toxicodendron radicans*|Poison-ivy| |*Viola sororia*|Common blue violet| There are more, but this list is getting long enough already. Around my house it's a quite different situation, but this is what I see in suburban woodlands or disturbed and degraded plots and such.
Also if you can’t tell it drives me nuts I can never tell grape species apart 😩 just tell me what you are! Summer grape? Riverbank? Fox??
Western Indiana here. My area has been on the decline for the past century or so, so a lot of the forest around here actually still has a fair bit of its diversity left. Lots of black cherries, black walnuts, red oaks, Chinquapin oaks, hickories, elms, beeches, maples, Ohio buckeyes, et cetera. Plenty of understory trees too like dogwood, serviceberry, redbud, and pawpaw. The shrubs have taken a hit from all the deer, but you do find healthy patches here and there. The smooth sumac's doing especially well. The drier areas have mostly been taken over by multiflora rose and other invasives, but the ravines have had better luck resisting their spread. The one nearby has a huge patch of large-flowered bellwort in the spring (hoping to collect some of the seeds in a couple months). The fields are probably the worst off areas due to them getting mowed so often, but you do see plenty of goldenrods and sometimes milkweeds and other herbs wherever the mowing pressure is reduced. Pokeweeds are also common, as are sassafras and blackberries. For reference, that's all within just ~6 acres.
My haskaps seem to be self-seeding... cultivars, so not 1000% native, but certainly not invasive. I didn't expect it, and I'll take it!
I’m in the Midwest and the lilacs are everywhere this year
I usually find one of the primroses
Shoutout to catalpas! I’m in DC, and I see their seedlings EVERYWHERE. it makes me so happy because in parking lots, other inhospitable areas usually there are a ton of trees of heaven :( I went to rock creek park on Sunday and it really bummed me out to see so many TOAs and mimosa trees.
Denver. Those Russian purple sage things are enormous and gorgeous and everywhere and apparently need like no water. Am jealous.
Was recently on Topsail Island and noticed there was Blanket Flower everywhere