Green Daily

Plants native to the area you live are perfect for the organic garden. Naturally adapted to the environment, native plants do not require much in the way of fertilizers, water, pest control or time to maintain. Unfortunately, not every plant that grows in your area is native to the area.

As early settlers moving South and early pioneers going West built homes and towns where once there was only wilderness, they brought ornamental garden plants from Europe not native to the area they settled. Easy to grow, and attractive to the garden, a century later we have discovered invasive plants are choking the life out of native plants. To reverse this trend of native plant extinction, and in an effort to conserve water, eliminate the need for chemical pesticides and fertilizers, many gardeners are choosing native plants for the garden.

eNature offers the Native Plant Finder database of native plants recommended for each area of the US, allowing you to search by state. Each native plant listed meets these criteria: the plants are native to the state; the plants are not on state invasive or noxious weed lists and the plants are available in nurseries that sell nursery-propagated plants or seed, not wild-collected plants. Wild harvesting of native plants is not recommended.

At the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Information Network, you can search through a collection of 17,000 native plant images by plant traits or names. Local resources that might be able to answer any questions you might have regarding plants native to your area include county extension offices, native plant societies, and environmental organizations.