Native Plants for New England Gardens

by Mark Richardson

Native plants are drought tolerant, disease resistant, wildlife friendly, and environmentally sound. Experts increasingly encourage gardeners to use natives exclusively. This handy and practical guide focuses on 100 great native flowers, ground covers, shrubs, ferns, and grasses that will thrive in New England gardens. The presentation is aimed at gardeners, who want concise, practical information. It will also include material on the importance and desirability of using native plants.
The heart of this book is 100 two-page spreads, one for each species. The spreads will include facts about the plant of use to a gardener (not a botanist)--where it grows best, when it blooms, the soil conditions in which it thrives, its appeal to wildlife, sunlight requirements, how high it grows, how to propagate it, and how to avoid any problems particular to the species. Each spread will also feature two color photos.

Genres: Gardening, Nature, Nonfiction, Reference, Horticulture

243 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2018

Reviews

[Lauren Csaki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little volume of recommended native plants, the only thing frustratingly missing is quick stats for each plant (dimensions/growing conditions/zones) so that it’s easy to flip through and find them by trait.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that helps you incorporate local native plants in your garden. The only negative is it lacks complete and consistent data on each plant like height. The book really has superb ideas on native plants to include in your garden and tells you how and where to use them. I highly recommend for gardeners in New England and eastern New York!

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally stopped putting off taking a look at my backyard now that I have one and, despite my limited plant skills and determination for it to be something else, promptly identified a Japanese knotweed, an invasive monster of a plant that needs to be beaten back or it will eat everything in its path. Therefore, I have quite against my will needed to become one of those native gardening people, in the hopes that once I defeat Godzilla and fill my back garden with native plants I will then be able to once again blissfully retreat into not having to pay attention to my backyard. This may be slightly awkward conversationally when I have to go to lovingly engaged Native Plants People to acquire native plants, and I shall have to develop a tactful way of saying that I am aiming for a ~low-maintenance~ garden. But anyway, me being me, my first step in my crash course of learning about How To Have A Backyard was to check out from the library a copy of Native Plants for New England Gardens by Mark Richardson and Dan Jaffe, of the New England Wild Flower Society.

Despite some vocabulary difficulties due to my being an extreme non-plants person (I still do not know what a sedge is and what makes it different from a grass; I will Google that later today), I actually did find this a fascinating read. It was quick and filled with very helpful, gorgeous pictures. I will have to give it back to the library in a bit over a week but in the meantime I will try to take some notes about possible things to put in the backyard once I have raked up the layer of pine needles smothering 40% of it, and again next year when I have hopefully smothered/poisoned/dug out the knotweed. I will be taking it with me as a reference to see the Salem Native Nursery at the farmer’s market tomorrow. Maybe I will buy myself a copy if I manage to talk myself into a day trip to the Garden in the Wood out in Framingham, since I am incapable of leaving a museum without buying something at the gift shop.

Anyway, if you, like me, have a backyard full of pine needles and noxious weeds and want to have a nice one full of flowers but don’t want to dedicate your life to futzing with delicate little annuals every spring, this seems like it ought to be a useful resource! I’ll report back once I’ve actually put any of it into practice, though. It’s possible I will manage to also kill all these supposedly hardy plants by not being able to figure out what kind of dirt or drainage I have, or something.

Original post at Going native.

[Marilyn calvanese · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, especially the native flowers. It was great that the plants were categorized by sun loving, shade loving or both. It gave me an idea to change part of my grassy area into a natural ground cover area , no need to fertilize, or cut. I also enjoyed the different bushes and the tree descriptions.

[Robyn Obermeyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I totally loved reading this book and very much appreciate the awesome photographs!I live near Garden in the woods and have made a living taking care of plants in the area it is cool to see the natives coming into the hearts and minds and landscapes of parks woodlands and homes!

[Julie Sorbo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Resource for New England Gardens

Lots of ideas for drought resistant plants, low maintenance, sunny and shady areas. Great suggestions on plants to pair with for the best displays. A great reference for any New England gardener!

[Hope Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great New England native plants!

Wonderful descriptions of native plants and good suggestions of the imports they can replace in our gardens, along with who those plants are host to ( either the adults or their kids). Also the plants' preference for light, moisture and soil.

[Tina Panik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of honest and candid descriptions, this guide is essential reading—and reference—for New England gardeners. Immensely helpful.

[Betty Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I great plant selection list for supporting native pollinators.

[Melissa McClelland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative.

[Priscilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great little book filled with beautiful native plants for our gardens and eco system here in new England.

[Robert Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Making native plants approachable for New England gardeners. Laid out perfectly to help gardeners choose native plants for their garden

[John Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish it had more pictures, especially of multiple species of trees, Oak, etc... A good reference for New Englanders.

[Annie Oosterwyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent and concise.

[Alyssa W · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very good book for beginners that are looking to work with native plants. I found the lists of plants hard to use for garden planning, since they decided to omit information like plant height, and it was difficult to see whether or not plants were edible. Fun to look through but not as useful as I thought it would be.

[Jonesy.Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book about the plants native to New England, and along its border with Canada. Beautiful photography make it easy to identify species. I really enjoyed the information about how each plant interacts with insects and wildlife.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice catalog of plants that can be used in New England area or areas with similar conditions. The material is well presented and illustrated with wonderful pictures. A inspiration for the gardening season.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic additon to my gardening resources. Now I want to grow ALL THE THINGS.

[J. D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A concise and rewarding guide to native New England plants. Excellent photographs.

[Juli Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fab guide for New England gardeners.