The Northeast Native Plant Primer: 235 Plants for an Earth-Friendly Garden

by Uli Lorimer

Bring your garden to life—and life to your garden

Do you want a garden that makes a real difference? Choose plants native to our Northeast region. The rewards will benefit you, your yard, and the environment—from reducing maintenance tasks to attracting earth-friendly pollinators such as native birds, butterflies, and bees. Native plant expert Uli Lorimer of the Native Plant Trust makes adding these superstar plants easier than ever before, with proven advice that every home gardener can follow. This incomparable sourcebook includes 235 recommended native trees, shrubs, vines, ferns, wildflowers, grasses, sedges, and annuals. It’s everything you need to know to create a beautiful and beneficial garden.

This must-have handbook is for gardeners in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, eastern Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Nature, Horticulture, Ecology

252 pages, Paperback

First published May 10, 2022

Reviews

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my current drive to Learn About Plants I visited the Garden in the Woods in Framingham with my kind and indulgent girlfriend (who is not into plants). Because I am me, when I was there I picked up a copy of The Northeast Native Plant Primer by Uli Lorimer, partly because it seemed like a useful reference but also partly because it makes a pretty coffee table book (there were lots of useful-looking references and I had to narrow it down somehow).

This book is not really a plant identification guide, or a care and keeping manual of the plants listed. It’s basically a getting-started list–each of the 235 plants identified has 1 picture, or occasionally 2, and a paragraph of copy, and a couple bits of key information (size, how much sun/shade it needs, what types of pollinators it attracts, and Latin and common names) (oddly, not it’s hardiness zones). It’s good for getting ideas to then follow up on later, and it’s very pretty.

Originally posted at More learnin' about plants.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

First, I need to say that I love that Uli Lorimer wrote this book and I enjoyed it. But, the deficients are so large I can not ignore them. First and foremost, the NE is not one ecosystem. Northern Maine doesn't resemble Long Island at all. For this guide to be useful, we, the gardeners of the NE, need information about zones where the plant thrives and where it doesn't. Secondly, the illustrations don't fully illustrate the plant. I need to see the plant in each season to determine how does this plant grow, how big are its leaves... In summary, the book left me with so many questions that I might as well have been given a list to research online.

[Margery Gerard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a work of love and respect for plant life in the Northeast. So easy to use, so friendly, accessible. Whether building a native plant garden, or figuring out what plant is right in front of you this boook is a gem.

[Alana Garrigues · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful primer as a new-to-New-England (originally-from-the-Pacific-Northwest) gardener looking to diversify flora and fauna and transform the land where I live to a more holistic home, and one that honors native plants as necessary and beautiful ecosystems to sustain native bee, butterfly, bird, wildlife populations.

I've assembled a list of plants for my wishlist (after picking up a few last year at Garden in the Woods... which are quite happily popping back up this spring!), and look forward to adding more biodiverse planting each year.

My home won't be 100% native, as there are a mix of uses, including fruits and veg for human consumption and also an existing lawn that I will replace part, but not all, of, but I figure the more I know about what will grow well and belongs to this land, the more informed decisions I can make in the slow transformation to come!

Definitely not an in-depth analysis of each and every plant, but a very good starting point with beautiful pictures and meaningful commentary to inspire inquiry and curiosity!

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent portrayal of the region’s best native candidates for home gardens. He makes the case for using species vs. cultivars and then does a pretty responsible job of describing each plant’s needs, and its challenges as well, for example warning of the predilection of those that can spread out of control in a perennial bed or foundation planting. Ferns and grasses/ sedges have their own sections, nicely done.

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read a number of native plant books and must admit this one wasn't one of my favorites. Its primarily a plant directory with only a little introduction on native plant gardening in general. There ar a large number of plant profiles, but no where near an inclusive list and I found the profiles themselves on the sparse side.

[db · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative and complete.

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great resource if you live in the Northeast and want to add more native plants to your garden.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and informative. Wish it was a little more regional. Western PA isn’t really the Northeast or the Midwest

[Angela Snyder rowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book, but it could have used a lot more details for planning the landscape—what does the plant look like at different stages of growth? In different seasons?

[Christie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well organized, site specific, and not overwhelming!

[Emily Pryor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic resource with gorgeous photographs!

[Kameryn Sanchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

borrowed from the library and i plan to purchase it. I'll come back to this one when I need a detailed plant guide that has a lot of problem solving already done.

[Laurie Cybulski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not super in-depth, but this book has a good synopsis for where native flourish.

It’s too big to be a field guide for hikes and not specific enough to go in my personal plant library.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whether you tend to a small garden patch or oversee acres of meadows in the Northeast, Uri Lorimer provides a beautifully illustrated road map to planting natives in our landscapes.

[Catherine]

2/25/24: 40% through. GREAT info so far. Yes, I agree with comments that the entire NE+MidAtlantic have many different ecosystems (and therefore so many different eco-specific natives), and there is much more that could have been added. But this is a PRIMER, a first book to teach about US Native plants. If it draws people in to adding Native plants to their gardens, it gets 5 stars in my mind.

[Annie Oosterwyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devoured in one sitting and compiled a new plant list as well.

[Marcus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely guidebook for native enthusiasts; photos for each species, descriptions & tips for starting any native-planting project.