How To Pick Plants!

How to start:

If you want to choose some plants for your garden, you have to answer a few questions first:

1) How much sun does my garden spot get? Is it in the shade? Does it receive part sun, which is 4-6 hours? Is it in full sun, which is more than 6 hours?

2) How much moisture is there? Is the garden space that I want to plant a wet spot? Is it medium (sometimes called mesic)? Is it dry?

3) What kind of soil is there? Is it sandy? Is it loamy? Is it clay?

4) What kinds of animals or insects would you like to attract?

5) Do you want to just plant flowers? How about sedges or grasses? Do you have room for shrubs or trees?

Native Plants of Ohio

Below is a listing of some of the more common native plants of Ohio. These plants are only a sample fo the thousands of plants native to Ohio that could fit into your gardens. There are plants, shrubs and trees that are adapted to any type of habitat in our region. Theses plants that are native to Ohio are perfectly adapted to the conditions in our region, as well as being adapted to the animals and insects that are adpated to them. All these livings things are part of a family that is dependent on one another, and it is important to include them in our gardening decisions.

native plants of ohio

Finding your plants:

Here are some resources you can use to choose what plants you may want to use in your gardens:

These first two links are to catalogs of native nurseries. They provide good pictures and information on the needs of the plants, and what the plants provide for pollinators.

https://www.prairienursery.com/media/pdf/Prairie-Nursery-Native-Plant-Catalog.pdf

https://www.prairiemoon.com/catalogs/2023.Prairie.Moon.Nursery.Catalog-winter-spring.pdf

This next link is connects to information from Heather Holm, who provides information about insect and flower partnerships:

https://www.pollinatorsnativeplants.com/plant-lists--posters.html

Here is the Wasp guide:

https://www.pollinatorsnativeplants.com/uploads/1/3/9/1/13913231/waspplantlistgreatlakes_1.pdf

Wildflowers:

https://www.pollinatorsnativeplants.com/uploads/1/3/9/1/13913231/marioncountyswcd-wildflowers-for-beneficial-insects.pdf

Some trees and shrubs for pollinators:

https://www.pollinatorsnativeplants.com/uploads/1/3/9/1/13913231/treesshrubs1.pdf

native pollinator garden:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsV0iMIBbRA