Even though it’s the dead of winter, it’s the perfect time to start planning which plants to add to your landscape in the spring. While taking inspiration can be a great start, the best option is to visit a plant or garden nursery and speak with an expert about your needs, your landscape’s unique environment, and potential challenges. Whether you need some beautiful flowers, some hardy shrubs, versatile ornamental grasses, or a strong tree presence, you’re covered. In this article, you’ll discover various native plants to the Hudson Valley area that will thrive in your landscape. Here are 15 fan favorites for the spring from any plant nursery and garden nursery near me in Rockland County, NY.
Related: FINDING YEAR-ROUND COLOR AT A GARDEN NURSERY NEAR ME IN HUDSON VALLEY NY
Native Flowers:
Smooth White Beardtongue: With gorgeous white flowers, this plant will be a stunning addition to your garden and is a favorite for pollinators. Shades of pink and purple grow near the stem.
Canada Anemone: Making excellent ground cover for more vulnerable soils, this plant has dense green foliage adorned with small white, circular flowers.
Northern Blueflag: An incredibly beautiful purple and blue flower that features a sword-like shape, and blooms that last long throughout the growing season.
Native Grasses:
Big Bluestem: A consistently popular prairie grass, Big Bluestem grows with stunning seed heads that grow in a so-called “turkey’s foot” shape, showing purple and pink in the spring and gold and yellow in the autumn.
Broad-Leaf Sedge: This grass stays green year-round and has wide, green leaves that provide excellent ground cover without needing a lot of sun exposure.
Bottlebrush Grass: This grass has shallow roots and is adaptable to many different types of landscapes. Its seed heads show light green in the spring and golden in the autumn.
Native Shrubs:
Highbush Blueberry: With beautiful bell-shaped white flowers and clusters of delicious blueberries, this shrub is a delightful addition to any landscape. It changes color from green to a marvelous red in the autumn.
American Elderberry: This shrub has a greenery that presents wonderful visual texture as well as some more delicious berries which can be used to make delicious jams, preserves, baked goods, and wines.
Virginia Rose: This versatile shrub can grow anywhere in your landscape and has beautiful glossy leaves adorned by large pink flowers. The colorful rose hips can be dried and used to make a delicious and healthy tea.
Native Trees:
White Spruce: This evergreen tree has the iconic Christmas tree shape and maintains a beautiful blue-green. The wonderful hue pops out from other evergreens or deciduous trees and offers strong year-round visual interest.
Alternate-Leaved Dogwood: For shadier landscapes, this tree grows excellently and provides a wonderful visual texture with gorgeous white flowers. It turns a wonderful orange in the fall.
Bur Oak: One of the toughest trees you can grow in your landscape, this tree makes interesting acorns and big dark-green leaves that shine in the summer sunlight. It’ll last through both drought and floods.
Native Vines:
Virginia Creeper or Woodbine: This vine will climb any vertical structure and change from a dark green in the growing season to a deep red in the fall. The berries provide an excellent food source for birds. The difference between the two: the Virginia Creeper has adhesive leaves that helps it climb tall walls, while the Woodbine stays relatively close to the ground.
American Groundnut: This gorgeous and slender vine makes beautiful pink flowers in the late summer. It can easily adorn a garden trellis or pergola.
Summer Grape: Growing vertically very quickly, this vine also has a delicious fruit with leaves that are dark green on top and silvery-white underneath. The young tendrils grow in bright red.
