Plant Profile on NativeYardAtlas.com

Black Chokeberry Profile for Virginia

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Black Chokeberry Profile for Virginia

Virginia’s wildlife and landscape references identify black chokeberry under two scientific names. The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources table uses Photinia melanocarpa; Virginia Cooperative Extension’s current shrub guide uses Aronia melanocarpa. Check the name on the plant label and use the current name when looking up range information.

Site profile

Virginia Tech describes black chokeberry as a medium-sized shrub with showy white spring flowers and black fruit in fall or early winter. It tolerates wet and dry soils and can sucker to form a colony. The DWR table reports shade tolerance and medium drought tolerance; it lists about 15 feet at 20 years. Virginia Tech uses a medium size class, defined in that guide as 5 feet to less than 9 feet. These descriptions use different measures, so check cultivar, spacing, and expected mature form before planting.

Black Spruce Profile for Southern Ontario

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Black Spruce Profile for Southern Ontario

Black spruce (Picea mariana) is an evergreen tree whose native range extends across Canada and throughout Ontario. Ontario’s profile describes it from many moisture and soil conditions and says it tolerates partial shade. Trees on high, dry ground grow taller and thicker than those in wetlands.

Blackhaw Viburnum Profile for Virginia

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Blackhaw Viburnum Profile for Virginia

Blackhaw viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium) is a Virginia landscape-guide candidate for sites where shade and low soil moisture overlap. Virginia Cooperative Extension describes it as a multi-stem shrub or small tree that grows well in dry soil, adapts to many soil types, and can be grown in sun or shade. The guide’s native marker is defined as native to the eastern United States; it is not a county-level range result.

Common Blue Violet Profile for Pennsylvania

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Common Blue Violet Profile for Pennsylvania

Common blue violet (Viola sororia) is one of the violet species discussed in Penn State Extension’s guide to native violets. The guide presents violets as a possible groundcover for difficult Pennsylvania landscapes and identifies common blue violet as a species that can tolerate clay soils and full sun.

Eastern Hemlock Profile for Southern Ontario

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Eastern Hemlock Profile for Southern Ontario

Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) is an evergreen tree found across much of southern Ontario, with smaller populations elsewhere in the province. Ontario’s tree profile says it grows best on very moist sites, tolerates many soil types, and is very shade tolerant.

Site profile

Southern Ontario forest guidance places hemlock mainly in moist-to-fresh conditions across sands, loams, and clays, with some occurrence at wet sandy swamp borders. It can establish in very low light in a forest, but forest evidence does not establish performance in compacted residential soil or permanent ponding. Its canopy and acidic litter may limit some understory growth.

Eastern Redcedar Profile for Virginia

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Eastern Redcedar Profile for Virginia

Eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana) is an evergreen tree that Virginia’s wildlife-habitat guide includes in its selected native-shrub table. The source lists about 20 feet at 20 years, so this is not a compact shrub by default. Its entry reports high drought tolerance, intermediate shade tolerance, and low tolerance of anaerobic soil.

Site profile

The table marks eastern redcedar as not preferred by deer. This describes relative browsing preference in the source, not immunity from browsing at a particular site. The table does not supply county-level distribution, nursery provenance, exact light requirements, or a mature width. Do not read “intermediate shade” as evidence for a deeply shaded, waterlogged planting bed.

Eastern White Cedar Profile for Southern Ontario

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Eastern White Cedar Profile for Southern Ontario

Eastern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis) is a conifer native across Ontario, where government sources describe it from swampy areas as well as rocky uplands. The provincial profile says it grows best in moist soil and tolerates some shade. Forest records also describe winter browsing by white-tailed deer.

Fowl-Manna Grass Profile for Southeast Michigan

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Fowl-Manna Grass Profile for Southeast Michigan

Fowl-manna grass (Glyceria striata) is a grass, not a sedge or a lawn substitute. The City of Ann Arbor includes it in its native grasses and sedges guide and describes it as a candidate for moist or wet shade.

Site profile

The Ann Arbor description says this species is often found in wet woodland hollows, tolerates a broad range of moisture and soil conditions, and typically reaches 1–3 feet. Its fine leaves and arching seedheads give it an open, wispy form. The source does not provide a soil pH, spread estimate, or measured tolerance for compacted ground.

Fringed Sedge Profile for Southeast Michigan

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Fringed Sedge Profile for Southeast Michigan

Fringed sedge (Carex crinita) is listed in the City of Ann Arbor’s native grasses and sedges guide. The city describes it from open marshes and wet woodland depressions and notes its long, drooping seedheads.

Golden Alexander Profile for Pennsylvania

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Golden Alexander Profile for Pennsylvania

Golden Alexander (Zizia aurea) is a low-growing perennial profiled by Penn State Extension for rain-garden conditions. It is a useful candidate to compare where a garden has moist soil, but the source does not establish county-level native range or performance in every clay site.

Site profile

Penn State reports a height of about 12–24 inches and light conditions from sun to partial shade. Its profile lists moist sandy or sandy-clay soil and wet-to-moist rain-garden zones. The plant can self-seed and form groundcover, so leave room for spread. Compacted clay and continuous standing water remain unverified conditions.

Golden Groundsel Profile for Pennsylvania

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Golden Groundsel Profile for Pennsylvania

Golden groundsel (Packera aurea), also called golden ragwort, is a spreading perennial that Penn State Extension describes as a good groundcover. Its profile is most relevant to a moist garden layer; it should not be treated as a clay-tolerance or year-round-coverage guarantee.

Site profile

Penn State reports a height of about 12 inches, yellow flowers in April and May, sun-to-shade conditions, acidic soil, and wet-to-moist hydrologic zones with seasonal-flooding tolerance. It spreads by seed and roots that colonize. The separate Penn State groundcover guide says it reseeds and spreads quickly, so plan for its footprint and monitor its spread.

Gray's Sedge Profile for Southeast Michigan

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Gray’s Sedge Profile for Southeast Michigan

Gray’s sedge (Carex grayi) is included in the City of Ann Arbor’s native grasses and sedges guide. The city says it is usually found in deciduous woods, grows best in partial or full shade, and reaches about 1–2 feet.

Site profile

The source supports a shade screen and a short mature-height estimate. It does not establish the species’ soil-moisture preference, tolerance of seasonal saturation, or ability to grow in persistent ponding. A short plant is not automatically a spreading groundcover, and the cited profile does not give a spread estimate.

Palm Sedge Profile for Southeast Michigan

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Palm Sedge Profile for Southeast Michigan

Palm sedge (Carex muskingumensis) is a clump-forming sedge with leaves held at the top of each stem, giving an individual plant a palm-like outline. The City of Ann Arbor includes it in its native grasses and sedges guide and describes it from riverbanks and floodplain forests.

Site profile

The local guide says palm sedge tolerates shade and moisture and grows about 2–3 feet tall. It also says the plant fills in readily. That spread habit may be useful where a larger patch is wanted, but it can outgrow a narrow bed. The source does not quantify its mature width or state how long it can remain underwater.

Tamarack Profile for Southern Ontario

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Tamarack Profile for Southern Ontario

Tamarack, also called larch (Larix laricina), is a coniferous tree found throughout Ontario and more common in the north. Unlike true evergreens, its needles turn yellow in autumn and drop for winter.

Tussock Sedge Profile for Southeast Michigan

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Tussock Sedge Profile for Southeast Michigan

Tussock sedge (Carex stricta) is a wetland plant in the City of Ann Arbor’s regional native-grass and sedge guide. The source says it can form raised mounds, or tussocks, over time when growing in standing water and can tolerate periodic drying.

Virginia Spring Beauty Profile for Pennsylvania

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Virginia Spring Beauty Profile for Pennsylvania

Virginia spring beauty (Claytonia virginica) is a low-growing spring ephemeral included in Penn State Extension’s residential-garden guidance. Despite the common name, the name alone does not establish where the plant occurs; verify its range for the intended locality.