There is a lot of information on this page and throughout the website. It can be at bit overwhelming at first. But, spending the time to research plants and make good plans up front will ultimately bring you the most success! And it is this careful planning that will yield a much lower effort landscape down the line. No one can do the work for you. Being a (successful) DIY nature-based gardener means putting in the time to really learn your site conditions, study plants, and dig deep on the fundamentals of nature based gardening principles. For many people this can be an incredibly exciting and rewarding activity! But, if that doesn't sound like it is for you then you may want to hire a professional to work for or with you. Contact us for recommendations for ecological gardening pros in your area or to discuss ways to go about finding and hiring the right professional to help you.
On this page you will find an array of tools to help you make good plant choices for your own yard and gardens. Look for:
Our focus is on the Southeastern New England region and have collected resources most appropriate for that geography & climate. Please note that some of the best resources we've made available are from slightly different regions such as Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. We have included them because they offer really good and really user-friendly information and because nearly every plant suggestion they provide is entirely appropriate to our area. Not every plant on every list included is something we regularly stock at the Emporium - but many are! Use these tools to put together a plant wish list. If we don't have it - or can't get it - we can suggest alternatives that fill a similar niche.
Click the image to explore the plant library.
Click on the image to explore the tools available on the American Beauties website.
Use this site to search by zip code to find plants that host the highest numbers of butterflies and moths to feed birds and other wildlife where you live.
Enter your 5-digit zip into Audubon’s native plants database and explore the best plants for birds in your area, as well as local resources and links to more information. By entering your email address, you'll receive an emailed list of the native plants you've selected and get additional tips on creating your bird-friendly habitat.
The link below will take you to an online tool designed to help you find the native plants best-suited for specific sites that provide the greatest ecological function and benefit, and that will also complement your landscape design. The tool allows you to find plants based on these six criteria: Plant Type, Sunlight, Soils, Bloom Month, Size, and Nature Benefits. Designed for Cape Cod Landscapes, this tool is well suited to the areas where most of our customers gardens - especially those in coastal communities.
At this site you will find a series of tools for developing pollinator friendly landscapes. This includes a searchable and printable list of native plants readily available in MA.
Grow Native Massachusetts offers a wonderful array of plant lists and landscape guides designed for homeowners in our region on their website. Visit and dig in!
The Rhode Island Native Plant Guide was developed by the URI Cooperative Extension in collaboration with the Rhode Island Natural History Survey and their Rhody Native Initiative.
Jersey Friendly Yards is a remarkable website filled with user-friendly interactive tools to help you plan an environmentally friendly, bay sensitive outdoor space. Although focused on New Jersey, our similar coastal location, population density and climate make this toolkit perfect for our location as well.
Explore this great starter list for your growing native plant garden. The resource also includes a planting guide. Though developed for Northern New Jersey, nearly all plants are well suited and native to our region as well. The majority of plants on the list are regularly stocked at Prickly Ed’s.
This is a very helpful resource that includes great native plant lists and planting guides. Written for coastal NJ but nearly all plants are well suited to our region and most are native here as well. Nearly all plants on the list are regularly in stock at Prickly Ed’s!
The plant list resources at this site are based on years of research at the Gegear Lab at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Use these lists to help support specific species of at risk pollinators in your garden.
The team at the Pollinator Pathway has compiled their favorite plant lists and guides into one place. We think you’ll find these resources to be very helpful in planning your buzzing space and picking beneficial plants.
Providing wildflower-rich habitat is the most significant action you can take to support pollinators. Adult bees, butterflies, and other pollinators require nectar as their primary food source, and female bees collect pollen as food for their offspring. Native plants, which are adapted to local soils and climates, are usually the best sources of nectar and pollen for native pollinators. Incorporating native wildflowers, shrubs, and trees into any landscape promotes local biological diversity and provides shelter and food for a diversity of wildlife. Most natives require minimal irrigation, flourish without fertilizers, and are unlikely to become weedy. The Xerces fact sheet features regionally native plants that are highly attractive to pollinators and are well-suited for small-scale plantings in gardens, urban greenspaces, and farm field borders, and on business and school campuses.
Landscapes built along conventional standards of beauty, such as the pristine American lawn, are typically ecological dead zones, and often maintained with chemicals that are harmful to humans as well as wildlife. Given catastrophic declines in biodiversity, it is imperative that we make room for nature in our neighborhoods. But habitat-rich native landscapes are still commonly read as “messy,” a barrier to the widespread cultural embrace of this movement. Edwina von Gal discusses how we can change the perception of what a “good” garden is, where healthy habitat is not disparaged as untidy but appreciated for its richness, complexity, and life-giving magic.
Award-winning designer Edwina von Gal has been the Principal of her eponymous landscape design firm since 1984. In 2013 she founded the Perfect Earth Project, promoting nature-based, toxin-free landcare practices for the health of people, their pets and the planet.
At the button below you can download a set of sample planting plans from Conserve PA in collaboration with the mid-Atlantic Audubon. Nearly all of the plants utilized are well suited to our region too and will give you ideas for how to group, layout, and select plans that are well suited to particular site conditions.
All native plants play an important role in ecosystem building, but some do a better job than others of attracting the beneficial bugs that are essential to effective organic vegetable gardening. Click on the image to explore more.
Planting native flowering plants near vegetable gardens provides two essential services, beneficial pest control and pollination. Click on the image to learn more about the beneficial bugs you want in your yard.
When we think of growing food it is often the non-native agricultural crops that we have become accustomed to. But many of our wonderful and beneficial native plants have a rich history of culinary uses. Explore more in this 14-page guide.
Native plants have developed something of a bad rap among some homeowners and even garden professionals as messy and hard to manage plants that do not fit in with the neighborhood. We vehemently disagree! But, we are also sensitive to the fact that some people are not fully ready to embrace their wild side and want a more subtle transition. Fortunately there are many beautiful native plants that not only fit well into a residential yard, but also provide multiple benefits. The book "Native Plants for Small Yards" features ideas and recommendations for these native plants that will work well in a flower garden or home landscaping project, especially for the resident with the small yard. Just click on the button below to download and start reading.
Explore the amazing plant trials, research studies and educational resources from the Mt. Cuba Center. Learn more about the horticultural and ecological benefits of a wide variety of native plants and their cultivars.
Dealing with salt water inundation in your backyard? Need plants for a hot, dry, streetscape? Building a rain garden to help mitigate flooding? Doing an urban community planting? We have a whole page dedicated to planting in touch spots. Be sure to visit and explore the resources!
Note that our articles also run monthly in East Bay Life, a regional publication here in East Bay, Rhode Island.