Resource Guide | SIProtectors

Gardening for Nature

Resources to Explore and Learn More!

About Native Plants for Gardening

From the U. S. Forest Service, a short list of native woody shrubs suitable for planting in place of ubiquitous aliens:

https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/Native_Plant_Materials/Native_Gardening/alternatives.shtml

Also from the U. S. Forest Service, a list of things to consider when planning a native plant garden:

https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/Native_Plant_Materials/Native_Gardening/instructions.shtml

Advice in the form of an article from the Ladybird Johnson Native Plant Center in Texas. Although you may not have the Texan-sized space to indulge in “Plant a Wildflower Meadow,” their advice is not specific to Texas, but applies to all areas. If you have some idea of the types of plants you want to use, on their site are tables and a handy program for selecting native plants by state:

https://www.wildflower.org/learn/guide-native-plant-gardening

The National Park Service has advice about the need to garden with native plants. This article illustrates the process of creating a garden - actually the landscape for an entire house - by a Park Ranger when he moved to Maryland.

https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/gardening-for-wildlife-with-native-plants.htm

The New York Botanical Garden has a list of resources for native gardeners, including guides, books, and local societies:

https://libguides.nybg.org/naturalhabitats

Once known as the New England Wildflower Society, this organization’s site has considerable information about the importance of native plants and a plant finder database through which you can input a variety of requirements to aid in selecting suitable plants:

http://www.nativeplanttrust.org/

Sites with Native Plant Lists and Guides

http://www.plantnative.org/index.htm

PlantNative: this site, while it still exists (the site owner is currently seeking someone to take it over), has extensive lists of native plants organized by region, and a nursery and organization finder.

The National Wildlife Foundation also has lists of native plant alternatives pictured and conveniently sorted by zipcode on their still evolving site (currently “in Beta”). The butterfly and moth section - complete with pictures of the moths or caterpillars - will show what species of plants those insects depend on.

https://www.nwf.org/NativePlantFinder/

The National Audubon Society also has an excellent application for choosing native plants with the aim of producing landscapes and gardens suitable for supporting birds and butterflies. That too will select plants based on your zipcode.

https://www.audubon.org/native-plants

The New England Wildflower Society has a database to aid in choosing appropriate native plants for your region and specific needs:

https://plantfinder.nativeplanttrust.org/Plant-Search

The New York Natural Heritage Program maintains an alphabetical list of rare and endangered New York State plants and animals; it is not of much use in making a list of plants suitable for landscaping or gardening, but does provide extensive information about the status, environment, and associates of endangered New York State plants.

https://guides.nynhp.org/plants/

Local Resources

The Native Plant Society of Staten Island:

Our local native plant organization; you may want to check them out on Facebook.

https://nativeplantsocietyofstatenisland.org/

The Greenbelt Native Plant Center:

The Greenbelt Native Plant Center (3808 Victory Blvd, Staten Island, NY 10314) is not a nursery that the homeowner can make use of. It grows and supplies native plants and seeds to the Department of Parks and environmental organizations, and is a resource that we in NYC can be proud of.

The New York Botanical Garden:

https://libguides.nybg.org/naturalhabitats\

Misc. Videos & Talks

A few of the many Doug Tallamay videos on the web:

Restoring Nature's Relationships (1-1/4 hr.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjOy9_DASkQ

A Chickadee's Guide to Gardening (1 hr.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE1HsHHKTxU

Garden For Wildlife - Episode 7: Nature’s Best Hope with Dr. Doug Tallamy (1 hr.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDRGryX1uVI

Importance of Native Plants in Sustaining a Healthy Ecosystem (1-1/2 hr.)

This video has a commercial interest.