NC Native Plants for Wildlife

Ready to plant a wildlife garden? First focus on getting your trees and shrubs in the ground; later, you can plant flowers and grasses between them.

Fall is the best time to plant trees and shrubs; it gives them plenty of time to establish their root systems before summer heat and drought sets in. After
planting, water them weekly in dry weather for their first year. Once they're established, native plants rarely require watering.

Follow up:

A very thorough list of North Carolina native plants can be found at
Landscaping for Wildlife with Native Plants.

Here are just a few easy, useful species beloved by local wildlife:

Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana): An evergreen tree commonly found at the edges of forests and fields, this is one of the best plants for providing shelter from cold winds. It also produces juniper berries, an important food source for birds in winter.

Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida): The familiar spring-flowering understory tree offers buds, nectar and berries for birds and mammals.

American holly (Ilex opaca): Another small (understory) tree, this native evergreen provides berries for birds in winter.

Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis): A familiar sight in early spring, the red buds open to pink flowers visited by beneficial insects, followed by seedpods valued by some birds and mammals.

Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia): This shrub produces spring flowers and red fruits in early summer.

Serviceberry (Amelanchier arborea): Another small, deciduous tree, the serviceberry offers blueberry-like fruits in early summer. These fruits are eaten by birds and mammals (and enjoyed by people, too!).

Wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera): Evergreen in our zone, these shrubs offer shelter and berries to wildlife and are convenient landscape plants, since they can be pruned to any shape and offer fairly dense screening between yards.

American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana): This ornamental shrub provides bright magenta berries along its branches in late summer through fall.

Arrowwood viburnum (Viburnum dentatum): This shrub's small white flower clusters in spring are followed by blue berries beloved by birds.

Trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervivens): These red flowers grow on vines and are beloved by hummingbirds.

Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea): Glossy green leaves, pink petals and spiky brown centers produce seeds in late summer. Leave the seed-containing dry flowerheads for winter sustenance for birds.

Tickseed (Coreopsis lanceolata): Sunny yellow perennial flowers offer nectar for bees and butterflies in the summer and seeds for birds in fall and winter.

Bee balm (Monarda didyma): Red, pink or purple flowers attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.

Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa): This perennial's bright orange flowerheads provide nectar to butterflies. The leaves are the only larval food source for the monarch butterfly.