Our Native Plant Garden
Takoma Park Presbyterian Church’s Native Plant Garden
Welcome to Takoma Park Presbyterian Church’s native plant garden!
From spring through fall, you will find many species of wild trees, shrubs, flowers, and ferns growing here. And in the winter, when green is gone from the garden and all looks brown and bare, there is plenty of life here – many insect grubs are hibernating in dry plant stalks, under tree bark, and in the leaf litter on the ground. We grow native plants to support the web of life that surrounds and supports us, including mammals, birds, insects, and the plants themselves.
Our garden is diverse with many species, including a couple of important keystone species (PDF), like oaks, wild cherry, asters, and goldenrod. These plants are called “keystones” because their leaves provide food for a larger number of insect species than other plants. In the U.S., for example, oaks - like the red and white oak trees in our garden - support 897 caterpillar species! Other keystone species in our garden include Wild Cherry, Asters, and Goldenrod. The caterpillars depend on these keystone plants for food, and small wild birds depend on the caterpillars as a soft and nutritious food source for their hungry babies. In turn, bigger animals like hawks depend on the birds for food. And we depend on butterflies, bees, and other insects to pollinate the plants we eat!
Native Plant Garden Plant List
September 2021
Thanks to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for providing links that give information about each native plant species in our garden.
When you click on one of the links below, you will need to scroll past the plant data base search to get to the plant information.
Large Trees
Eastern white oak, Quercus alba
Southern red oak, Quercus falcata
Small Trees and Shrubs
Black cherry, Prunus serotina
Black chokeberry, Aronia melancocarpa
Eastern redbud, Cercis canadensis
Elderberry, Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis
New Jersey tea, Ceanothus americanus
Smooth sumac, Rhus glabra
Serviceberry, Amelanchier arborea
Herbaceous Flowering Plants
Early Spring (February and March)
Early meadow-rue, Thalictrum dioicum
Golden groundsel, Packera aurea
Late Spring (April and May)
Eastern Bluestar, Amsonia Tabernaemontana
Foxglove beardtongue, Penstemon digitalis
Mayapple, Podophyllum peltatum
Tall meadow-rue, Thalictrum pubescens
Virginia bluebells, Mertensia virginica
Wild bergamot, Monarda fistulosa
Mid-Summer (June and July)
Baldwin’s ironweed, Vernonia baldwinii
Brown-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia triloba
Butterfly weed, Asclepias tuberosa
Clustered mountainmint, Pycnanthemum muticum
Common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca
Dogbane, Apocynum cannabinum
Giant ironweed, Vernonia gigantea
Hollow Joe Pye weed, Eutrochium fistulosum
Lyreleaf sage, Salvia lyrate
Missouri ironweed, Vernonia missurica
New York Ironweed, Vernonia noveboracensis
Oxyeye sunflower, Heliopsis helianthoides
Sawtooth sunflower, Helianthus grosseserratus
Late Summer and Fall (August-October)
Blue wood-aster, Symphyotrichum cordifolium
Calico aster, Symphyotrichum lateriflorum
Canada goldenrod, Solidago canadensis
Jerusalem artichoke, Helianthus tuberosus
New England aster, Symphyotrichum novae-angliae
Panicled aster, Symphyotrichum lanceolatum
White wood aster, Eurybia divaricate
Ferns
Common lady fern, Athyrium filix-femina
Royal fern, Osmunda regalis
For more information on the Native Plant Garden or other green initiatives, contact The Green Team.
