Pennsylvania Plants for Wildlife Habitat & Conservation Landscaping

Do you enjoy observing nature...hearing the song of the chickadee...watching hummingbirds fill up on nectar from trumpet vines...listening to the chattering of squirrels...seeing the beauty and grace of a monarch butterfly perched on a milkweed... experiencing the antics of a Mockingbird...the cooing of the Mourning Doves...the swiftness of the Cottontail...and the brilliance of a Cardinal or Baltimore Oriole?

If the answer is "yes", you'll probably want to landscape your property for wildlife so you can experience even more from Mother Nature by attracting more wildlife to your property.

Wildlife doesn't just randomly appear in a given area. It is there because of favorable habitat. The essential elements that you must provide in your habitat are food, water, cover and a place to raise a family. To attract the most wildlife, you need native trees, shrubs, groundcover, vines and wildflowers, many of which will provide food and shelter.

Native or indigenous plants naturally occur in the region in which they evolved. They are adapted to local soil, rainfall and temperature conditions, and have developed natural defenses to many insects and diseases. Because of these traits, native plants will grow with minimal use of water, fertilizers and pesticides. Wildlife species evolve with plants; therefore, they use native plant communities as their habitat. Using native plants helps preserve the balance and beauty of natural ecosystems.

Remember the function served by plants and structures is more important than their appearance. In other words, don't base your planting decisions solely on what a plant looks like. Following are WindStar Wildlife Institute's plant recommendations for wildlife habitats in Pennsylvania:

Trees

Red and Sugar Maple; River Birch; Hornbeam; Shagbark Hickory; Hackbery; Redbud; Flowering Dogwood; Cockspur and Dotted Hawthorn; Persimmon; American Holly; Black Walnut; Eastern Red Cedar; Sweet Gum; Black Gum; Eastern White, Shortleaf, Pitch and Virginia Pine; Sycamore; Wild Plum; Pin Cherry; White, Scarlet, Pin, Willow and Red Oak; Sassafras; American Linden; Eastern Hemlock

Shrubs
Downey Serviceberry; New Jersey Tea; Pogoda, Swamp, Silky and Red-osier Dogwood; Washington Hawthrorn; Bush Honeysuckle; Box Huckleberry; Winterberry; Spicebush; Chokecherry; Fragrant and Smooth Sumac; Prickly Gooseberry; Thimbleberry; Elderberry; Blueberry; Witherod Viburnum; Arrowwood

Wildflowers
Sweet Flag; White Baneberry; Thimbleweed; Columbine; Jack-in-the-pulpit; New England, White and Frost Aster; Butterfly Weed; Blue Wild Indigo; Turtlehead; Maryland Golden Aster; Tall Coreopsis; Dutchman's Breeches; Shooting Star; Joe-pye Weed; Ox-eye Sunflower; Swamp Rose Mallow; Wood Lily; Cardinal Flower; Great Blue Lobelia; Wild Lupine; Virginia Bluebells; Partridge Berry; Beebalm; Wild Bergamot; Yellow Poind Lily; Beardtongue; Sweet William; Summer and Creeping Phlox; Solomon's Seal; Black-eyed Susan; Cut-leaf Coneflower; Golden Ragwort; Fire Pink; Blue-stemmed, Gray and Showy Goldenrod; Foam Flower; Virginia Spiderwort; Blue Verbena; Common Blue and Birdsfoot Violet

Vines
Virginia Creeper; American Bittersweet; Virgin's Bower; Coral Honeysuckle; Passionflower; Cross Vine

Grasses
Indiangrass; Little and Big Bluestem; Sideoats Grama, Broomsedge, Switchgrass, Bluejoint; Bottlebrush; Prairie Cordgrass; Tall Dropseed

The Allegheny Mountains run diagonally from the southwest to the northeast with piedmont and coastal plains in the southeast triangle. The Allegheny Front, as it's called, cuts a diagonal line across the state. In the northwest, the plateau falls to the Lake Erie lowlands and, finally, Lake Erie. The Pennsylvania Native Plant Society can provide lists of plants for a specific region.

For more information on improving your wildlife habitat, visit the WindStar Wildlife Institute web site. On the web site, you can also apply to certify your property as a wildlife habitat, register for the "Certified Wildlife Habitat Naturalist e-Learning course, become a member and sign up for the FREE WindStar Wildlife Garden Weekly e-mail newsletter.