Pennsylvania Plants for Wildlife Habitat & Conservation Landscaping
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
Mockingbirds are commonly spotted when bird watching in Pennsylvania.
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.