West Virginia Plants for Wildlife Habitat & Conservation Landscaping, including providing cover and food for wild birds.
Trees
Tall – Eastern Hemlock, White Oak, Wild Cherry, White Pine, Red Mulberry, Sourgum, Common Persimmon, Shagbark Hickory, Virginia Pine, Red Oak
Medium/Small – Serviceberry, Eastern Redbud, Flowering Dogwood, American Holly, Southern Crabapple, Eastern Red Cedar, American Hornbeam, Cockspur Hawthorn, Hackberry, Sassafras
Shrubs
Summer fruits — American Elder, Serviceberry, Highbush Blueberry, Blackberries, Raspberries
Fall fruits — Red-osier Dogwood, Winterberry Holly, Inkberry, Common Juniper, Canada Yew
Winter fruits — Viburnums, Northern Bayberry, Sumacs, Red Chokeberry, Scarlet Firethorn, Spicebush
In West Virginia, the Baltimore Oriole can be easily spotted when bird watching.
Wildflowers
Butterflyweed, New England Aster, Tickseed Sunflower, Joe-Pye Weed, Cardinal Flower, Common Milkweed, Black-eyed Susan, Eastern Columbine, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Grass-leaf Blazingstar, Oxeye Sunflower, Wild Indigo, Spring Beauty, Dutchman’s Breeches, Smooth Sweet Cicely, Common Blue Wood Aster, Blue-stem Goldenrod
Groundcovers
Straw Lily, Violet Wood Sorrel, Partridgeberry, Wintergreen, Blue Wood Sedge, Wild Ginger, Golden Ragwort
Vines
Trumpet Creeper, American Bittersweet, Virginia Creeper, Coral Honeysuckle
Grasses
Indiangrass, Little Bluestem, Gama Grass, Virginia Wild Rye, Bottlebrush Grass, Canada Wild Rye, Broomsedge, Virginia Switchgrass
West Virginia‘s landscape includes a wide range of natural communities from mountains, forests, valleys, rivers and streams, and meadows. Eighty percent of the state is forests. The West Virginia 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.