Natives matched to your region from your ZIP code. Filter for edible berries and leaves, flower color, drought tolerance, and sun, and get guidance on soil, planting, and timing for each one.
About this tool: why natives, and how to choose themNot to a country or a state. Plant communities follow climate and soil, not political boundaries, so a ZIP code is only a rough proxy.
Most plant-eating insects are specialists and cannot switch to plants from another continent, so a garden of exotics can look lush and support almost nothing.
A few keystone genera carry most of it: oaks, willows, cherries, birches, poplars, goldenrods, asters and sunflowers. With limited space, choose from those. Prefer the straight species: double flowers and purple-leaved selections feed far less.
A prairie species wants lean soil and rots in a rich bed. Match the plant to the site rather than rebuilding it, but water everything through its first full season. Buy nursery-propagated, never wild-dug, and ask about neonicotinoids.
Something in flower spring to hard frost; the shoulders matter most. Leave it standing over winter: hollow stems hold nesting bees and pupae sit in the litter. Tidying in autumn removes what you spent summer attracting.