Native Plants for New Jersey Gardens

When people start planning a garden, they often think first about colorful annuals or familiar ornamentals. New Jersey also has a strong palette of native perennials and shrubs that bring beauty, seasonal interest, and habitat value to home landscapes.

Choosing native plants can make a garden easier to manage because these plants are adapted to local conditions. Native plants suited to New Jersey's slightly acidic soils often need less fertilizer and less water, and they can help reduce runoff and erosion while supporting healthier soil and water movement.

Native plants also do important work for wildlife. They provide better food, shelter, and ecological value for pollinators and other local animals than many non-native plants do.

Native perennials grown on our farm

Each year, we grow a variety of perennials that fit well into a New Jersey native-focused garden. Coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, bee balms, heliopsis, and switch grass are all strong choices for sunny beds, pollinator gardens, and naturalistic plantings.

Featured native or native-derived perennials from this year's lineup include: 

• Echinacea: Dbl Watermelon, Magnus, Pow Wow White, Pow Wow Wild Berry, Sombrero Lemon Yellow, Sombrero Salsa Red, Yellow My Darling (PW).
• Rudbeckia: Gold Rush, Goldstrum, Treasure Trove (PW).
• Monarda: Balmy Pink, Balmy Purple, Balmy Rose, Pardon My Cerise (PW), Pardon My Lavender (PW), Pardon My Rose (PW).
• Heliopsis: Tuscan Sun (PW), Bit of Honey (PW).
• Amsonia: Storm Cloud (PW).
• Aquilegia: Earlybird Mix.
• Panicum: Northwind.
• Muhlenberg: Pink Cloud.

These plants are especially useful for gardeners who want long bloom time, pollinator activity, and a more regionally appropriate planting style. They work well in mixed borders, meadow-inspired beds, and foundation plantings with a softer, more natural look.