Find the right plants to create your Landscape Palette and create thriving, productive landscapes.
Not all plants are created equal, and a plant isn’t suited for a landscape just on the virtue of being native. Some plants provide essential food and shelter for wildlife, while others contribute little beyond aesthetics. The right plant choices can transform a landscape from decorative to dynamic, supporting biodiversity and ecological function.
The Paddle Creek Gardens Native Plant Library has been developed and designed to help you choose plants with purpose – Whether you’re designing a backyard habitat for your own garden, or a sustainable landscape for your clients.
How to Use This Library
We have developed a classification system to help you to make informed decisions. Each plant has two main classifications in addition to descriptions of general habit and characteristics, as well as site requirements.
Here is a brief overview of our main classifications:
Ecological Function
Every plant plays a role in the ecosystem. This classifier highlights a plant’s contribution to the local ecology. Labels in this section:
- KEYSTONE – This is the most impactful category from an ecological standpoint. Keystone plants host the most diverse range of butterflies and pollinators in an area.
- SPECIALIST – Plants in this category may not host a diverse range of caterpillars or pollinators, but they do have relationships with specialists that rely on a single genus or species for food.
- SUPPORTER – Plants in this category don’t host a huge variety of caterpillars or pollinators, but they do host some and offer food and shelter for birds.
- LOW IMPACT – The lowest score in the Ecological Function classifier. Plants in this category offer little ecologically beyond soil stabilization and shelter for wildlife.
Design Role
Apart from ecological function, the human side of gardening is aesthetic value and impact. We’ve come up with a simple system to classify plants based on their design impact:
- ANCHOR – This label applies to large trees and shrubs, or tall-growing, large shrubs and plants in grassland regions. These are the largest plants in the landscape, and the plants the rest of the design is planned around.
- ACCENT – This label applies to plants that will be planted singly or in small clumps for contrast and impact – Plants in this category may have tall, architectural forms, or brightly colored flowers that act as a counterpoint to our next label:
- FILLER – Plants in this category are typically spreading, colonizing plants that are easy to start from cuttings or seed. These plants are planted in large drifts of 7 or more plants for a visual impact.