Native Plant Library for Landscape Design

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 productive, 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 – 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 – 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 the last category:
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.

Canopy Trees – Conifers

Red spruce tree growing in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina

Picea rubens (Red Spruce)

SPOTLIGHT ON SPECIES – Tall, stately conifer native to New England and the Appalachian Mountains. Deep green needles with pleasant scent, grows well in shade. Supports conservation efforts.

Pinus pungens (Table Mountain Pine)

SPOTLIGHT ON SPECIES – Common pine from driest sites in the Appalachian Mountains. Extremely drought-tolerant, disease resistant native pine that makes a good replacement for disease-prone Austrian and Scots pines.

Canopy Trees – Hardwoods

Quercus rubra (Northern Red Oak)

One of the fastest-growing and widely adaptable native hardwoods of Eastern North America, Red Oak is a keystone species that has a lot to offer for the designed landscape. Attractive deep-green leaves turn a brilliant crimson to scarlet color in Autumn, and acorns provide food for all kinds of wildlife. Supports hundreds of species of Lepidoptera, the base of the food web.

Understory Trees

Cornus florida (Flowering Dogwood)

Arguably the most well-loved native flowering tree in Eastern North America, Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) is a garden workhorse when it comes to both aesthetic beauty and ecological function. A four-season interest tree that also supports over 100 different species of caterpillars, Flowering Dogwood should be planted everywhere it can be grown.

Shrubs

Flowering Perennials – Meadow and Grassland (Sun)

Pycnanthemum muticum (Short-Tooth Mountain Mint)

2025 Perennial Plant of the Year. Short-Tooth Mountain Mint is a vigorous, interesting-looking native perennial. All parts of the plant smell strongly of camphor and peppermint, a feature that prevents deer and rabbits from eating the plants. Dusty-colored plants give way to white flowers backed by bracts that look as if they have been spray painted, with the color reminiscent of the old-fashioned garden annual Dusty Miller.

Aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium 'Raydon's Favorite') in bloom in October

Symphyotrichum oblongifolium (Aromatic Aster)

SPOTLIGHT ON SPECIES – A free-flowering, late blooming aster with purple to sky blue flowers. Extends the garden bloom season, providing pollinators with critical nectar and pollen. Easy-to-grow and drought tolerant.

Flowering Perennials – Woodland and Forest (Shade)

Viola striata (Striped Cream Violet)

Viola striata (Common name striped cream violet) is a hardy filler plant native to the eastern U.S. and Southeastern Canada, thriving in moist woodlands. It grows 12-18 inches tall, attracting native bees and serving as a host for butterflies. Easy to cultivate, it performs best in mesic environments and makes for an excellent filler plant in shaded landscapes.

Polemonium reptans (Jacob’s Ladder)

SPOTLIGHT ON SPECIES – Easy-to-grow woodlander with light blue flowers. Attracts specialist pollinators. Perfect for a medium-moisture spot in shade to part shade.

Sedum ternatum (Woodland Stonecrop)

SPOTLIGHT ON SPECIES – Bulletproof groundcover for shade. White flowers in mid-Spring cover the plants. Drought-tolerant.