This list was last updated on 29 March, 2024.
It will continue to be updated as time allows, which will be slow going.
Annual
I’m awaiting to see what self seeded itself, and also waiting for our last frost date since we had snow on May 9th.
Biennial
common mullein – Verbascum thapsus -pre March 2017, possible volunteer.
Bushes and Shrubs
Blackberry – at the property at time of purchase.
Black raspberry – at the property at time of purchase.
Blue Princess Holly Bush – Ilex x meserveae (pre March 2017) [two (2)]
— Supposedly these will not berry unless there is a Blue Prince nearby. We do not know where in our area the Prince is, but they both berry. We’ll be moving these this year to the back. One suffered winter burn (2018-19) which got worse this year. We’ll see how it does after the move.
Dewberry – Rubus flagellaris(pre March 2017) various points around the property at time of purchase.
Lilac – at property at time of purchase.
‘Northland’ Highbush Blueberry – Vaccinium corymbosum (purchased a 2 yr. old in 2017, transplanted in 2019, transplanted again in 2020).
Red raspberry – at the property at time of purchase.
Strawberry – at the property at time of purchase.
Perennial
Bee Balm – transplant bought in 2017
Lavender – starter bought in 2018
bleeding heart – Lamprocapnos spectabilis – at the property at time of purchase.
Trees
White Oak – at the property at time of purchase.
Red Maple – at the property at time of purchase.
Birch – at the property at time of purchase.
Volunteers of all sorts
Devil’s paintbrush
Dandelion
Fleabane – Erigeron pulchellus -pre March 2017
Violet
Banes of my existence (aka invasive to us)
Burdock
Japanese Knotweed
Oriental Bittersweet
Purple Loosetrife
General Notes: After reading a forum thread, “The dark side of native plant enthusiasm“, that goes into depth about how we define “native”, “naturalized” or “non-native” plants, I’m on the fence about this only when there’s not yet been a finding that a non native is causing actual harm to a given ecosystem where it was introduced. An example of such is something like lupines where a variant that was more popular with gardeners for having a more even blue/lavender is pushing out the local native lupine. This matters because is has contributed to the endangerment of the Blue Karner Butterfly. Although the adults can eat both types of nectar just fine, their offspring (larvae) cannot/will not eat the leaf type that is native to the Northwestern corner of the U.S. but is now taking over here because hobby gardeners prefer the color. (I am working on a post about this which I will link to once it’s finished. It’s taking a long time because it needs a lot of research to get it right while still making it short enough to not be an hours long read.) I might do a workaround like “native since X date” or some such of that nature because it might help spread awareness of why the “native” or “non-native” label isn’t always the right label.
“Invasive” is another category that often seems a no brainer, but what might be invasive in one zone, might not be in another. What I am doing for now is I added the “Banes of my existence” category because although some plants are invasive here, they are not in other places–regardless of whether they are considered native or not.