pieheart, I'm also in New Jersey and interested in native plants. I'm not sure about where you are, but I've had so-so success finding the native plants I want at the local nurseries. I'm linking to a page from the N.J. Native Plant Society that has sources for native plants. From this list I've ordered from Toadshade and have gone to the native plant sale at Bowman's. I'd recommend both. Toadshade last time I looked only offered a few shrubs. If you're interested in Bowman's act quickly. I just looked and their plant sale ends this weekend and there's not another until fall. http://www.bhwp.org/seed_catalog/plantsale.htm I've also gotten many native plants I've had trouble finding elsewhere from periodic sales the Audubon Society near me has and from other sales by Master Gardeners, Arboretums etc. Enjoy. -- Lori Here is a link that might be useful: sources for native plants from N. J. Native Plant Society site

This is already posted in the woodlands forum as well as the native forum. I don't think you need to post it here as well (this is not a very active forum anyway). Good shelter plants include evergreens like eastern red cedar (which can take some shade). Another solution is a brush pile - a loose collection of large and small branches and leaves. I have several of these in my garden - a great way to recycle and help wildlife. The link posted on the native forum was very helpful and those are some great links on the referenced site. I wouldn't begin to single out any plants when you can go through those lists.

If you have a moist, semi-shady area you could try planting a thicket for the birds using plants like Viburnum trilobum, other viburnum, elderberries, native plum thicket, etc. Lindera benzion, spicebush, grows very well in shady moist areas and birds love the berries (and it provides habitat for spicebush swallowtail caterpillars). Plant a Clematis virginiana (virgin's bower) over it and voila! Instant cover and food sources. I would add Lonicera sempervirens for the hummers if you can (native honeysuckle). Some of your hummer plants are not native, such as the chives, scabiosa, parsley...hummers also enjoy columbine, penstemon, and garden phlox. Seed-eating birds also love the seeds of coreopsis, native sunflowers, rudbeckia and echinacea. Your Bradford pear is unfortunately an invasive species in Virginia and you may want to consider replacing it with a native alternative if you can. Sounds like you're off to a wonderful start with what you have. Adding a water source to your yard will really bring the birds flocking!

As far as I know, there aren't many evergreen shrubs that are also host plants for butterflies. I've heard of people planting red bay (Persea borbonia) or swamp bay (P. palustris) which are evergreen and keeping them pruned to bush size, but they're only regularly used by palamedes swallowtails, which don't occur in north Alabama. Once in a blue moon I find a spicebush swallowtail caterpillar on mine, but it wouldn't be worth it for you. Spicebush swallowtails lay eggs just as freely on sassafras as they do spicebush, so you could plant some 'out back' for them. Sassafras doesn't need a shady swamp like spicebush. If I were you, I'd use one of the native viburnums for foundation planting, like V. acerifolium/maple leaf viburnum or V. dentatum/arrow wood. Maple leaf viburnum has some of the most beautiful leaves, plus azalea sphinx moths occasionally use viburnums as host plants. Bird just LOVE the berries! The best thing about the native viburnums is that they're so easy to grow, they can survive foundation soil, which is usually full of subsoil turned over by the builders and hard to repair. If your foundation area is real wet, you could plant the possumhaw viburnum, which is evergreen. The best wildlife plant out there is wild black cherry/Prunus serotina, but it makes a big tree. If you have a big enough yard, it would be well worth it to have several. It's host to both tiger swallowtails and red-spotted purples, plus many of the big moths, like cecropia moths, use it as a host plant, bees use the flowers, and birds love the fruit. In regard to butterflies, you probably should watch to see what butterflies occur in your area, look up their host plant/s, and plant them if you'd like to see more of them. Buttonbush is a real draw as a nectar plant for butterflies and MANY other insects, but, unless you have a consistently wet spot for it, it might not make it. I have about a dozen blueberry bushes which have gotten big, and they keep me and the birds eating blueberries from about the first week in June until August - I have different varieties that mature at different times. And they're SO easy to grow, no insecticides needed, just acid soil! There are many plants that make good nectar plants. I have a bottlebrush buckeye that butterflies just LOVE, but it only blooms once a year. You could plant some pentas, which butterflies like to nectar on and tersa sphinx moths like to use as a host plant. Of course, there's milkweed, the monarch host plant that all butterflies like to nectar on, zinnias, butterfly bush, and lantana, which can't be beat! A good butterfly book that includes host plants, and a good bird book would be a great buy! Sherry