Native Plant Resources
Planting native species offers numerous ecological, aesthetic, and practical benefits. Native plants are specifically adapted to a region’s climate and soil, requiring less water and maintenance. They also provide critical food and shelter for native wildlife facing decline due to habitat loss, including birds and beneficial insects like pollinators.
There are many benefits of landscaping and gardening with native plants including conserving water, protecting soil from erosion, and creating habitat. Simply by growing native plants gardeners can bring enormous beauty to a community and joy to its residents, while also being good stewards of our environment. In addition, native plants are easy-to-grow and require minimal maintenance.
View the plants we have in the Pollinator Garden at Spruce Acres Farm here. Or, view suggested perennials.
View a list of native shrub species found on our preserves that we recommend planting here. Or, view native trees species here.
View a list of our rain garden plants here. Or, view suggested native rain garden perennials, trees and shrubs.
Worried about invasives? Find a list of common Aquidneck Island invasives here.
Live near the ocean or looking for dune stabilization? Check out our list of salt tolerant plants here.
Native Plant Resources for Rhode Island:
- RI Native Plant Guide – URI Cooperative Extension: Online database that provides background information on native species to Rhode Island and their planting requirements.
- Rhode Island Wild Plant Society (RIWPS): A Rhode Island-specific native plant non-profit that hosts plant sales, botany talks, and has a database of invasive species. The Land Trust works with their initiative, ReSeeding Rhode Island (https://riwps.org/reseeding-ri/), preserving the genetics and increasing the supply of RI’s native plants with foundation plots, two located at Spruce Acres Farm.
- Native Plant Trust Plant Finder: Another online database, this one based on New England species. A helpful tool for people trying to figure out what native species they could plant on their own properties.
- Xerces Northeast Native Plant List: Xerces Society is a great resource for anything related to pollinators and beneficial insects. They have a native plant list for the northeast focused on species that are particularly valuable for pollinators/beneficial insects.
- Smith, S. B. and S. R. McWilliams. 2015. Recommended plantings for migratory songbird habitat management. Rochester, NY: Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Rhode Island. 2 p.: Goes into detail on the specific nutritional value of various native plant species for birds.
- Xerces Society also provides a great resource for Nesting and Overwintering Habitat for Pollinators and Other Beneficial Insects.
Questions? Contact Stewardship Manager Sean Grandy at sgrandy@ailt.org or call 401-849-2799 x115.