Royal Fern is a clumping deciduous fern. Its broad, green fronds turn yellow in fall. Fertile brown clusters atop the fronds hold the spores. Royal Fern is an important host plant for moth larvae (caterpillars), including Osmunda Borer Moth (Papaipema speciosissima). Plant it along a water’s edge or in your shade garden, woodland garden, rain garden, and moist, shady areas of your yard.
Cinnamon Fern is a clumping deciduous fern. The fronds emerge as fiddleheads. Birds use the “fuzz” covering the fiddleheads as nesting material. Green, sterile fronds bend outward, encircling fertile, erect, spore-bearing fronds, which quickly turn chestnut-brown, giving this plant its common name. Cinnamon Fern makes an attractive accent in landscapes. Use it along the water’s edge and in woodland gardens, rain gardens, swales, or any moist, shady areas of the yard.
Virginia Bluebells provide early spring delight as clusters of pink buds emerge, blooming as blue-purple, trumpet-shaped flowers March through April. By midsummer, the foliage dies back as the plant goes dormant. Use it in your shade garden, woodland borders, or as a spring groundcover. Overplant with ferns or perennials that will fill in the empty space once the plants recede. A related species is Mertensia maritima (Sea Lungwort), which tolerates salt and can be used in coastal landscapes.
Hollyleaved Barberry is an evergreen shrub with spiny, holly-like leaves. Small, bell-shaped yellow flowers bloom in spring, followed by edible blue-black berries resembling small grapes. An added ornamental feature of this shrub is the coppery color of new leaves in the spring. Bees and pollinating insects value the nectar, and birds eat the berries. The berries can be used to make jelly. Plant Hollyleaved Barberry in a mass for best fruit production. It will spread to form colonies, unless suckers are removed. Avoid planting this shrub in areas exposed to drying winter winds. Use Hollyleaved Barberry as a foundation plant or in shrub borders, shade gardens, or woodland gardens.
Cucumber-tree is a medium-large, flowering deciduous tree, offering a full, rounded form. Upon maturity, small, slightly fragrant, tulip-like greenish-yellow flowers bloom April-May, usually towards the crown of the tree. Flowers are followed by cucumber-like, showy red fruits in late summer. The seeds are a food source for birds and small mammals. Use Cucumber-tree as an ornamental shade tree in your yard or neighborhood park.
Cardinal Flower is one of the most attractive native wildflowers in New Jersey. The showy, scarlet-red flowers are a hummingbird magnet, blooming July through September and offering a late summer nectar source. Cardinal Flower requires moist-wet, humus-rich soil to ensure optimum growth. It prefers partly shady areas, but it can tolerate full shade. Enhance your yard’s perennial border, butterfly garden, rain garden, or moist woodland edge with this gorgeous native!
Spicebush is a deciduous shrub, which grows with a rounded form. The fragrant white-yellow-green flower clusters bloom in March. Use Spicebush as a shrub border, in naturalized areas, or along woodland edges around your yard.