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Lonicera sempervirens

Trumpet Honeysuckle is a twining, wildlife-friendly deciduous vine, which will attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees to your garden! Its red-pink-orange, trumpet-shaped flowers bloom May-June and offer hummingbirds and nectar-loving pollinators an energy-rich food source. The berries are an attractive food source for many species of birds, including finches and robins. The foliage is host to butterfly and moth larvae (caterpillars), including Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon) and Snowberry Clearwing (Hemaris diffinis). Wait until after flowering to prune. Trumpet Honeysuckle can be trained on your trellis, arbor, pergola, or along a fence around your yard.

Lobelia cardinalis

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!

Liriodendron tulipifera

Tuliptree is a large, fast-growing, flowering, wildlife-friendly deciduous tree. Yellow-and-orange bicolor flowers blooming May-June are valued by bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Flowers lead to ornamental, cone-shaped fruits bearing numerous winged seeds. Large, tulip-shaped leaves give this tree its common name. It is favored by wildlife for nest sites, cover, and food. Tuliptree is a host plant for butterfly and moth larvae (caterpillars), including Tuliptree Silkmoth (Callosamia angulifera) and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus). Use it as a specimen tree or shade tree for your large yard or landscape.

Liquidambar styraciflua

Sweet Gum is a large, low-maintenance, wildlife-friendly deciduous tree. It is monoecious; yellow-green male and female flowers bloom separately on the same tree, April-May. Female flowers are followed by “gum balls” — hard, spherical, pointy seed pods, which house seeds that are an attractive food source for birds and wildlife. The seed pods may be considered unsightly litter by some, but the benefits to wildlife far outweigh this minor nuisance. Sweet Gum trees also provide nesting sites and cover for birds and wildlife. Select its placement carefully, as it is intolerant of alkaline soils and shade. Use it as a specimen tree or shade tree in your yard. It can also be used as a stately street tree; however, clean-up of the gumballs must be managed.

Lindera benzoin

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.

Liatris spicata

Dense Blazing Star is a tall, native perennial. Spikes of fluffy, purple flowers on rigid stalks bloom from the top down July-August. While this plant prefers moist fertile soil, it will tolerate poor, dry soil. Dense Blazing Star is a valuable food plant for native bees and bumblebees. Plant in masses or as vertical accents in borders.

Liatris scariosa

Eastern Blazing Star is a tall, upright perennial. Rose, lavender, or white feathery flowers open from top to bottom from August-October, and make excellent cut or dried flowers. Eastern Blazing Star is a valuable nectar plant for native bees and bumblebees. It does well in dry soils or rocky soils. Use it in borders, meadows, and naturalized areas, and as vertical accent plants.

Liatris pilosa

Shaggy Blazing Star is a graceful perennial with narrow, grass-like foliage. Spikes of purple flowers bloom from August-October. Flowers open first at the top of the stem and continue blooming downward. This plant mixes well with native grasses. Shaggy Blazing Star is a nectar plant for Monarch butterflies, and its seeds are a food source for birds. Use it in borders, edges, and meadows.

Kalmia latifolia

Mountain Laurel is a broadleaf evergreen shrub. Cup-shaped, white to pink flowers with darker pink to purple markings cover the shrub in late spring. It is a host plant for larvae (caterpillars) of the Laurel sphinx moth (Sphinx kalmiae). Use in groups in shrub borders, shade gardens, or woodland areas; mixes well with Rhododendrons and Azaleas.

Kalmia angustifolia

Sheep Laurel is a flowering evergreen shrub with leathery, blue-green leaves. Clusters of small, rose-pink, saucer-shaped flowers bloom in late June. This shrub prefers a moist, acidic, organic soil, but will also grow in dry, sandy soil. Use it in a shrub border or woodland garden. Plant parts are toxic if ingested.