As the common name suggests, Bushy Aster is an upright, bushier variety of native Aster.  Fast growing and easy going, will tolerate most soil conditions as it is found in both grasslands and bordering wetlands.

White Oak is the classic oak tree.  It is a large, long-live tree found throughout the Eastern US.  A keystone species, oaks are host plants for at least 452 species of butterflies and moths!  More than 180 different kinds of birds and mammals use oak acorns as food.

These evergreen trees are very adaptable and can tolerate heat, cold, dry, wet, salt and windy conditions. The scale-like needles are attractive in all seasons.  In late summer and fall, female junipers have blue-green berry-like fruits, actually modified cones, that attract birds.

Easy growing light purple flowers bloom later in the season providing pollen sources for many bees and other insects.  Smooth Aster will flourish in mediocre and poor quality, rocky soils.  Works well in garden borders and neglected areas.

This dainty plant has showy flowers. Plants can produce numerous seeds, making the plant readily self-seed. It's native habitat is dry, open, sandy sites.

Fast growing, generally pest and disease-free, and drought-tolerant. Colonies are often single-sexed, formed from a single, suckering parent. Only female plants produce flowers and berries. Leaves are extremely colorful in the fall.

Super easy to grow and tolerant of most conditions.  Bright yellow flowers open at dusk and close by noon, hence the common name.  While each plant will only live 2 years, they will readily self-seed to create clusters of plants in successive years.  

This easy going shrub is semi-evergreen and its attractive leaves turn reddish during the fall. Its waxy yellow-green fruits are bird magnets and have been used traditionally to make candles.

Yes, Long Island has a native cactus! The Prickly Pear Cactus is a mounding, low-growing perennial found closer to the shoreline in sandy patches.  Easy to grow, hard to kill, and great for containers, too.  Be careful of the tiny hairlike spines when handling!  The paddles (nopales) and fruit (tuna) are edible and feature in Mexican cuisine. 

Swamp Rose Mallow, one of our native Hibiscus, can be found in marshes, wetlands, and near ponds and rivers.  Its large white or pink flowers open consistently between 9am-11am.  Its seeds are a source of food for many birds and its flowers attract hummingbirds and insects.  28 species of butterflies and moths utilize this plant as a host.