Looking for table of flowering plants and their properties, to decide what to plant where & when - Ask Extension
Hi,
Questions for you. Someone (maybe a master gardener?) was circulating a table that shows flowering plants with some of their relevant characteri...
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Looking for table of flowering plants and their properties, to decide what to plant where & when #885267
Asked September 14, 2024, 4:11 PM EDT
Hi,
Questions for you. Someone (maybe a master gardener?) was circulating a table that shows flowering plants with some of their relevant characteristics, to help decide which flowering plants to plant where and when. The plant species were in the rows and (some of) their characteristics were in the columns. Some chars were:
- when they bloom
- perennial or annual
- native, introduced, invasive
- colors
- height
- sun needs - full, partial, shade
- water needs - damp, drought resistant
- soil types they live in
- when they are out
- good companion plants
If you know of one or more of these tables, would you send them to me? I am also interested in this kind of table for shrubs and trees that will work in Annapolis. Thanks for any help!
Anne Arundel County Maryland
Expert Response
Do you have more information about where you encountered such a list? If so, we can try to help track it down. (Was it a local in-person talk? An online webinar? This year or a prior year?) Master Gardeners do some in-person events as well as give virtual talks, and a few of the state-wide web presentations given each year by other speakers, intended primarily for a Master Gardener audience as part of their ongoing training, are also open to the public. Given this, it's hard to say if the person (if they were a Master Gardener at all) was local or part of another county's program. You local county Extension office might have the information if it was an A.A. County MG giving a presentation for which they created a slide or handout.
Aside from individual Master Gardeners who generate handouts and fliers over the years, UMD Extension doesn't have a database or extensive list of plant traits and characteristics, in part because thousands of species (native and non-native) are grown in gardens in the state. Perhaps a local library has some good gardening books that would help with this type of layout or catalog of common species. Most gardening books about annuals or perennials will include the information you seek, though not all (at least among older publications) specify where the species is native to. Some reputable online references include botanical gardens (for example, the Missouri Botanical Garden has a web database of many species that are also grown here) and other Extension sites (NC State has lots of plant species info. online). If you're looking up plant information online and restrict search results to display only .edu or .org pages, that will give you more reliable information.
Publications that focus on locally native plants (a sampling, as they are not exhaustive lists given the thousands of species found in Maryland) which might be helpful include:
Miri
Aside from individual Master Gardeners who generate handouts and fliers over the years, UMD Extension doesn't have a database or extensive list of plant traits and characteristics, in part because thousands of species (native and non-native) are grown in gardens in the state. Perhaps a local library has some good gardening books that would help with this type of layout or catalog of common species. Most gardening books about annuals or perennials will include the information you seek, though not all (at least among older publications) specify where the species is native to. Some reputable online references include botanical gardens (for example, the Missouri Botanical Garden has a web database of many species that are also grown here) and other Extension sites (NC State has lots of plant species info. online). If you're looking up plant information online and restrict search results to display only .edu or .org pages, that will give you more reliable information.
Publications that focus on locally native plants (a sampling, as they are not exhaustive lists given the thousands of species found in Maryland) which might be helpful include:
- Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping: Chesapeake Bay Watershed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
- you can use what is essentially a web version (and searchable and filterable) of this via the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay's Native Plant Center
- Native Plants of Maryland by UMD Extension
- Landscaping with Native Plants by the Maryland Native Plant Society
- Native Plants for Northern Virginia (still applicable here)
Miri
