Philadelphia is located in USDA hardiness zone 7b,<\/a> where the lowest average winter temperature is zero. With around 2,100 native plants in Pennsylvania, consider these well-adapted beauties for your Philadelphia home.<\/p> The red maple<\/a> grows from 40 to 100 feet high with a canopy spread up to 40 feet. Spring flowers bloom in red during April and May. In the fall, leaves on red maples turn maroon and yellow. <\/p> One of the most popular and beautiful red maple varieties for your Philadelphia home is \u201cautumn flame,\u201d with its opposite palmate, glossy foliage. When leaves drop in the fall, you\u2019re bound to see a few birds\u2019 nests in the higher limbs.\u00a0<\/p> White oaks are slow-growing trees that reach up to 90 feet high, 70 feet wide, and are prime sources of food for squirrels, chipmunks, and other small critters that live on or nearby your Philadelphia property. As deciduous members of the beech family, white oaks<\/a> drop burgundy round-lobed foliage in the fall.<\/p> Birds, squirrels, and deer feast from the acorn seeds that drop throughout spring, summer, and fall. White Oaks make fine shade trees for your backyard. The wood is strong and rot resistant, so it makes great wood for cabinets and furniture.<\/p> The tree gets its name because its flowers resemble a tulip flower. The beautiful cup-shaped flowers provide nectar for bees, birds, and butterflies. Bright green leaves turn golden yellow in the fall. The stems emit soft scents in spring and summer. The tree\u2019s foliage and flowers bring a patterned look when the sun filters through. <\/p> Tulip trees<\/a> provide food and shelter for animals that may roam through your yard. In the fall and winter, rabbits and white-tailed deer eat the fallen seeds. Spring flowers nourish ruby-throated hummingbirds with their nectar. Tulip trees also provide food for squirrels, birds, and small mice. This shrub needs female and male plants for producing fruits that appear in the fall. Common winterberry<\/a> leaves do not have sharp edges like other hollies, but instead, feature oblong purplish-green foliage. Dense clusters of bright orange and red berries stay on branches throughout the winter. <\/p> These berries feed the wildlife but are toxic to humans. <\/p> The ninebark produces pinkish-white blooms from May through July. The trunk has a papery, peeling bark to highlight the foliage\u2019s coppery color in autumn. Ninebark sprouts green, yellow, or reddish leaves within a cascading cluster of florets. Flowering in late spring, the clusters of pink or white blooms attract pollinators that feed on the nectar.<\/p> Ninebark blends in nicely with other like shrubbery to create a colorful band of greenery in the flowerbeds around your Philadelphia home.<\/p> Summersweet<\/a> <\/a><\/strong>is a fragrant shrub that tolerates shade and supports pollinating insects. \u00a0The plant spreads by sending up new shoots to form small thickets. Summersweet is perfect for low hedges, border plants, and privacy hedges. Flowers bloom for four weeks during July and August and emit a spicy scent.<\/p> Summersweet is a slow-growing shrub that thrives in locations where it will have plenty of room to spread up to 8 feet wide. Water as needed.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p> Phlox<\/a> sprouts fragrant, showy flowers to highlight beds around the perimeter of your Philadelphia home. The flowers bloom in various shades of white, blue, purple, and pink in May and June. This perennial attracts bees, butterflies, and birds for pollination of nearby plants, and you can start it from seeds. Pinch off dead blooms to prompt more flowering.<\/p> Phlox is similar to what you see along some roadways in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and in open fields. Sometimes called \u201cWild Sweet William,\u201d these blooming clusters also grow in woods and forests. <\/p> These herbaceous perennials bloom from July to September in white or light shades of pink. With showy flowers that attract birds and butterflies, these plants emit a pleasant minty fragrance to freshen up the summer night air. Plant mountain mints in herb and butterfly gardens, and as borders around flower beds.<\/p> Here\u2019s a bit of trivia: Mountain mint plant leaves were once used to make mild teas. Native Americans brewed the leaves for treating colds, fevers, and stomach aches. <\/p> Black-eyed Susans<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>are long-blooming and readily available for your Philadelphia landscape. One of the most popular native wildflowers growing on American soil, black-eyed Susans spread across open fields \u2013 their yellow-gold petals splashing with color.<\/p> Black-eyed Susan draws bees, butterflies, and other insects to its blooms, which continue from June to October. Place seeds directly in flower beds or gardens, or plant some in indoor containers. For varieties, check out the lemon-yellow, dark red, and golden \u201cBecky Mixed.\u201d Bright-yellow \u201cSonora\u201d looks nice against green foliage. \u201cToto\u201d is a dwarf black-eyed Susan variety suitable for containers. <\/p> Both ferns are great additions to woodland or rock gardens. These deciduous North American native ferns feature lacy, fan-shaped green fronds on glossy black stems. Ferns spread quickly in moist soil and lightly-shaded areas. <\/p> Plant maidenhair and evergreen wood ferns among rain gardens, as a companion to ornamental grasses, and as woodland plants beneath shade trees. The light grayish-green, feathery foliage makes great container plants and ground cover, too. <\/p> Planning the landscaping for your home is more than just browsing through a garden store. Choose the right plants for growing in direct sunlight, filtered sun, and full shade. Stay away from everything on Pennsylvania\u2019s invasive plant list.<\/a> The more you know, the better your garden will grow!<\/p> Need some help with your landscape? Hire a Philadelphia landscaping professional<\/a> to get the job done.<\/em><\/p> Main Photo Credit: Picdrome Public Domain Pictures | Flickr<\/a> | CC0 1.0<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There\u2019s more to Philadelphia than the Liberty Bell, Rocky movies, and Ben Franklin\u2019s discoveries and inventions. Visit gardens and landscapes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":3635,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cdn.lawnlove.com\/images\/best+native+plants-Philadelphia+hero.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"light purple petals from a flowering Phlox plant","footnotes":""},"categories":[188],"tags":[526],"class_list":["post-3630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pennsylvania","tag-lawn-care-philadelphia-pa"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/cdn.lawnlove.com\/images\/best+native+plants-Philadelphia+hero.jpg?w=1200&fit=1200,900&ssl=1","author_info":{"display_name":"Teri Silver","author_link":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/author\/teri-silver\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Trees<\/h2>
1. Red maple (acer rubrum) <\/h3>
![\"large](\"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/rsz_13947965424_909a5d779c_c.jpg\")
2. White oaks (quercus alba) <\/h3>
![\"from](\"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/rsz_49912004677_9d22baca6b_c.jpg\")
3. Tulip trees (liriodendron tulipifera) <\/h3>
![\"soft](\"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/rsz_tulip_tree_liriodendron_tulipifera_in_munich_3.jpg\")
<\/p> Shrubs<\/h2>
4. Winterberry (ilex verticillata) <\/h3>
![\"close-up](\"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/rsz_286298228_f96e14b470_c.jpg\")
5. Ninebark (physocarpus opulifolius) <\/h3>
![\"pale](\"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/rsz_51277975687_f7532bf5e4_c.jpg\")
6. Summersweet (clethra alnifolia)<\/h3>
![\"tiny](\"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/rsz_3779976362_ac532eef04_c.jpg\")
Perennials<\/h2>
7. Phlox (phlox divaricata)<\/h3>
![\"pale](\"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/rsz_2498247174_8bd0186975_c.jpg\")
8. Mountain mints (pycnanthemum) <\/h3>
![\"Pale](\"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/rsz_1024px-pycnanthemum_muticum_heds_and_bracts_001.jpg\")
9. Black-eyed Susan (rudbeckia hirta)<\/h3>
![\"grouping](\"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/rsz_2704732633_7200e5a974_c.jpg\")
Ferns<\/h2>
10. Maidenhair (adiantum pedatum) and wood ferns (dryopteris)<\/h3>
![\"maidenhair](\"https:\/\/lawnlove.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/rsz_48965836808_8ea6a10230_c.jpg\")
Select the right plants for your Philly landscape<\/h2>