The Right Weeds
January 5, 2025
Back in the Covid days of 2020, newly retired from a dairy farming career and transplanted to New Hampshire from the rural Eastern Shore of Maryland, I was roaming the woods and fields of our new place and weighing possibilities for making this property, blessed (or otherwise, depending on perspective) by years of benign neglect, back into some form of a working farm.
Among the flora, I found some familiar faces that I'd known on the Eastern Shore, some long lost friends from my New England and New Jersey youth, and some plants I'd never met, or at least never paid attention to before. All that benign neglect had provided a great opportunity for the soil seed bank to deploy. Stages of succession ranged from goldenrod taking over more recently grazed pasture to thickets of choke cherry and hawthorn, and towering white pine on hills abandoned to nature decades ago.
Joe Pye weed, blue vervain, boneset, and blue flag iris had all made their stand in wetter spots, while yarrow and wild strawberry claimed a droughty hillside. To eyes accustomed to looking over acres of lush rye and orchardgrass, it looked in no way like a field of dreams. Just a field of weeds. Still, courtesy of a florophile father and a Vermont country raised mother, I have an affinity for and curiosity about wild landscapes too. In nutrient management work, I had designed vegetative buffers for farm fields. And I'd grown enough vegetables to know the value of pollinators. I had used parasitic wasps for fly control on the dairy, and watched ladybug larva devouring aphids in the garden. A little research revealed that my crop of weeds were at the top of the list as hosts for a plethora of pollinating, predatory, and parasitic insects. According to the Xerces Society publication Farming with Native Beneficial Insects, these insects provide as much as a 4.5 billion dollar value in ecological pest control services annually (Xerces 1). Multiple studies have shown that populations of beneficial insects are significantly higher in native plant landscapes than non native ones (Xerces 45).
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And it isn't just about insects . These native plants support our bird populations too, Joe Pye with summer necter for the hummingbirds, boneset and blue vervain as winter seed sources for cardinals and juncos - the list goes on and on. But the ecosystem contributions of these plants don't stop at the soil line either. Their various sizes and types of roots hold soil against erosion, protect water quality by taking up excess nutrients, and help to maximize subterrainian biodiversity, which will be reflected by the biodiversity we see above ground.
In short, these pasture weeds are the right weeds - native flora that the fauna have evolved with. Plants that belong in our New England landscape, that belong along roads, around gardens, at lawn edges, interspersed with farm crops, and at work in urban storm water management. So instead of eradicating them, we propagate them, and invite others to join us in recreating the contiguous indigenous landscape that a robust ecosystem requires.
Work cited
Native Plant Nursery
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In keeping with our commitment to supporting a highly functional and stable ecosystem, our plant nursery is focused on perpetuating the genetics of native northern New England plants. The seeds and cuttings we propagate from are all sourced from the Upper Valley region. We believe these plants play an important role in contributing to a broad genetic base that is critical to whole ecosystem stability.
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Browse our catalog to find plants for pollinators, songbirds and other wildlife, for soil health and stabilization, and to add interest and beauty to your landscape.
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We will be opening for plant sales by appointment on April 25, 2025
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Current Inventory for Spring 2025
Achillea millefolium, yarrow 30
Aralia hispida, bristly sarsaparilla 4
Coptis trifolia, goldthread 16
Eupatorium perfoliatum, boneset 36
Eutrochium maculatum, spotted Joe Pye 35
Gaultheria procumbens, wintergreen 2
Iris versicolor, Northern blue flag 12
Prunella vulgaris lanceolata, heal all 8
Sambucus canadensis, American elderberry 12
Solidago flexicaulis, zigzag goldenrod 18
​Spirea latifolia, white meadowsweet 15
Verbena hastata, blue vervain 64
Vitis labrusca, fox grape 10
Riparian buffers for water quality
Spotted Joe Pye weed in the foreground, and American elderberry blooming along a brook.
Meadowsweet, golden alexander, and ostrich fern buffer this section.
PLANT CATALOG
Aralia hispida -
A member of the ginseng family for sites in full sun, bristly sarsaparilla is hardy and drought tolerant once established. It is adapted to dry sandy or gravelly soils. Host plant for many species of bees and beetles.
Height - 6" to 30"
Foliage - dark green, bipinnately compound
Bloom - July. small white flowers in 1 1/4 inch spherical umbels
Arisaema triphyllum -
For a shady spot with rich, moist soil under deciduous trees, jack-in-the pulpit adds interest with its fleshy, club shaped spadix surrounded by a maroon striped spathe. In the late summer to fall the crimson berries bring bright color to the landscape and are a food source for thrushes, turkeys and other birds. This member of the arum family is a long-lived perennial which will colonize over time. Our plants are two years old this year; they will come back bigger each year and flower at 3 to 5 years of age.
Height - Up to 2 feet
Foliage - medium, 3 parted leaves
Eupatorium perfoliatum -
A plant of the wet meadows and brooksides, boneset requires consistent moisture. A great choice for rain gardens, it is a host for butterflies and bees. Full to partial sun, wet to moderate soils.
Height - to 4 feet
Foliage - distinctive, adds interest. bases of the opposite, lance shaped leaves are fused around the stem, giving the impression that they are pierced by the stem
Bloom - mid to late summer. dense flat topped clusters of tiny white flowers
Euthamia graminifolia-
Found in meadows and fields, and known as grass leaved or lance leaved goldenrod, this species is not considered to be a true goldenrod. Besides nectar for bees, butterflies and beetles, it provides seed for songbirds, and browse for rabbits and deer. Spreading by rhizomes to form colonies, this plant is suited for larger areas. Full sun and moist but well drained soils. Tolerates droughty conditions once esteblished. Wildlife gardens and erosion control.
Height - 3 to 4 feet, width 1 to 2 feet
Foliage - simple, narrow, medium green
Bloom - mid summer to fall. bright yellow, flat topped clusters
Eutrochium maculatum -
Tall and striking with its whorled leaves and tuft of magenta flowers. spotted Joe Pye weed is a hardy plant for full sun to part shade in fertile, medium to wet soils with consistent moisture. Borders, rain gardens, wildlife gardens and wet meadows. Host plant for skippers, swallowtail and monarch butterflies, and native bees, and a seed source for birds.
Height - 6 to 8 feet
Foliage - large, medium green, lanceolate, in whorls
Bloom - late summer, magenta
Gaultheria procumbens - -
Commonly known as checkerberry, teaberry,or wintergreen is an aromatic evergreen groundcover with leathery, dark green leaves. Flowers mature to scarlet berries. Spreads by underground stems to form colonies. High organic matter, acid soils, sun or shade, medium soil moisture.
Height - 3 to 6 inches
Foliage - glossy, dark green, oval,up to 2" long
Bloom - summer. waxy, white, bellshaped; matures to form scarlet berries
Iris Versicolor -
Northern Blue Flag Iris is one of the showier natives we offer. Found in marshes, it can grow in up to 4 inches of standing water, but will thrive in garden beds as well, if provded with rich, high humus soil and consistent water. While resistant to deer, its foliage is fodder for the caterpillars of many species of moths and butterflies, and the flowers provide landing strips to direct bees to the center for pollen. Sun to part shade, medium to wet soils, rain gardens, seasonally flooded areas.
Height - 24 to 30 inches
Foliage - flat, blue green, sword shaped
Bloom - summer. deep blue to violet, up to 4 inch diameter
Mitchella repens -
Partridgeberry.** Sold out. Will be available again late summer** An attactive creeping evergreen groundcover of the woods with delicate vinelike stems and small, rounded, white veined leaves. Red berries. Humus rich, acidic, moist but well drained soils in partial shade or shade.
Height - up to 4 inches
Foliage - oval, opposite, paired, glossy dark green, 3/4" long
Bloom - 1/2" waxy white, paired at stem
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Pinus strobus -
Every plant has a story, but eastern white pine has stories enough to fill the shelves of a respectable library. From restorative teas to build strength in the frail to tall ships that would build an empire; from a cradle to rock a baby to stoking a revolution that rocked the world, this tree has done it all. High value for wildlife; white pine is a source of food and shelter for far too many birds and mammals to list. Start your own EWP story with our seedlings.
Height - up to 100 feet
Foliage - light to medium green 4 inch long needles, bundles of 5
Sambucus canadensis -
American elderberry - well doumented medicinal history, and used to make jelly or wine. High value for wildlife too, providing food and cover for birds, mammals and butterflies.
Height - to 12 feet
Bloom - flat topped white clusters, id June to July
Zig zag goldenrod is a smaller goldenrod, one for shady areas and drier soils. An important late season pollen source for bees and wasps, it also supports many moths and butterflies. Shawn Jalbert of Alfred, Maine (Native Haunts Maine Native Plant AdvocateConsulting & Education) says "The zig zag goldenrods I got from you last fall were bee magnets! I had never seen a goldenrod that was so attractive to bumblebees. They would spend the night curled up on the plants, sometimes 10-12 at a time. Once they got warmed up enough, they would start foraging again the next day."
Height - 2 feet
Foliage - oval to heartshaped, serrated bloom - late summer to frost
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Solidago flexicaulis -
Meadowsweet is a woody shrub, an excellent pollinator plant also attractive to songbirds. A generalist, meadowsweet will grow in sandy woods or swampy meadows. It will tolerate soil compaction and tough urban environments. Erosion control,rain gardens, low hedges; naturalized areas. Full sun to part shade, moist to medium soils
Height - 2 to 5 feet
Foliage - medium green ovate serrated leaves up tp 3" long
Bloom - June to September. Small white to pinkish tinged in pyramidal spires
Spirea alba latifolia -
Verbena Hastata -
Blue vervain - a tall, handsome plant featuring candelabras of blue violet flower spikes. A favorite of bumblebees, and also a host for butterflies, moths, sweat bees, and cuckoo bees. A seed source for juncos, sparrows, cardinals, and other songbirds.
Height - to 6 feet
Foliage - lanceolate, toothed
Bloom - summer
Zizia aurea -
** Sold out for 2024** Blooming in the spring, golden alexander provides early pollen, and is a host for black swallowtail butterflies, as well as hover flies, bumblebees, and beetles. Not long lived as perennials go, but reseeds readily.
Height - 1 to 3 feet, width 1 to 3 feet
Foliage - attractive, dark green three parted leaves
Bloom - spring. bright yellow flat topped 2" clusters
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