Resources
An annotated collection of resources for gardeners and enthusiasts.
The below resources are organized in three broad sections: gardening guides, seeds, sprouts, and saplings, and local organizations.
The gardening guides section is practically-oriented, focused on helping you learn which plants are native to your area.
Seeds, sprouts, and saplings helps you find the right places to source native plants for your own project.
The local organizations listed below are all focused on conservation, although not exclusively of native plants.
Many of the sites linked below have their own resource pages as well. In addition, there is a lot of helpful information in our own articles, and our Facebook group is quite active, with the regular participation of a number of experts and enthusiasts who are all happy to share their knowledge.
Finally, please note that this page is a living document. New resources and information are added regularly.
gardening GUIDES
In this section you can find a number of links that will help you with your own garden. As you plan, the below information will come in handy:
- Staten Island is in USDA hardiness zone 7B, reflecting average minimum temperatures of 5º–10º F.
- New York City today has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), rather than the humid continental climate of the recent past. This impacts which plants can grow and thrive here. The New York Times covered this change in this 2020 article.
Whether you want to put together a native flowerbox, incorporate more native plants into an existing garden, or tear up your whole lawn and sow a native meadow, the first step is learning what plants are native to Staten Island. Then, take stock of the conditions in the space you’ll be planting. Is it sunny or shady? Damp or dry? The goal is not only to pick native plants, but to grow native plants that will thrive in the conditions that you’re working with. This can be intimidating. Fortunately, there are a number of guides to help you.
Gardening with New York City Native Plants
This short publication by the City of New York Department of Parks and Recreation is an excellent starting place for those looking to begin their native garden. It has helpful information about the benefits of native plants as well as a straightforward list of native plant suggestions tailored to several interests, including “sunny window boxes (and other dry sites),” “potted shade gardens,” “groundcovers to blanket bare spots,” “butterfly gardens,” and “showy trees & shrubs.” Depending on your needs, this single resource may be enough for you.
Although not all wildflowers are native, US Wildflower’s Database of Wildflowers for New York is a great resource, as its beautiful pictures are a useful guide in choosing which flowers to add to your garden. If you see something you like, you can double-check its nativity using one of the following resources.
The USDA’s PLANTS Database is both versatile and user-friendly. You can search for plants by name and then check the map to see if they are native, or, alternatively, you can search for a full list of all plants native to Richmond county. (As of this writing, this search yields 2,041 results.) Search results can be further refined, for example to show only perennials or trees.
Another great resource, covering much of the same ground, is the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA), put together by The Biota of North America Program. The atlas is highly respected and easy to search, but its color-coded maps can be somewhat hard to read, especially given their relatively low fidelity. (Staten Island is allocated a single pixel.) Note that the results provided by this resource are largely consonant with those of of the PLANTS Database, although there are some points of divergence.
The New York Flora Atlas provides a rich list of New York’s native plants down to the county level, including 872 species indigenous to Richmond County. The vast majority of entries have photos as well as detailed information about the plant’s preferred habitat. Note that, by default, this site returns a list of virtually all plants that grow wild, so be sure to click “Yes” in the “Native” column.
The above three resources are mostly consistent, but there are some points of disagreement. For example, the PLANTS Database and NAPA both show the Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) as native to Staten Island, while the New York Flora Atlas shows it as naturalized – in other words, introduced. In cases of such discrepancies, it is up to each of us to decide for ourselves which source to trust.
SEEDS, SPROUTS AND SAPLINGS
Whenever possible, we encourage you to get your plants locally. Not only is this more environmentally friendly, but it is also usually much more affordable. Many of our members share seeds and plants at our events, either for free or for prices far lower than found with commercial vendors. Check out our events page to see if a seed swap or plant sale is coming up soon. If not, you are encouraged to ask about what you’re looking for on our active and supportive Facebook group.
If you’ve tried these methods and still can’t get the plant you’re after, the following vendors and organizations all provide seeds or plants native to Staten Island.
For large-scale projects, Staten Island’s own Greenbelt Native Plant Center is an incredible resource. Part of the City of New York’s Department of Parks & Recreation, the GNPC is a “13-acre greenhouse, nursery, and seed bank complex” (to quote their website). Their seeds and plants are available for major restoration projects and community gardens. In addition to being a highly reputable vendor, they are an excellent source of information and advice.
The Native Seed Network is a great resource for finding vendors of (you guessed it) native seeds. More than just a supplier, they also run a series of regular events, including an annual conference. They are associated with the Institute for Applied Ecology, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation of native species and habitats.
Established a century ago, the New England-based Native Plant Trust is a wonderful organization. They offer educational programs, operate several native plant sanctuaries and gardens, and provide a bevy of useful information. They also offer native plants for sale, but be aware that they do not ship: plants must be picked up in Massachusetts, either at their Garden in the Woods in Framingham or their Nasami Farm in Whately. In addition, note that, although there is considerable overlap, many plants native to New England are not native to Staten Island (and vice versa).
Everwilde Farms offers an immense variety of seeds for native plants and wildflowers, as well as heirloom vegetables. Their ordering and shipping processes are straightforward. Their search feature is not especially fine-grained, so be sure to use their site in conjunction with one of the guides listed above to order seeds that are native to Staten Island.
Prairie Moon Nursery offers seeds, potted plants, and bare-root plants. Unlike some of the above options, it’s easy to order from them online and they’ll ship their products to you. Although they specialize in native plants, their focus is not only on New York, so be careful about your selections.
LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS
As New York City’s greenest borough, it is no surprise that Staten Island is home to a number of local gardens, green spaces, and ecologically-focused organizations.
The Greenbelt Conservancy works with the Department of Parks and Recreation to maintain the Greenbelt, a massive park system in the center of Staten Island. With 2,800 acres, 35 miles of trails, a Nature Center, and the Greenbelt Native Plant Center, the Greenbelt is a local treasure.
The Serpentine Art and Nature Commons, established in Stapleton in 1978, is a gorgeous bastion of greenery in the heart of one of the borough’s most built-up neighborhoods. As their website aptly puts it, “Where in New York City can you hike hilly trails through beautiful native trees and plants, see rare geological sites, and observe hawks, owls, raccoons, and opossums all while enjoying spectacular views of New York Harbor, Brooklyn and Queens, the New Jersey Highlands, and the Verrazano Bridge?” At the Serpentine Art and Nature Commons, that’s where!
Another organization, the Protectors of Pine Oak Woods, is dedicated to preserving the wild and wonderful on Staten Island. They are particular advocates of growing your own native garden, and they offer their own helpful resource list as well.