Virginia Landscape Plants

Herbaceous Perennials

• A wide array of traditional American perennial favorites are successfully grown all across Virginia. Match soil moisture with appropriate sunlight exposures according to each species. Popular perennials include: daffodil, crocus, peony, iris, beebalm, aster, chrysanthemum, ornamental grasses, hosta, coral bells, foamflower, Virginia bluebells, trillium, woodland ferns, phlox and cranesbill. Consult local garden centers for an innumerable wealth of others as well as cultivars.

Groundcovers

• Cool-season turf grasses are most widely grown in Virginia, including Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue and perennial ryegrass. Warm-season grasses recommended by Virginia Tech University and Virginia Cooperative Extension include only zoysia grass and Bermuda grass. Alternatives to grass to carpet the landscape include: lilyturf, prostrate junipers, mondo grass, moss pink, Japanese spurge, and stonecrop. Commonly used groundcovers that are regarded as invasive and troublesome in Virginia are bugleweed, English ivy, lesser periwinkle/vinca and crown vetch.

Shrubs

• Shrubs that are both deciduous or evergreen make good choices for accents or screening in Virginia landscapes. Plant only species and cultivars rated winter hardy in USDA Zones 5, 6, or 7. For screening select evergreen hollies, viburnums, common and sasanqua camellias, osmanthus, cherry laurel, and northern bayberry according to Diane Relf and Bonnie Appleton of Virginia Tech. Accent shrubs for borders and foundation beds are also numerous: grape holly, boxwood, rhododendron, mountain laurel, glossy abelia, summersweet, Virginia sweetspire, fothergilla and winterberry.

Shade Trees

• Shade is welcome in the hot, humid Virginia summer. Plant deciduous shade trees on the south side of buildings for summer cooling. Sycamore, green ash, ginkgo, honey locust, bald cypress, yellowwood, zelkova, and a wide array of maples and oaks are terrific in Virginia--chosen according to USDA hardiness zone. Evergreen trees with broad-leaves include the southern magnolia. Conifers to consider are white pine, Norway spruce, false cypress, Japanese cedar, red cedar, and white fir as mentioned by Relf and Appleton

Flowering Trees

• While also providing summer shade, flowering trees are a design jewel in a landscape, providing colorful flower displays to highlight the spring or summer seasons. Choose trees known to preserve flower buds in the winter cold in USDA zones 5, 6 or 7. Spring flowering favorites for Virginia landscapes are crab apples, eastern redbud, hawthorn, fringetree, star and saucer magnolia, serviceberry and flowering dogwood (the state flower). Yoshino, higan and Kwanzan flowering cherries are also highly prized. Summer-blooming trees are crape myrtles, sourwood, southern magnolia, sweet bay and kousa dogwood.