There are many species of plants that we can grow in gardens and yards that provide both a scenic ornamental and food for ourselves while still remaining part of the surrounding ecosystem in ways that most of our garden plants do not. By focusing on native plants, we provide food for caterpillars, pollinators, birds, foxes, and any other part of the detailed food webs around us. This section focuses on the mid-Atlantic area of the United States in part because it is what I am most familiar with and because focusing on the entire country is not that helpful. This section is updated often with many plants still yet to be added.

It is important to remember that foraging in the wild actually hurts the ecosystem. That doesn’t mean you can’t take a few berries from an edible plant, but if you take them all, then the plant won’t be reproducing. There actually are cases of native plants in recent years having problems and disappearing as a result of being foraged in the wild. So grow them in your garden and you don’t have to worry.