Find Your Ecoregion
1. Search your address or zoom to your location
2. Click directly on the map next to your location to learn your ecoregion (make sure to use your Level II ecoregion)
3. Return to our North American Keystone Database to find your native plants
Find Your Ecoregion
1. Search your address or zoom to your location
2. Click directly on the map next to your location to learn your ecoregion (make sure to use your Level II ecoregion)
3. Return to our North American Keystone Database to find your native plants
FAQs
We use EPA Level II ecoregions to identify the native plants that will work best for your location’s growing conditions and climate. This is a different approach from using a States/Provinces to list native plants.
An ecoregion is an area that shares common ecosystem characteristics such as weather, seasons, wildlife, soil, etc. Since states will often have vastly different habitat types and species from one side to the other, ecoregions are particularly useful for geographically grouping native keystone plants.
You can find your ecoregion color-coded on the map above. In some cases, the plants for your ecoregion may not line up with your State’s listing of native plants but will perform as a keystone plant in your area. Once you've determined your ecoregion, return to our North American Keystone Database to pick your native plants!
How do you find out what native species are best adapted to where you live?
Rather than listing plants by state or county, reference points that people typically use to find a location, we have decided to use ecoregions.
No, we are not trying to make plant choice more complicated than it is. Just the opposite! Using ecoregions as a guide clarifies plant suitability, so it's easier to make accurate decisions. Here’s our reasoning.
Plants do not distribute themselves according to political boundaries like state or county. Plants grow where they can, based on soil type, rainfall, temperature, altitude, and past geological events like glaciation. And these environmental conditions do not follow state boundaries.
Take Colorado, for example. Even at the most generalized ecoregion level (level 1), Colorado contains three ecoregions within its borders: great plains, northwestern forested mountains, and North American deserts. The plants that naturally occur in each of these ecoregions differ from each other. This is why state listings of native plants often differ from ecoregion lists; a plant may occur within a state’s boundaries but not within a particular ecoregion in that state. The same reasoning also applies to counties, although most counties are small enough that the entire county occurs within a single ecoregion.
Search the Map above to find your location's ecoregion, then return to our North American Keystone Database to pick your native plants!
Simply put, Keystone Plants are the most productive plants that support the most species! Doug’s research at the University of Delaware has shown that a few genera of native plants, or keystone genera, form the backbone of local ecosystems, particularly in terms of producing the food that fuels insects. By planting just one of these keystone plants you can help restore native biodiversity! Landscapes that do not contain one or more species of keystone genera will have failed food webs, even if the diversity of other plants is high.
No Yard? No Problem! – you can still be an important part of regenerating biodiversity on your balcony, terrace, patio, rooftop or deck. Container gardening provides a great opportunity for people without yards to plant native and join the grassroots solution to the biodiversity crisis! We have selected plant species appropriate for container gardening for level II ecoregions across the United States and Canada. These keystone plants have wide native ranges within the ecoregions, support a large variety of native biodiversity, and will provide important refueling pit stops for native pollinators. A PDF of each list is linked beneath the map of the corresponding ecoregion. Please remember to log your container plants ON THE HNP MAP. Every square foot counts!
Many native plants have extensive root systems, so use large pots! Some native species can grow tall and will need a wall, stake, trellis, or hoop for support. Perennial species (plants that live for more than one year) may come back year after year. It is important to leave pots outside in a semi-sheltered area so that the plants go through natural cold cycles. Clay, ceramic, and terracotta pots may crack in low temperatures. If you live in an area with cold winters, consider using plastic pots. At the end of the season, if you don’t want to keep your potted plant, either plant it in the ground or give it to a friend. Please remember to log your container plants ON THE HNP MAP. Every square foot counts!
FAQs
We use EPA Level II ecoregions to identify the native plants that will work best for your location’s growing conditions and climate. This is a different approach from using a States/Provinces to list native plants.
An ecoregion is an area that shares common ecosystem characteristics such as weather, seasons, wildlife, soil, etc. Since states will often have vastly different habitat types and species from one side to the other, ecoregions are particularly useful for geographically grouping native keystone plants.
You can find your ecoregion color-coded on the map above. In some cases, the plants for your ecoregion may not line up with your State’s listing of native plants but will perform as a keystone plant in your area. Once you've determined your ecoregion, return to our North American Keystone Database to pick your native plants!
How do you find out what native species are best adapted to where you live?
Rather than listing plants by state or county, reference points that people typically use to find a location, we have decided to use ecoregions.
No, we are not trying to make plant choice more complicated than it is. Just the opposite! Using ecoregions as a guide clarifies plant suitability, so it's easier to make accurate decisions. Here’s our reasoning.
Plants do not distribute themselves according to political boundaries like state or county. Plants grow where they can, based on soil type, rainfall, temperature, altitude, and past geological events like glaciation. And these environmental conditions do not follow state boundaries.
Take Colorado, for example. Even at the most generalized ecoregion level (level 1), Colorado contains three ecoregions within its borders: great plains, northwestern forested mountains, and North American deserts. The plants that naturally occur in each of these ecoregions differ from each other. This is why state listings of native plants often differ from ecoregion lists; a plant may occur within a state’s boundaries but not within a particular ecoregion in that state. The same reasoning also applies to counties, although most counties are small enough that the entire county occurs within a single ecoregion.
Search the Map above to find your location's ecoregion, then return to our North American Keystone Database to pick your native plants!
Simply put, Keystone Plants are the most productive plants that support the most species! Doug’s research at the University of Delaware has shown that a few genera of native plants, or keystone genera, form the backbone of local ecosystems, particularly in terms of producing the food that fuels insects. By planting just one of these keystone plants you can help restore native biodiversity! Landscapes that do not contain one or more species of keystone genera will have failed food webs, even if the diversity of other plants is high.
No Yard? No Problem! – you can still be an important part of regenerating biodiversity on your balcony, terrace, patio, rooftop or deck. Container gardening provides a great opportunity for people without yards to plant native and join the grassroots solution to the biodiversity crisis! We have selected plant species appropriate for container gardening for level II ecoregions across the United States and Canada. These keystone plants have wide native ranges within the ecoregions, support a large variety of native biodiversity, and will provide important refueling pit stops for native pollinators. A PDF of each list is linked beneath the map of the corresponding ecoregion. Please remember to log your container plants ON THE HNP MAP. Every square foot counts!
Many native plants have extensive root systems, so use large pots! Some native species can grow tall and will need a wall, stake, trellis, or hoop for support. Perennial species (plants that live for more than one year) may come back year after year. It is important to leave pots outside in a semi-sheltered area so that the plants go through natural cold cycles. Clay, ceramic, and terracotta pots may crack in low temperatures. If you live in an area with cold winters, consider using plastic pots. At the end of the season, if you don’t want to keep your potted plant, either plant it in the ground or give it to a friend. Please remember to log your container plants ON THE HNP MAP. Every square foot counts!
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Cartography by KickMap, LLC using ESRI's ArcMap v10.3. Data used were modified EPA Ecoregion Level II.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2001). NA_Eco_Level2. vector digital data. U.S. EPA Office of Research & Development (ORD) - National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL).