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The cover of Native Plants of Washington, D.C.

Guides Washington, D.C.

Native Plants of Washington, D.C.

The native plants that belong in your yard — what to plant for pollinators, by zone, with bloom timing and a species table.

  • Native species grouped by sun, soil, and wildlife value
  • Bloom windows and pollinator host-plant pairings
  • What belongs in your USDA zone
  • A full species table you can take to the nursery
  • Typical planting windows, month by month

$9.99one-time

Get the Washington, D.C. guide — $9.99Preview sample pages

Instant download · yours to keep, with no account and no renewal · full refund within 30 days

A look inside

What the Washington, D.C. pages actually look like

A page from Native Plants of Washington, D.C.: Planting native in Washington, D.C.
Planting native in Washington, D.C.
A page from Native Plants of Washington, D.C.: When to plant natives in Washington, D.C.
When to plant natives in Washington, D.C.
A page from Native Plants of Washington, D.C.: When to plant natives in Washington, D.C. — page 3
When to plant natives in Washington, D.C. — page 3

From the Washington, D.C. edition

Some of what is actually in it

24 native species are profiled for Washington, D.C., chosen for hardiness zones 7a–7b. A dozen of them:

  • Common Milkweed
  • Swamp Milkweed
  • Cardinal Flower
  • Foxglove Beardtongue
  • Wild Lupine
  • Cup Plant
  • Short-Toothed Mountain Mint
  • Obedient Plant
  • Virginia Bluebells
  • Wild Ginger
  • Christmas Fern
  • Creeping Phlox

How the Washington, D.C. year breaks down

Counted, not claimed

Something in the Washington, D.C. list is in bloom from March through September, and June is the peak — 11 of the 24 species are flowering then.

10 of them are caterpillar host plants and 6 support specialist bees — the ones that do the most work in Washington, D.C. yards.

In the box

Exactly what you receive

Washington, D.C. pages7 pages — the species table, bloom windows and planting calendar
FormatPDF, laid out for both Letter and A4
DeliveryAn instant download link, plus a link you can re-open for 72 hours
AccessYours to keep — no expiry, no account, no subscription
RefundsFull refund within 30 days, no questions

How it works

From checkout to the field

  1. Buy it

    Checkout takes a card and an email address — no account to create.

  2. Open it straight away

    The download link appears immediately and the Washington, D.C. files are yours to keep.

  3. Use it through the year

    Print the Washington, D.C. pages you want and take them outside; they are laid out with room to write on as the season moves.

Free and paid, side by side

The Washington, D.C. pages here stay free. Here is what the edition adds.

The free Washington, D.C. pagesNative Plants of Washington, D.C.
What it coversThe month Washington, D.C. is in, free and alwaysAll twelve Washington, D.C. months, planned before they arrive
Garden timingThe notes for your zone, once the site knows itEvery Washington, D.C. zone from 7a–7b, side by side on the page
Where you can read itOn a screen, wherever Washington, D.C. has signalOn paper, in the field, with no signal at all
PriceFree, and staying that way$9.99 once — no renewal, no account

Before you buy

Who this is for

Made for

  • Gardeners in Washington, D.C. planting for pollinators rather than for a catalogue
  • Anyone replacing lawn with something that belongs here
  • New Washington, D.C. gardeners who want the timing decided for them

Not for

  • Anyone wanting exotic ornamentals; every species here is native to Washington, D.C.
  • Precise planting dates — Washington, D.C. timing is given as windows

Everything here describes typical timing across Washington, D.C., drawn from long-run records — weather, elevation and how close you are to water all move the real dates around. So the Washington, D.C. pages say "usually early May" and never "May 4th", which is not hedging but the most the data can honestly carry.

Where it comes from

Compiled from

USDA PLANTS Database · GBIF occurrence records · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center · USA National Phenology Network · The Xerces Society · Cooperative Extension (land-grant directory). How each of these is used in the Washington, D.C. edition, and which figures are measured rather than modeled, is set out in the methodology.

Questions

Before you decide

Is this specific to Washington, D.C., or a national guide with the name swapped in?

It is built from Washington, D.C.'s own data. The 24 species in it were filtered to those with verified occurrence records in Washington, D.C. and to hardiness zones 7a–7b.

Washington, D.C. spans several hardiness zones — which one does this cover?

All of them. Washington, D.C. runs 7a–7b, and the guide carries each zone's timing rather than picking one and hoping it fits your garden.

How accurate is the timing for Washington, D.C.?

It describes typical timing across Washington, D.C. drawn from long-run records, and because weather, elevation and habitat move real Washington, D.C. dates around it says "usually early May" rather than "May 4th".

Is it worth paying when the Washington, D.C. pages here are free?

The free Washington, D.C. pages are the month you are in; this is the whole Washington, D.C. year, planned before it arrives and printable, so you are not holding a screen in the garden.

Will it work for my part of Washington, D.C., or just the big cities?

It is written at state resolution — Washington, D.C. as a whole, with regional notes where Washington, D.C. genuinely differs end to end, and nothing behind it is recorded finely enough to honestly promise more than that.

What format is the Washington, D.C. edition, and can I print it?

A PDF laid out for both Letter and A4, one page per sheet — printing it is the point, since the Washington, D.C. pages are made to be carried outside.

What if the Washington, D.C. guide is not what I expected?

Email hello@birchcompass.com within 30 days for a full refund on the Washington, D.C. edition, and keep the files either way — asking for them back would be theatre.

Prefer to read online first? The free Washington, D.C. native plants reference covers the same ground on screen.

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