Native Plant Demonstration Garden

Hoover Ridge Park
10 Hoover Ridge, Madison, Virginia
Managed by Rapidan River Master Gardners

“Piedmont native plants are defined as plants that evolved in this region before influences of European settlements at Jamestown began to shape and change the landscape. There is strong evidence that the Monacan Nation and other indigenous peoples living on the lands that are now Virginia have contributed to the alteration of the landscape by cultivating and relocating species over the last 14,000 years. Historically, the eastern part of the United States was covered with an expansive mixed hardwood forest with scattered open areas.” Piedmont Native Plants a guide for Landscapes and Gardens – second edition p. 6

Importance of Native Plants

“Living landscapes are diverse and dynamic systems that benefit the vitality of nature and people by sustaining the healthy ecosystems that support our farms”, Piedmont Native Plants a guide for Landscapes and Gardens-second edition p. 7.
Native plants also assist in managing rain water runoff and maintain healthy soil as their root systems are deep and keep soil from being compacted.

Native Plant Demonstration Garden History

In 2008, members of the Virginia Cooperative Extension: Rapidan River Master Gardeners, with permission from Madison County Parks and Recreation, prepared a site for the Native Plant Demonstration Garden. There were donations of plants from members’ gardens and purchases from Blandy Annual Plant Sale.
The garden has been tended and mulched by the Master Gardeners and updated sign identification added in 2022.
In 2024, additional plants were added, including examples of some native grasses. The demonstration garden shows native plants in landscaping design easily accessible next to the parking area of the Parks and Recreation Office.

Prairie Restoration Project
Starting in 2024, in cooperation with Old Rag Master Naturalists and with permission from Madison County Parks and Recreation, the buffer zone between the Oak-Hickory Forest and the gravel road and the area underneath the powerlines began a transition to prairie.

Native grasses and plants were identified and allowed to grow to maturity, mowing annually in the late winter. Non-native, invasive plants and tree seedlings are being controlled to preserve and cultivate the grassland native plant communities.
The site was visited by state biologist Gary Fleming and the grassland plant species identified and recorded. Some species are documented for the first time in Madison County.
Oak-Hickory Forest also has unique native species that only exist if an area has never been grazed or plowed. These include a large stand of Pinxter Azalea/Rhododendron periclycemoides , New Jersey Tea/Ceanothus americanus, Club moss species and Blackhaw viburnum/Viburnum prunifolium to name a few. All these plants can be seen from the walking trails and in the spring listen for the wood thrush, a migratory songbird that heralds spring in Virginia and raises its family here.

Invasive Species Control and Tree Trimming Maintenance

Non-native invasive species are numerous in Hoover Ridge in areas previously grazed and along the edge of the Oak-Hickory Forest.
In the Fall of 2024, Rapidan River Master Gardeners, VCE collaborated with Blue Ridge PRISM in a training on Tree-of-Heaven (Ailanthus altissima) control. English Ivy is also a major invasive species in this area. Ongoing identification and control will be part of the Master Gardener and Master Naturalist’s goals for Hoover Ridge.
Corrective tree trimming and care are conducted annually by the Rapidan River Master Gardeners and Tree Stewards with guidance from Adam Downing, VCE Forestry, on the recent trees planted around the park to shape them into healthy trees as they grow.

Hoover Ridge Park: native plant demonstration garden is listed in the following resources:

On Facebook: Rapidan River Master Gardeners - local chapter of Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners
Facebook: Virginia Native Plant Society Group
www.blandy.virginia.edu

Hoover Ridge Native Plant List 2025

Piedmont environmental region, Zone 7b

Scientific Name -  Common Name

Trees and woody shrubs              Aesculus pavia - Red Buckeye
                                                            Aesculus flava - Yellow Buckeye
                                                            Betula nigra - River Birch
                                                            Ceris canadensis - Eastern Redbud
                                                            Clethra alnifolia - Summer Sweet
                                                            Cornus florida - Flowering Dogwood
                                                            Corylus americana - American Hazelnut
                                                            Euonymus americanus - Strawberry Bush
                                                            Hibiscus grandifloras - Swamp Hibiscus
                                                            Hydrangea quercifolia - Oak Leaf Hydrangea
                                                            Ilex opaca - American Holly
                                                            Ilex verticillate - Winterberry
                                                            Itea virginica - Virginia Sweetspire
                                                            Lindera benzoin - Spicebush
                                                            Virburnum acerifolium - Maple Leaf Virburnum

Perennial herbaceous plants      Achillea millefolium - Common Yarrow
                                                            Aectaea racemose - Black Cohosh
                                                            Antennaria neglecta - Field Pussytoes
                                                            Aquilegia canadensis - Wild Red Columbine
                                                            Aruncus dioicus - Goatsbeard
                                                            Asclepias syriaca - Common Milkweed
                                                            Asclepias tuberosa - Butterfly Weed
                                                            Chrysogonum virginianum - Green and Gold
                                                            Coreopsis verticillate - Threadleaf Coreopsis
                                                            Erythronium americanum - Yellow Trout Lily
Eutrochium fistulosum - Joe Pye Weed
                                                            Heuchera americana - Coral Bells
                                                            Iris cristata - Dwarf Crested Iris
                                                            Mertensia virginica - Virginia Bluebells
                                                            Mainthemem racemosum - False Solomon’s Seal
                                                            Oenothera fruticosa/Sundrops-Evening Primrose
                                                            Packera aurea - Golden Ragwort
                                                            Penstemon digitalis - Foxglove Beardtongue
                                                            Phlox divaricata - Woodland Phlox
                                                            Physostegia virginiana - Obedient plant
                                                            Podophyllum peltatum - Mayapple
                                                            Polystichum acrostichoides - Christmas Fern
                                                            Pycnanthemem multicum - Short Toothed Mountain Mint
                                                            Rudbeckia hirta - Black Eyed Susan
                                                            Sanguinaria canadensis - Bloodroot
                                                            Sedum ternatum - Woodland Stonecrop
                                                            Sisyrinchium bellum - Blue-eyed Grass
                                                            Trillium grandiflorum - White Trillium
                                                            Uvularia grandiflora - Nodding Bellwort
                                                            Veronicastrum virginicum - Culver’s Root

Prairie Restoration Plant identification 2025

See what's blooming in our demonstration garden!