Native Plant Wildlife Gardening

This is part II of Garden Smackdown’s Play Natives Forward, my list of perennial and annual plants which I am attempting to establish this growing season. Last year I concentrated on understory trees and shrubs (in the Year of the Shrub), and the year before that it was cleaning up invasives and thinning trees (in the Year of the Canopy). This will be the Year of the Flower.

For me, native flowers is a learning process. I have only just begun to get it slightly straight but what a joy it is to figure out! At this time my garden is bare of smaller ground plants which should naturally occur so I am attempting to build that layer up. Ground nesting and foraging birds need them for quality habitat, as do turtles and herps for safely moving about the woodland floor. Some are sun plants meant to begin a meadow area on a large, hard to access steep bank I never wish to manage. I have plans, big plans.

Next year will be The Year of the Grass, or maybe Fern, then there are Brambles…I better live a long time to get this done.

Agastache aurantiaca Agastache Apricot Sprite, P
Agastache cana Agastache Bubble Gum Mint, P
Agastache neomexicana Agastache Lavender Haze, P
Agastache rupestris Sunset Hyssop, P
Amsonia tabernaemontana Eastern Bluestar, P
Anemone virginiana Tall Thimbleweed
Arisaema triphyllum Jack-in-the-Pulpit
Asarum canadense Wild Ginger
Asclepias incarnata Butterfly Weed Soulmate, P
Asclepias purpurascens Purple Milkweed, P
Aster alpinus Aster Happy End, A
Aster azureus Sky Blue Aster, P
Aster novae-angliae New England Aster, P
Callirhoe triangulata Clustered Poppy Mallow, P
Campanula americana Campanula, Bi
Campanula rotundifolia Campanula Olympica, P
Cimicifuga racemosa Atropurpurea (?) Snakeroot, P
Clarkia elegans Elegant Clarkia, A
Cleome serrulata Rocky Mountain Bee Plant, A
Coreopsis basalis Coreopsis Golden Wave, A
Coreopsis tinctoria Coreopsis Dwarf Red, A
Cosmos bipinnatus Cosmos Picotee, A
Cosmos bipinnatus Cosmos Psyche White, A
Cosmos bipinnatus Cosmos Sensation Mix, A
Cosmos bipinnatus Cosmos Versailles Red, A
Dalea purpureum Purple Prairie Clover, P
Desmodium glutinosum Pointed-leaved Tick Trefoil
Echinacea purpurea Coneflower Amado, P
Echinacea tennesseensis Tennessee Coneflower, P
Eryngium yuccifolium Rattlesnake Master, P
Eschscholzia californica California Poppy, A
Eupatorium purpureum Joe-Pye Weed, P
Gaillardia grandiflora Gaillardia Burgundy, P
Gaura lindheimeri Gaura The Bride, P
Geranium maculatum Wild Geranium
Geum triflorum Prairie Smoke, P
Helianthus annuus Sunflower Moulin Rouge, A
Helianthus annuus Sunflower Giganteus, A
Helianthus annuus Sunflower Ikarus, A
Helianthus annuus Sunflower Sun Gold, A
Helianthus annuus Sunflower Velvet Queen , A
Heuchera micrantha Coral Bells Palace Purple, P
Hydrastis canadensis Goldenseal
Layia platyglossa Tidy-Tips, A
Linum perenne lewisii Blue Flax, P
Lupinus succulentus Arroyo Lupine, A
Mertensia virginica Virginia Bluebells
Mitchella repens Partridgeberry, P
Monarda fistulosa Wild Bergamot, P
Monarda punctata Spotted Bee Balm , Bi
Nemophila menziesii Baby Blue Eyes, A
Phlox drummondii Drummond Phlox , A
Podophyllum peltatum May Apple
Ratibida columnaris Mexican Hat, P
Ratibida columnaris Prairie Coneflower, P
Ratibida pinnata Gray-Headed Coneflower, P
Rudbeckia hirta Cherry Brandy, P
Salvia coccinea Cherry Blossom, A
Salvia coccinea Scarlet Sage, A
Salvia farinacea Blue Sage, A
Salvia farinacea Strata
Salvia farinacea Victoria, A
Sanguinaria canadensis Bloodroot
Tithonia speciosa Mexican Sunflowe Torch, A
Uvularia grandiflora Bellwort
Verbena stricta Hoary Vervain, P
Vernonia fasciculata Common Ironweed, P
Veronicastrum virginicum Culver’s Root, P
Zinnia elegans Zinnia Red Cap, A