Our Favorite Native Plants

Blue Flag Iris or Northern Blue Flag (Iris versicolor)

This is a clump-forming iris that is native to marshes, swamps, wet meadows, ditches and shorelines from Manitoba to Nova Scotia south to Virginia, Ohio, Illinois and Minnesota. Northern blue flag thrives in wetland habitats frequented by rushes and sedges (the "flag" part of the common name comes from the middle English word flagge meaning rush or reed). Its Rhizome is poisonous.

Sun: Partial to shade

Soil moisture: Wet

Height: Two to three feet

Deer resistant: Yes

Comments: Attracts bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and birds

Bee Balm (Monarda didyma)

This plant is native to eastern North America where it typically occurs in bottomlands, thickets, moist woods and along streambanks from Maine to Minnesota south to Missouri and Georgia. It is a somewhat coarse, clump-forming, mint family member that features tubular, two-lipped, bright scarlet-red flowers crowded into dense, globular, terminal flowerheads. Attractive to bees, hummingbirds and butterflies, particularly when massed.

Sun: Full to partial

Soil moisture: Average

Height: three to four feet

Deer resistant: Yes

Comments: Edible leaves - the leaves and flowers can be made into tea. Drought tolerant and mildew resistant.

Plains Coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria)

Each ray of this species' flower is toothed at the tip and spotted reddish-brown at the base. Flowers typically bloom over a long late spring to fall period. This species is synonymous with and formerly know as Calliopsis bicolor. The genus name comes from the Greek words koris meaning bug and opsis in reference to the shape of the seed which resembles a bug or tick.

Water Use: High

Light Requirement: Sun , Part Shade

Soil Moisture: Moist

CaCO3 Tolerance: Medium

Soil Description: Prefers moist, sandy soil.

Swamp Milkweed (Asciepias Incarnata)

This native species is commonly found in swamps, river bottomlands and wet meadows. The flowers are very attractive to butterflies as a nectar source. In addition, swamp milkweed is an important food source for the larval stage of Monarch butterflies. Genus name honors the Greek god Asklepios the god of medicine.

Water Use: High

Light Requirement: Sun , Partial Shade

Soil Moisture: Moist , Wet

Attracts: Butterflies , Hummingbirds

Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

This native species is a perennial which grows well in dry/rocky open woods, glades, prairies, fields and roadsides throughout Ohio and the Midwest region. Unlike many of the other milkweeds, this species does not have milky-sapped stems. Flowers are a nectar source for many butterflies and leaves are a food source for monarch butterfly larvae. Commonly called pleurisy root due to a prior medicinal use of the plant roots to treat lung inflammations. Genus name honors the Greek god Asklepios the god of medicine.

Water Use: Low

Light Requirement: Sun

Soil Moisture: Dry , Moist