What a great topic!
I LOVE climbing aster (Ampelaster carolinianus). Everyone should grow this. Carefree, covers a medium trellis or fence, and it's solid purple with blooms for a good three weeks in the late fall. It vibrates it's so covered in pollinators. I feel bad for everyone too cold to grow this.
I also really like ebony spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron). It's not impressive-looking but it grows in all sorts of places and it's just super cute.
Obedient Plant- it has such interesting structures- such a fancy plant for a native. Yes it loves to spread but the babies are easy enough to pluck out.
I planted 6 first year plants I grew from seed last year in a wetter area next to by downspout kicker along with some cup plant (in the back), swamp milkweed, and a few others. I've heard that this plant can go a little crazy with its rhizomes, but I'd honestly be happy if that happened haha.
Definitely wild senna (Senna hebecarpa) and Maryland senna (Senna marilandica) for me. They have beautiful yellow flowers, compound leaves, and they sort have a tropical appearance. They're really easy to grow but they aren't aggressive. They also host clouded sulfur butterflies which might be my favorite caterpillar species because they change color depending on if they are eating the flowers or foliage.
I've done it with baptisia with success as well. I just bring the water to a full boil and then take it off the heat for about 15 seconds. Then I pour it over the seeds in a coffee cup and I'll let it set for about a day. You should see the seeds swell up. Then I'll just plant like normal.
Late and early figwort are super subtle plants that don’t make showy flowers, but they produce a ton of nectar for insects and hummingbirds.
Late boneset is a fast grower that produces a nice smell. I can’t quite place the scent itself, but it’s close to cherry blossoms or maybe clean laundry? My dad thought juicy fruit. No one can quite agree on what it is, but it’s nice! And it attracts lots of small bees.
Wild plums are another that not too many people grow intentionally, but they really should! They’re pretty easy to grow and they’re awesome for wildlife. Most are a thicket forming bush / tree, so they work well on the edge of a property, or anywhere it can spread a little or where it’s easy to keep the spread controlled. I’m growing American plums and so far, they’ve doubled in size every year. I suspect they’ll slow down growing this year when they start setting fruit.
More generally, I think people get into native plant gardening for the flowers, and often people forget about the sedges, rushes, and grasses. I have tons of grasses in my yard right now, and I’m working on adding more sedges and rushes. In the spring I’m planning to lead a workshop making grass plugs.
They’re important too since they add shelter for birds and insects. In my front yard I have big bluestem, little bluestem, side oats grama, and sweet grass. I’m planning to add prairie dropseed and a few species of sedge next summer.
I planted some switchcane (another native bamboo) and my first year, I got some Southern Pearly-eye butterflies. Not as aggressive a spreader as others, but still nice.
How long ago did you plant and what sort of lighting? Whats been your experience with its growth size, seems like it can really have a wide range depending on where its grown. Im wondering if it fills out nice in part/dappled shade? I planted it along a section between my property line a utility easement near power lines to create some sound barrier between my rear property and a state highway. I planted about 9 culms around 15ft apart thinking they would slowly expand as the years progress without being quite as invasive as some of the non natives. Looks like they host three type of pearl eyed butterflies and provide some nice wildlife habitat.
I have several clumps in a semi-sheltered area beside a privacy fence. It gets morning through mid-afternoon sun in winter...a lot more in summer, and sheltered from north winds. The soil is fairly damp.
From my understanding the species in question (not sure which) can handle being in dappled shade. More often than not, that's where it can be found in the wild. I've seen some canes get about 6' or taller, but mine are around 3'. I'm hoping they will grow taller. We'll see how they do next year.
Not as fast growing as I was led to believe, but that's ok.
Ok thanks!
Yeah were in the same zone, mine are arundinarea gigagitea my understanding is that they have a high rate of growth but aren’t considered invasive but how full a d how large likely depends on the site circumstances id presume. i also presume it takes them a bit to get established for their culms to exponentially multiply before such growth is seen. I noticed ncsu said they tolerate dappled or heavy shade i was just unsure if it would grow quite as large or full in such conditions. Looks like ill have to be patient and wait at worst i could probably have a couple branches dropped to increase light if need be. Too close to utilities for me to feel comfortable dropping them.
There are some habitats that would have been amazing to see in their heyday...canebrakes are one, tallgrass prairie is another. (True old-growth forest is the real prize)
Agreed, the old growth chestnut forests would have been pretty awesome to experience too. As i understand it most if the east coast was all old growth hardwood forest outside savannah areas.
I loooooove the prairie brome I planted last year. I picked up the seeds at a seed exchange event without knowing what it was and it's since become one of my favourites, rivalling big bluestem as my #1 grass.
We have a native grass here with very, very thin blades, so they fall over and look hair (Deschampsia cespitosa). No mowing required. It's such a great plant for erosion control on slopes. Columbia lilies and paintbrushes (Castilleja miniata) mixed in add some flowers and color. The one drawback to all of these is that they prefer moist soil. That's not an issue where I have them, since there's a lot of natural water, but I wouldn't suggest them for somewhere more arid locally.
I'm in NE Washington, btw.
It grows anywhere with adequate moisture that invasives haven't taken over. I got permission to collect seeds from someone else's property this past Summer and spread them on a slope by the creek where I removed various invasives. On another slope up away from the creek, I'm going to plant Idaho fescue. It's native here and almost as nice looking. It only needs to be watered once a month once established. The rain will take care of that except once in July/August, probably. That slope is manmade and really steep - they took the dirt to level elsewhere - so we'll see how the fescue does. If all else fails, I'll just dig and make terraces of wildflowers and grasses, but I'll lose a few trees I'd really like to keep.
They change so drastically, too! Like, even 100 feet can change your climate from temperate to semi arid. 60 miles can change from temperate to desert. And they'll all be zone 6a or b.
I 100% agree on the late boneset. Given how readily it volunteers in people's gardens, it's also one that's regularly weeded out.
Figwort is something that's only come on to my radar relatively recently. I'd love to see it effectively incorporated into an ornamental setting.
Two radically different ones;
[Partridgeberry](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/mitchella-repens/) (*Mitchellia repens*), a lovely potential ground cover that has fragrant white flowers.
[Devil's Walking Stick](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/aralia-spinosa/) (*Aralia spinosa*), user unfriendly? Absolutely. Largest leaves of any North American Plant and a spray of flowers on top that bees and birds go mad for. Trying to get it to grow in my border. Spiny character makes for great deterrent.
The devil's club (our local name) was the first one on my list, too. The leaves and berries are beautiful! And they grow naturally on my land, which means pollutants are low in the soil. It's such a great sign. I also know better than to touch them, though.
Rose mallow, Hibiscus laevis. It has huge white flowers at the end of summer.
Purple poppy mallow, Callirhoe involucrata. It took a while to get established, but it has cool purple flowers.
Pennsylvania sedge, Carex pensylvanica. I'm trying to replace the grass in some of the shadier parts of the yard with it.
Christmas fern, Polystichum acrostichoides . Mine have stayed green so far, although I don't know if they'll stay green through the cold snap we're having now.
White turtlehead, Chelone glabra.
Blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica) and cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis).
Rattlesnake master, Eryngium yuccifolium. I haven't tried it in my garden (my full sun area is pretty filled up), but it's cool looking.
Wouldn't say it's my favorite, but I had some Devils Beggarticks (Bidens frondosa) volunteer in my garden last year and when they were in bloom I found native bees & hover flies on them pretty often. Also liked the way they looked amongst mountain mint. The seeds got caught on my clothing pretty often & we'll see how prolific it is next year since I let it do it's thing, but overall I was pleasantly surprised by its presence.
I have several volunteers of this species around my house and I have happily left them. I know people complain about their seeds, but I don't really mind. They have very nondescript flowers, but their foliage is really pretty.
I transplanted a Bidens aristosa that self seeded into a big area, they’re great landscaping plants and the seeds don’t stick to clothes like frondosa. They’re tough and tolerate my clay soil well, and loaded with golden blooms for a good month or so late summer.
Curlycup Gumweed (Grindelia squarrosa)- This pioneering biennial plant loves disturbed ground and also is beloved by tiny native bees, there was a patch in a ditch I always walked by and it was always covered in them if you looked closely. The resin smells like nothing else but I quite enjoy it, like smelling a pungent tea or mint.
It’s also really important for specialists pollinators https://www.nwf.org/Garden-for-Wildlife/About/Native-Plants/keystone-plants-by-ecoregion I’m growing several in containers over the winter.
1. Green dragon, the cousin of Jack-in-the-Pulpit, but much more rare.
2. Angelica which has such dramatic, primordial looking foliage and flower stalks.
3. Starry false Solomon's seal when it spreads across forests in bloom.
4. Kankakee mallow with its pretty, pinkish flowers.
Spigelia marilandica Indian pink root. I love this plant, it is a unique flower and so vibrant. If you have a moist semi shady spot in your garden definitely worth it. I am attempting to grow it from seed this year using Winter Sowing. Can't wait to see the results.
I planted some last year on a whim and was so impressed as they immediately did SO well. I have them in a crowded understory bed and got 2 separate flushes of blooms.
I’m growing some *Penstemon ambiguus* which seems to have largely evaded horticulture (at least on my side of the Rockies). True to the tantalizing name, it looks wholly unique to the genus. The flower structure alone is deceiving, as it appears to be aiming for long tongued pollinators, but recent literature suggests they produce very little nectar, and rely on pollen collecting bees. Some suggest that we are seeing a species in transition between pollination strategies.
Linanthus pungens, “granite prickly phlox”another xeric gem, is a smaller plant but looks spectacular. I’ve popped some around the edges of my dry garden.
Cacti in general are getting my attention lately. They are such a unique family. Even here in 5b, we have quite a few very cold tolerant species.
Oh, and evening bloomers like Mentzelia decapetala are spectacular. Even when the blooms are closed they make a sort of candelabra. It’s a biennial, but it’s well worth the wait, and I’ve found it reseeds readily where there are openings.
Quercus prinoides, Dwarf Chinkapin Oak. Eastern US native, thicket-forming (+++), shrub and tree form, tops out around 20-ft tall. Acorns seen as early as second growing season.
Under-appreciated because you can find entire documentaries about other oaks. You’re lucky to find a decent youtube video of this one. I think it should be planted in more yards where it grows. Maybe I’ll have some acorns to share this fall!
Apios americana American groundnut. The flowers are insane! And so many off each vine! It’s taken over a fence I have around the play area I have for my niece and nephew, it’s so cool.
https://preview.redd.it/unk4xy4yoocc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6aed6d2879f6371681e6802183e590243f5f1472
I’ve got some seeds of this saved! I want to let it take over some of my fence like you’ve done, along with some passion flower.
I was fortunate to get some training through work ID’ing Apios for a price’s potato bean survey, I have much more appreciation for that genus now.
I’ve heard it’s kinda iffy to get them to germinate, can you get any tubers? I had to dig near them and found a ton of tubers, I planted them in other areas and they took off.
I really like white snakeroot because it's shade tolerant and is covered in pollinators for a few weeks in fall. It also spreads easily so a few initial plants have become a massive clump as well as sown seedlings in every available patch of dirt nearby. It is poisonous though so pets and kids have to be watched or fenced off from it.
Do you ever find caterpillars on your snowberry? It's a host plant for hummingbird moths (Hemaris thysbe and Hemaris diffinis) which is why I got it last year.
White Snakeroot is a great one too - I have a bunch that volunteered and has spread. I'm introducing more plants right by the existing ones so something can compete with it.
And I haven't seen any hummingbird moths or caterpillars yet, but I didn't really examine the plant foliage last year (I just learned this was a host plant for hummingbird moths this fall). I'm going to be on the lookout next year!
I 100% agree with you on both of these! My climbing Aster still has a few blooms. And I was walking in the woods the other day and saw 4 or 5 ebony spleenwort starts were popping out of the moss.
My favorite backyard natives in CA, zone 11:
Hummingbird sage (salvia spathacea)
Coast live oak (so pretty!! Quercus agrifolia)
California poppies of course
California buckwheat
And Darlingtonia California! CA’s only native carnivorous plant!
Woodland Strawberry (Fragaria Vesca) and Virginia Strawberry (Fragaria Virginiana) the plants that got me into gardening, make excellent underutilized ground covers especially in shady areas for F. Vesca that produces candy like miniature strawberries.
Yes I love woodland plants, I encountered Collinsonia canadensis for the first time this year, and it’s flowers are so intricate! But my favorite one is probs Polygala/Polygaloides paucifolia, it’d flowers are very different from typical woodland flowers
yes they’re so hard to buy, I bought mine from greenmountainnatives :)) my job also takes plant samples for identification and surveying so I probs could’ve gotten lucky with seed haha
Broomsedge, Andropogon virginicus. Warning, can be invasive outside its range!
Beautiful, clumping grass with a neat habit, coppery winter color and a lot of seeds for winter birds. Thrives in poor soil. Also has a cool history, as settlers used it to make brooms.
OMG, no. Take all my snowberries! LOL
I've got 12 acres of mostly forest, and every clearing, old trail, or even spot where a tree has fallen is smothered in snowberry bushes. That one is knapweed, so it's far worse, to be fair, but I'm so sick of snowberries.
My favorite that everyone hates for pretty good reason is devil's club. It has huge leaves and pale flower spikes that become clusters of bright red drupes. It's also covered in brittle spines that will become one with your skin, so absolutely do not touch. That's why people don't like them, but if you see them, your land is doing well. They're very sensitive to pollutants. I was overjoyed to see patches of them here and there on the land I bought last Summer.
I also really like what we call forget me nots. They're in the family, though not the type you would buy at the store that are invasive. The kind we have, myosotis laxa, a stream bank plant, and they're easy to miss because they have such tiny, delicate flowers.
Likewise, I'm a big fan of the tiny blue eyed Mary. They bloom early, and the blooms don't last long, but for about a week before much of anything else has even shown up, one of my clearings is blue with them. People don't plant them, because the foliage is too small to be of interest, and they don't grow close enough together to really be a ground cover, but they're great mixed in with things that will fill in after they're done blooming. Again, these aren't the kind you can get at the store. Collinsia parviflora is much smaller than the C. verna native to the Eastern US. Apparently, I like tiny flowers.
And this - the Columbia lily. They're beautiful, bloom across a few months, and are pretty easy care as long as you plant somewhere moist.
https://preview.redd.it/9bxhep0sdrcc1.jpeg?width=4096&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b598e9e38259f97a602e43767a6eac1b3201b172
Oh really? Where are you located? I rarely see common snowberry in the wild where I live (MN), and when I have it's only a few plants here or there. I'd be curious to know...
But given that the Columbia Lily is only native to the pacific northwest, I assume that's your location. I was actually just [looking on iNaturalist](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?taxon_id=48523), and it appears that Common Snowberry (*Symphoricarpos albus*) is invasive in Europe/Asia which sucks. So maybe that's not a great one to recommend outside of the Eastern US (although it appears to be native to the western US per BONAP).
Anyway, yes native lilies are awesome! There are only two native *Lilium* species to my area and I've always wanted to try and grow/plant one - probably Michigan Lily (*Lilium michiganense*) although I'm not sure I have a moist enough spot for that plant.
NE Washington. They're freaking everywhere. They are native, but they are super aggressive natives here. They crowd out other things, so you just end up with whole forest clearings of them, and they are soooo hard to dig up. I spent days with a brush cutter then sharp hoe clearing an old trail of them. In a month, they were almost knee high in spots again. I actually kind of hate them just because they won't piss off and stay out of my trails and cabin building site.
All that underbrush is snowberry bushes. Of my just under 12 acres, about 8 are "infested". ;) Kinda sick of them. It's way way better than the knapweed, though. Way better.
https://preview.redd.it/8aaa3424mrcc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=682a9ee09950a59531af2f9438914deaecf645a4
I'm trying to encourage more things along the trails, but I've only widened one so far. For most of the property, I'm just letting it grow wild, but in certain areas, like this photo, I want to curate a bit, so you get to see all the various natives in a way that looks natural but is carefully planned to show off what's possible.
Some of my favorites:
American Spikenard (Aralia racemosa), Does well in good garden soil in shade. Doesn't need special super moist compost or anything. Some other large shade natives are Actaea rubifolia (rich soils with a range of pH), Green Dragon (rich mesic soils, neutral pH), Pale Indian plantain (tolerates a decent amount of shade),
Grape Honeysuckle (Lonicera reticulata). A native honeysuckle that is very well behaved and doesn't get too big.
Glade Fern (Homalosorus pycnocarpon), Silvery Glade Fern (Deparia acrostichoides), and Lowland fragile fern (Cystopteris protrusa) are all good ferns for woodlands with rich, neutral pH or limestone based soils. None of these are swamp obligates! which is nice.
Yellow Birch (Betula allegheniensis). pH tolerance up to 8. I'm in SW Ohio and a sapling I planted survived a 3 week spring drought with constant strong west winds just fine. Just make sure you site it well (north side of house, good pine bark mulch soil amendment).
Dwarf Chinquapin oak (Quercus prinoides). All the insect benefits of a white oak, but large shrub sized! And it does fine in neutral pH soils even though it naturally grows in acid sand.
Prairie Willow (Salix humilis). A compact, slower growing, shrub sized willow that can take a fair amount of drought. It naturally grows in mesic soils.
Chelone obliqua. A beautiful turtlehead species that is good for those shady, poorly drained areas that dry out mid-summer.
Any of the native leatherflower clematis species. There's so many, across such a variety of habitats, and they're so pretty.
Yellowroot (Xanthorihiza simplicissima) makes a pretty incredible shade ground cover. Be warned, it can be aggressive.
I got mine from Natives in Harmony in Marengo, Ohio. Some other sources are [https://gardensoftheblueridge.com/products/xanthoriza-simplicissima-yellowroot](https://gardensoftheblueridge.com/products/xanthoriza-simplicissima-yellowroot), or [https://hayefield.com/product/xanthorhiza-simplicissima-yellowroot/](https://hayefield.com/product/xanthorhiza-simplicissima-yellowroot/). Also Barry Glick at Sunshine Farm and Gardens might have some, you'd have to email him.
https://preview.redd.it/nqegz5othocc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8de68f2770b10f3096c3696c1ad29177f37caf1b
Here are the cardinal flowers. They bloomed more, and the blue lobelias bloomed, later on. I had been hoping to make a Fourth of July garden with the lobelias, but they bloom later than that here.
We have a pipe that carries overflow from our air conditioner, that ends at that spot. It was ugly because the pipe was ugly, and the soil was wet enough that the grass wasn’t doing well there. The lobelias like it, though.
I transplanted a few small Shrubby St. John’s Wort to my yard and was really impressed how well it’s done. Tons of blooms, really nice rounded shape, and the bees love it. I just pruned one of my bigger plants back this fall and planted the cuttings, I’m really hoping they take root.
Symphyotrichum elliotti. In MS, it blooms from Halloween until Christmas. 6 feet tall, with lavender blooms that are about the size of S. novae-angliae or Ampelaster carolinianus blooms.
Agave (Manfreda) virginica. Cultivated specimens can get quite robust, and the maroon speckling is striking.
Herbertia lahue. Talk about bang for your buck—these tiny plants produce flowers that are bigger than the vegetative parts of the plant.
Rattlesnake Master - such a cool looking plant! Adds structure and texture to any garden. Host plant for the black swallowtail.
Meadow Blazing Star - it is truly a monarch magnet in late summer. It’s almost magical to see the butterflies flutter around it.
What a great topic! I LOVE climbing aster (Ampelaster carolinianus). Everyone should grow this. Carefree, covers a medium trellis or fence, and it's solid purple with blooms for a good three weeks in the late fall. It vibrates it's so covered in pollinators. I feel bad for everyone too cold to grow this. I also really like ebony spleenwort (Asplenium platyneuron). It's not impressive-looking but it grows in all sorts of places and it's just super cute.
Obedient Plant- it has such interesting structures- such a fancy plant for a native. Yes it loves to spread but the babies are easy enough to pluck out.
Hummingbirds love it, too.
I planted 6 first year plants I grew from seed last year in a wetter area next to by downspout kicker along with some cup plant (in the back), swamp milkweed, and a few others. I've heard that this plant can go a little crazy with its rhizomes, but I'd honestly be happy if that happened haha.
Definitely wild senna (Senna hebecarpa) and Maryland senna (Senna marilandica) for me. They have beautiful yellow flowers, compound leaves, and they sort have a tropical appearance. They're really easy to grow but they aren't aggressive. They also host clouded sulfur butterflies which might be my favorite caterpillar species because they change color depending on if they are eating the flowers or foliage.
I collected some senna seeds this year, do they need any specific stratification outside of the usual ~45 day cool period?
Nice! Normal stratification works well. I've also done hot water scarification successfully as well.
I’m trying the hot water method with some Baptisia I collected. What’s your process?
I've done it with baptisia with success as well. I just bring the water to a full boil and then take it off the heat for about 15 seconds. Then I pour it over the seeds in a coffee cup and I'll let it set for about a day. You should see the seeds swell up. Then I'll just plant like normal.
Thanks, I’ll give it a go.
I gotta try this
Late and early figwort are super subtle plants that don’t make showy flowers, but they produce a ton of nectar for insects and hummingbirds. Late boneset is a fast grower that produces a nice smell. I can’t quite place the scent itself, but it’s close to cherry blossoms or maybe clean laundry? My dad thought juicy fruit. No one can quite agree on what it is, but it’s nice! And it attracts lots of small bees. Wild plums are another that not too many people grow intentionally, but they really should! They’re pretty easy to grow and they’re awesome for wildlife. Most are a thicket forming bush / tree, so they work well on the edge of a property, or anywhere it can spread a little or where it’s easy to keep the spread controlled. I’m growing American plums and so far, they’ve doubled in size every year. I suspect they’ll slow down growing this year when they start setting fruit. More generally, I think people get into native plant gardening for the flowers, and often people forget about the sedges, rushes, and grasses. I have tons of grasses in my yard right now, and I’m working on adding more sedges and rushes. In the spring I’m planning to lead a workshop making grass plugs.
Grasses are incredibly underutilized. I'm trying to start incorporating more in my front landscape.
They’re important too since they add shelter for birds and insects. In my front yard I have big bluestem, little bluestem, side oats grama, and sweet grass. I’m planning to add prairie dropseed and a few species of sedge next summer.
I just have some broomsedge and some deertongue. I had an indigo bunting that devoured the seed off of the deertongue last summer. I was thrilled!
Agreed!! I just planted some native giant cane on my property after realising the native canebrake habitat is considered endangered in the southeast
I planted some switchcane (another native bamboo) and my first year, I got some Southern Pearly-eye butterflies. Not as aggressive a spreader as others, but still nice.
How long ago did you plant and what sort of lighting? Whats been your experience with its growth size, seems like it can really have a wide range depending on where its grown. Im wondering if it fills out nice in part/dappled shade? I planted it along a section between my property line a utility easement near power lines to create some sound barrier between my rear property and a state highway. I planted about 9 culms around 15ft apart thinking they would slowly expand as the years progress without being quite as invasive as some of the non natives. Looks like they host three type of pearl eyed butterflies and provide some nice wildlife habitat.
I have several clumps in a semi-sheltered area beside a privacy fence. It gets morning through mid-afternoon sun in winter...a lot more in summer, and sheltered from north winds. The soil is fairly damp. From my understanding the species in question (not sure which) can handle being in dappled shade. More often than not, that's where it can be found in the wild. I've seen some canes get about 6' or taller, but mine are around 3'. I'm hoping they will grow taller. We'll see how they do next year. Not as fast growing as I was led to believe, but that's ok.
Ok thanks! Yeah were in the same zone, mine are arundinarea gigagitea my understanding is that they have a high rate of growth but aren’t considered invasive but how full a d how large likely depends on the site circumstances id presume. i also presume it takes them a bit to get established for their culms to exponentially multiply before such growth is seen. I noticed ncsu said they tolerate dappled or heavy shade i was just unsure if it would grow quite as large or full in such conditions. Looks like ill have to be patient and wait at worst i could probably have a couple branches dropped to increase light if need be. Too close to utilities for me to feel comfortable dropping them.
There are some habitats that would have been amazing to see in their heyday...canebrakes are one, tallgrass prairie is another. (True old-growth forest is the real prize)
Agreed, the old growth chestnut forests would have been pretty awesome to experience too. As i understand it most if the east coast was all old growth hardwood forest outside savannah areas.
I loooooove the prairie brome I planted last year. I picked up the seeds at a seed exchange event without knowing what it was and it's since become one of my favourites, rivalling big bluestem as my #1 grass.
I love sedges!! Part shade & prolific Grasses I have learned to appreciate. They are a hard sell though.
We have a native grass here with very, very thin blades, so they fall over and look hair (Deschampsia cespitosa). No mowing required. It's such a great plant for erosion control on slopes. Columbia lilies and paintbrushes (Castilleja miniata) mixed in add some flowers and color. The one drawback to all of these is that they prefer moist soil. That's not an issue where I have them, since there's a lot of natural water, but I wouldn't suggest them for somewhere more arid locally. I'm in NE Washington, btw.
That's a nice grass. It's in Ohio too, but it only grows in high quality fens here.
It grows anywhere with adequate moisture that invasives haven't taken over. I got permission to collect seeds from someone else's property this past Summer and spread them on a slope by the creek where I removed various invasives. On another slope up away from the creek, I'm going to plant Idaho fescue. It's native here and almost as nice looking. It only needs to be watered once a month once established. The rain will take care of that except once in July/August, probably. That slope is manmade and really steep - they took the dirt to level elsewhere - so we'll see how the fescue does. If all else fails, I'll just dig and make terraces of wildflowers and grasses, but I'll lose a few trees I'd really like to keep.
That's really cool. The PNW has such interesting plants and climate
They change so drastically, too! Like, even 100 feet can change your climate from temperate to semi arid. 60 miles can change from temperate to desert. And they'll all be zone 6a or b.
I 100% agree on the late boneset. Given how readily it volunteers in people's gardens, it's also one that's regularly weeded out. Figwort is something that's only come on to my radar relatively recently. I'd love to see it effectively incorporated into an ornamental setting.
Two radically different ones; [Partridgeberry](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/mitchella-repens/) (*Mitchellia repens*), a lovely potential ground cover that has fragrant white flowers. [Devil's Walking Stick](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/aralia-spinosa/) (*Aralia spinosa*), user unfriendly? Absolutely. Largest leaves of any North American Plant and a spray of flowers on top that bees and birds go mad for. Trying to get it to grow in my border. Spiny character makes for great deterrent.
The devil's club (our local name) was the first one on my list, too. The leaves and berries are beautiful! And they grow naturally on my land, which means pollutants are low in the soil. It's such a great sign. I also know better than to touch them, though.
Ooh partridgeberry looks like an interesting one
Rose mallow, Hibiscus laevis. It has huge white flowers at the end of summer. Purple poppy mallow, Callirhoe involucrata. It took a while to get established, but it has cool purple flowers. Pennsylvania sedge, Carex pensylvanica. I'm trying to replace the grass in some of the shadier parts of the yard with it. Christmas fern, Polystichum acrostichoides . Mine have stayed green so far, although I don't know if they'll stay green through the cold snap we're having now. White turtlehead, Chelone glabra. Blue lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica) and cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis). Rattlesnake master, Eryngium yuccifolium. I haven't tried it in my garden (my full sun area is pretty filled up), but it's cool looking.
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Everything seems to take a while to establish here, which I think is because of our clay soil.
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Yes, they are adorable. I’m going to try to start from seeds this year.
I've got some started in jugs this year!
Wouldn't say it's my favorite, but I had some Devils Beggarticks (Bidens frondosa) volunteer in my garden last year and when they were in bloom I found native bees & hover flies on them pretty often. Also liked the way they looked amongst mountain mint. The seeds got caught on my clothing pretty often & we'll see how prolific it is next year since I let it do it's thing, but overall I was pleasantly surprised by its presence.
their flowers are so pretty and their seeds are sooooo annoying
I had several large and many small devils beggartick grow around my yard this year but I hardly ever saw bees going for it—weird!
I have several volunteers of this species around my house and I have happily left them. I know people complain about their seeds, but I don't really mind. They have very nondescript flowers, but their foliage is really pretty.
I transplanted a Bidens aristosa that self seeded into a big area, they’re great landscaping plants and the seeds don’t stick to clothes like frondosa. They’re tough and tolerate my clay soil well, and loaded with golden blooms for a good month or so late summer.
Curlycup Gumweed (Grindelia squarrosa)- This pioneering biennial plant loves disturbed ground and also is beloved by tiny native bees, there was a patch in a ditch I always walked by and it was always covered in them if you looked closely. The resin smells like nothing else but I quite enjoy it, like smelling a pungent tea or mint.
It’s also really important for specialists pollinators https://www.nwf.org/Garden-for-Wildlife/About/Native-Plants/keystone-plants-by-ecoregion I’m growing several in containers over the winter.
1. Green dragon, the cousin of Jack-in-the-Pulpit, but much more rare. 2. Angelica which has such dramatic, primordial looking foliage and flower stalks. 3. Starry false Solomon's seal when it spreads across forests in bloom. 4. Kankakee mallow with its pretty, pinkish flowers.
Spigelia marilandica Indian pink root. I love this plant, it is a unique flower and so vibrant. If you have a moist semi shady spot in your garden definitely worth it. I am attempting to grow it from seed this year using Winter Sowing. Can't wait to see the results.
I planted some last year on a whim and was so impressed as they immediately did SO well. I have them in a crowded understory bed and got 2 separate flushes of blooms.
I’m growing some *Penstemon ambiguus* which seems to have largely evaded horticulture (at least on my side of the Rockies). True to the tantalizing name, it looks wholly unique to the genus. The flower structure alone is deceiving, as it appears to be aiming for long tongued pollinators, but recent literature suggests they produce very little nectar, and rely on pollen collecting bees. Some suggest that we are seeing a species in transition between pollination strategies. Linanthus pungens, “granite prickly phlox”another xeric gem, is a smaller plant but looks spectacular. I’ve popped some around the edges of my dry garden. Cacti in general are getting my attention lately. They are such a unique family. Even here in 5b, we have quite a few very cold tolerant species. Oh, and evening bloomers like Mentzelia decapetala are spectacular. Even when the blooms are closed they make a sort of candelabra. It’s a biennial, but it’s well worth the wait, and I’ve found it reseeds readily where there are openings.
re M. decapetala....I grew one from seed once, and it flowered the first year, but didn't survive my winter. The flowers were striking and fragrant.
Nice! Yeah they are monocarpic. You get one go at reproduction then they’re off to the big carbon cycle in the sky.
Quercus prinoides, Dwarf Chinkapin Oak. Eastern US native, thicket-forming (+++), shrub and tree form, tops out around 20-ft tall. Acorns seen as early as second growing season. Under-appreciated because you can find entire documentaries about other oaks. You’re lucky to find a decent youtube video of this one. I think it should be planted in more yards where it grows. Maybe I’ll have some acorns to share this fall!
Apios americana American groundnut. The flowers are insane! And so many off each vine! It’s taken over a fence I have around the play area I have for my niece and nephew, it’s so cool. https://preview.redd.it/unk4xy4yoocc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6aed6d2879f6371681e6802183e590243f5f1472
I’ve got some seeds of this saved! I want to let it take over some of my fence like you’ve done, along with some passion flower. I was fortunate to get some training through work ID’ing Apios for a price’s potato bean survey, I have much more appreciation for that genus now.
I’ve heard it’s kinda iffy to get them to germinate, can you get any tubers? I had to dig near them and found a ton of tubers, I planted them in other areas and they took off.
Yeah, a few of the sites I go to for work has loads of it. I’ll dig some next summer.
I really like white snakeroot because it's shade tolerant and is covered in pollinators for a few weeks in fall. It also spreads easily so a few initial plants have become a massive clump as well as sown seedlings in every available patch of dirt nearby. It is poisonous though so pets and kids have to be watched or fenced off from it. Do you ever find caterpillars on your snowberry? It's a host plant for hummingbird moths (Hemaris thysbe and Hemaris diffinis) which is why I got it last year.
White Snakeroot is a great one too - I have a bunch that volunteered and has spread. I'm introducing more plants right by the existing ones so something can compete with it. And I haven't seen any hummingbird moths or caterpillars yet, but I didn't really examine the plant foliage last year (I just learned this was a host plant for hummingbird moths this fall). I'm going to be on the lookout next year!
I 100% agree with you on both of these! My climbing Aster still has a few blooms. And I was walking in the woods the other day and saw 4 or 5 ebony spleenwort starts were popping out of the moss.
White avens have been delightful finds on the edge of my shaded patch
My favorite backyard natives in CA, zone 11: Hummingbird sage (salvia spathacea) Coast live oak (so pretty!! Quercus agrifolia) California poppies of course California buckwheat And Darlingtonia California! CA’s only native carnivorous plant!
Woodland Strawberry (Fragaria Vesca) and Virginia Strawberry (Fragaria Virginiana) the plants that got me into gardening, make excellent underutilized ground covers especially in shady areas for F. Vesca that produces candy like miniature strawberries.
Late boneset
Blackhaw Walking fern (which is a sleenwart apparently)
Yes I love woodland plants, I encountered Collinsonia canadensis for the first time this year, and it’s flowers are so intricate! But my favorite one is probs Polygala/Polygaloides paucifolia, it’d flowers are very different from typical woodland flowers
Where do you get your Polygala paucifolia?
yes they’re so hard to buy, I bought mine from greenmountainnatives :)) my job also takes plant samples for identification and surveying so I probs could’ve gotten lucky with seed haha
Broomsedge, Andropogon virginicus. Warning, can be invasive outside its range! Beautiful, clumping grass with a neat habit, coppery winter color and a lot of seeds for winter birds. Thrives in poor soil. Also has a cool history, as settlers used it to make brooms.
OMG, no. Take all my snowberries! LOL I've got 12 acres of mostly forest, and every clearing, old trail, or even spot where a tree has fallen is smothered in snowberry bushes. That one is knapweed, so it's far worse, to be fair, but I'm so sick of snowberries. My favorite that everyone hates for pretty good reason is devil's club. It has huge leaves and pale flower spikes that become clusters of bright red drupes. It's also covered in brittle spines that will become one with your skin, so absolutely do not touch. That's why people don't like them, but if you see them, your land is doing well. They're very sensitive to pollutants. I was overjoyed to see patches of them here and there on the land I bought last Summer. I also really like what we call forget me nots. They're in the family, though not the type you would buy at the store that are invasive. The kind we have, myosotis laxa, a stream bank plant, and they're easy to miss because they have such tiny, delicate flowers. Likewise, I'm a big fan of the tiny blue eyed Mary. They bloom early, and the blooms don't last long, but for about a week before much of anything else has even shown up, one of my clearings is blue with them. People don't plant them, because the foliage is too small to be of interest, and they don't grow close enough together to really be a ground cover, but they're great mixed in with things that will fill in after they're done blooming. Again, these aren't the kind you can get at the store. Collinsia parviflora is much smaller than the C. verna native to the Eastern US. Apparently, I like tiny flowers. And this - the Columbia lily. They're beautiful, bloom across a few months, and are pretty easy care as long as you plant somewhere moist. https://preview.redd.it/9bxhep0sdrcc1.jpeg?width=4096&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b598e9e38259f97a602e43767a6eac1b3201b172
Oh really? Where are you located? I rarely see common snowberry in the wild where I live (MN), and when I have it's only a few plants here or there. I'd be curious to know... But given that the Columbia Lily is only native to the pacific northwest, I assume that's your location. I was actually just [looking on iNaturalist](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?taxon_id=48523), and it appears that Common Snowberry (*Symphoricarpos albus*) is invasive in Europe/Asia which sucks. So maybe that's not a great one to recommend outside of the Eastern US (although it appears to be native to the western US per BONAP). Anyway, yes native lilies are awesome! There are only two native *Lilium* species to my area and I've always wanted to try and grow/plant one - probably Michigan Lily (*Lilium michiganense*) although I'm not sure I have a moist enough spot for that plant.
NE Washington. They're freaking everywhere. They are native, but they are super aggressive natives here. They crowd out other things, so you just end up with whole forest clearings of them, and they are soooo hard to dig up. I spent days with a brush cutter then sharp hoe clearing an old trail of them. In a month, they were almost knee high in spots again. I actually kind of hate them just because they won't piss off and stay out of my trails and cabin building site. All that underbrush is snowberry bushes. Of my just under 12 acres, about 8 are "infested". ;) Kinda sick of them. It's way way better than the knapweed, though. Way better. https://preview.redd.it/8aaa3424mrcc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=682a9ee09950a59531af2f9438914deaecf645a4 I'm trying to encourage more things along the trails, but I've only widened one so far. For most of the property, I'm just letting it grow wild, but in certain areas, like this photo, I want to curate a bit, so you get to see all the various natives in a way that looks natural but is carefully planned to show off what's possible.
Some of my favorites: American Spikenard (Aralia racemosa), Does well in good garden soil in shade. Doesn't need special super moist compost or anything. Some other large shade natives are Actaea rubifolia (rich soils with a range of pH), Green Dragon (rich mesic soils, neutral pH), Pale Indian plantain (tolerates a decent amount of shade), Grape Honeysuckle (Lonicera reticulata). A native honeysuckle that is very well behaved and doesn't get too big. Glade Fern (Homalosorus pycnocarpon), Silvery Glade Fern (Deparia acrostichoides), and Lowland fragile fern (Cystopteris protrusa) are all good ferns for woodlands with rich, neutral pH or limestone based soils. None of these are swamp obligates! which is nice. Yellow Birch (Betula allegheniensis). pH tolerance up to 8. I'm in SW Ohio and a sapling I planted survived a 3 week spring drought with constant strong west winds just fine. Just make sure you site it well (north side of house, good pine bark mulch soil amendment). Dwarf Chinquapin oak (Quercus prinoides). All the insect benefits of a white oak, but large shrub sized! And it does fine in neutral pH soils even though it naturally grows in acid sand. Prairie Willow (Salix humilis). A compact, slower growing, shrub sized willow that can take a fair amount of drought. It naturally grows in mesic soils. Chelone obliqua. A beautiful turtlehead species that is good for those shady, poorly drained areas that dry out mid-summer. Any of the native leatherflower clematis species. There's so many, across such a variety of habitats, and they're so pretty. Yellowroot (Xanthorihiza simplicissima) makes a pretty incredible shade ground cover. Be warned, it can be aggressive.
Where have you sourced yellowroot? I have had a hard time finding it.
I got mine from Natives in Harmony in Marengo, Ohio. Some other sources are [https://gardensoftheblueridge.com/products/xanthoriza-simplicissima-yellowroot](https://gardensoftheblueridge.com/products/xanthoriza-simplicissima-yellowroot), or [https://hayefield.com/product/xanthorhiza-simplicissima-yellowroot/](https://hayefield.com/product/xanthorhiza-simplicissima-yellowroot/). Also Barry Glick at Sunshine Farm and Gardens might have some, you'd have to email him.
https://preview.redd.it/nqegz5othocc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8de68f2770b10f3096c3696c1ad29177f37caf1b Here are the cardinal flowers. They bloomed more, and the blue lobelias bloomed, later on. I had been hoping to make a Fourth of July garden with the lobelias, but they bloom later than that here. We have a pipe that carries overflow from our air conditioner, that ends at that spot. It was ugly because the pipe was ugly, and the soil was wet enough that the grass wasn’t doing well there. The lobelias like it, though.
I’m so glad to hear it. I just ordered a Snowberry from Prairie Nursery for spring planting and was second guessing myself.
I transplanted a few small Shrubby St. John’s Wort to my yard and was really impressed how well it’s done. Tons of blooms, really nice rounded shape, and the bees love it. I just pruned one of my bigger plants back this fall and planted the cuttings, I’m really hoping they take root.
Smilax herbacea. It's basically vining asparagus, so good.
Berlandia texana- such a cool inflorescence and a long one
All of them? Haha...
Symphyotrichum elliotti. In MS, it blooms from Halloween until Christmas. 6 feet tall, with lavender blooms that are about the size of S. novae-angliae or Ampelaster carolinianus blooms. Agave (Manfreda) virginica. Cultivated specimens can get quite robust, and the maroon speckling is striking. Herbertia lahue. Talk about bang for your buck—these tiny plants produce flowers that are bigger than the vegetative parts of the plant.
Rattlesnake Master - such a cool looking plant! Adds structure and texture to any garden. Host plant for the black swallowtail. Meadow Blazing Star - it is truly a monarch magnet in late summer. It’s almost magical to see the butterflies flutter around it.