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Vernonia noveboracensis

New York Ironweed features purple flowers, which bloom on tall stalks, August-September. The flower nectar offers food to bees and butterflies, and the dried seeds offer food to birds. New York Ironweed can self-seed vigorously. Plant in a mass to use as a background plant in borders, meadows, and in moist naturalized areas of your yard.

Verbena hastata

Swamp Verbena features purplish-blue flowers, which bloom on tall spikes, a few at a time from bottom to top, June-September. The flowers are a nectar source for bees and butterflies. Swamp Verbena is a host plant for butterfly and moth larvae (caterpillars), including Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia). This plant prefers moist soil conditions. Use it in rain gardens, along water features, or in other moist areas of the yard. It can also be planted in borders and meadows.

Vaccinium corymbosum

Highbush Blueberry is a flowering deciduous shrub with edible fruit. It features white to pinkish-white flowers, which bloom in May, offering a valuable early nectar source for native bees. The edible fruit ripens June-July, providing food for birds. The berries are used in pies, muffins, and other dishes, and eaten fresh! Highbush Blueberry offers lush green foliage in the summer, and yellow, bronze, orange, or red foliage in fall. Reddish stems offer ornamental value in winter. Plant Highbush Blueberry as a shrub border, in a small garden plot, or in naturalized areas of your yard.

Tripsacum dactyloides

Eastern Gamagrass is a warm-season bunchgrass, which displays purple female flowers and orange male flowers on the same plant (monoecious), May-September. It is a host plant for butterfly and moth larvae (caterpillars), including Byssus Skipper (Problema byssus). Deer eat the seeds. Cut back Eastern Gamagrass to 8 inches in the winter, after the foliage has died back from frost. Use it in woodland gardens, perennial borders, meadows, or naturalized areas in your yard.

Thuja occidentalis

Arborvitae is an evergreen tree, which offers winter interest to yards and landscapes. It tolerates a wide range of soils, but prefers moist, slightly alkaline loam. Use Arborvitae for a specimen, accent plant, or foundation tree, or group in hedges, shelter-belts, and privacy borders. It is susceptible to diseases and insects (including bagworm, heart rot, leaf miner, and spider mites) and to deer browse.

Taxodium distichum

Bald Cypress is a tall, pyramidal-shaped, deciduous tree. The foliage turns yellow-brown in fall before it drops. Its small seeds attract some birds. Bald Cypress prefers wet areas, but can adapt to dry sites. Bald Cypress offers high-wind resistance, but it is flammable; plant a minimum 30 feet from buildings in wildfire-prone areas.

Tagetes spp.

Marigold species come in many sizes and flower colors, ranging from red, orange, yellow and white, to a blend of colors. The flowers bloom June through frost, offering a long-lasting season of enjoyment. The flowers can be used either fresh-cut or dried in floral arrangements. The finely cut, fern-like leaves are often aromatic. This easy-to-grow plant is both disease- and pest-resistant. Plant Marigolds along borders, as accents in corners of your yard, or alongside tomatoes and peppers in your vegetable garden.

Syringa reticulata

Japanese Tree Lilac is a small to medium, deciduous tree with large clusters of creamy-white, fragrant flowers. The flowers bloom in June, later than most other lilac shrubs. For best blooms, plant Japanese Tree Lilac in full sun. The flowers provide a rich nectar source for native bees and butterflies. Use Japanese Tree Lilac as an ornamental specimen tree in your yard, or a street tree in your neighborhood.

Staphylea trifolia

American Bladdernut is a fast-growing, suckering, small tree or large shrub. Greenish-white, bell-shaped flowers bloom April-May, leading to showy fruit in the fall. The dried seed capsules, called “bladders,” hang in clusters from the tree and offer late fall and early winter interest. The dried seed capsules also add ornamental value to dried flower bouquets.

Sporobolus heterolepis

Prairie Dropseed is an ornamental grass with pink- and brown-tinted flowers blooming August-October. Prairie Dropseed provides nesting material and structure for native bees. It tolerates air pollution and Black Walnut, as well as a wide range of soils, including clay. Prairie Dropseed creates good groundcover for hot, dry areas, or use it as an accent plant around your yard.