Choosing Plants
PERENNIALS, TREES & SHRUBS SUITABLE FOR BOG-LIKE & WET AREAS
Acorus – Sweet Flag
Andromeda – Blue Ice Bog Rosemary
Aruncus – Goatsbeard
Astilbe – False Spirea
Boltonia – Bolton’s Aster
Campanula glomerata – Canterbury Bells
Chelone – Turtlehead
Cimicifuga – Bugbane
Cornus – Dogwood, Red Twig Dogwood
Dicentra – Bleeding Heart
Doronicum – Leopard’s Bane
Eupatorium – Joe Pye Weed
Ferns
Filipendula – Meadow Sweet
Galium – Sweet Woodruff
Hibiscus – Rose of Sharon
Hosta
Houttuynia – Chameleon Plant
Iris ensata, pseudacorus, versicolor
Kniphofia – Red Hot Poker
Liatris – Gayfeather
Ligularia – Rocket
Liriope – Lily Turf
Lobelia – Cardinal Flower
Lysimachia – Circle Flower
Mazus
Mentha – Mint
Mertensia – Virginia Bluebells
Monarda – Beebalm
Myosotis – Forget Me Nots
Phalaris – Ribbon Grass
Physostegia – Obedient Flower
Polygonum – Jacob’s Ladder
Rodgersia – Rodger’s Flower
Salix – Pussy Willows
Sambucus – Elderberry
Tradescantia – Virginia Spiderwort
Vinca – Myrtle
ATTRACTING BUTTERFLIES TO YOUR GARDEN
BUTTERFLY PLANTS:
ANNUALS PERENNIALS
Ageratum Aster Butterfly Bush
Cosmos Coneflower Coreopsis (Tickseed)
Dahlia Phlox Pardancanda
Johnny Jump Ups Beebalm Forget-me-nots
Nicotiana Hydrangea Physostegia
Pansy Hesperis Rudbeckia
Zinnia Lavender Chives
Lantana Helenium Lunaria Money Plant
Pentas Loosestrife Verbena
Lily Sedum (Autumn Joy)
Asclepias Joe Pye Weed
Liatris
*Butterflies tend to hover on sheltered, sunny areas, so that’s the number one requirement you need to fill.
*Make sure your garden gets at least 6 hours of direct sun daily.
*Adding rocks to your garden gives them a place to bask and warm up, and helps them start flying earlier.
*Cultivate tall plants such as hollyhocks and lilacs to shield the fragile creatures’ from the wind and hide them from predatory birds.
*Choose plants of differing heights and plants that bloom at different times of the year.
*Keep an area of your garden wet. Butterflies need moisture and use a method called ‘puddling’ to extract nutrients from the soil.
*If you want even more butterflies in your garden, provide food for caterpillars during the larval stage (like parsley, fennel & butterfly weed).
*Above all, avoid using insecticides or pesticides in your butterfly garden!
ATTRACTING HUMMINGBIRDS TO YOUR GARDEN
Tiny, iridescent hummingbirds can be an exciting addition to your backyard wildlife habitat. Attract them by planting red, tubular flowers. As a supplementary source of food, hummingbird feeders can be used. Sugar water (1 cup water, ¼ cup sugar), boiled and cooled, is extremely attractive to hummingbirds. No red food coloring is needed. Below is a listing of plants that the Ruby Throated Hummingbird finds irresistible.
HUMMINGBIRD PLANTS:
PERENNIALS ANNUALS
Beebalm Monarda Impatiens (red)
Butterfly Bush (Buddleia) Scarlet/Pineapple Sage
Bleeding Hearts Petunia
Cardinal Lobelia Morning Glory
Coral Bells Ivy Geranium/single
Columbine Pentas (red)
Rose Campion Lychnis Verbena (red)
Penstemon Geranium (red)
Phlox Salvia
Red Hot Pokers Fuchsia
Hosta Mandevilla Vine
Bergenia Cuphea – Cigar Plant
Foxglove Cardinal Vine
BLOOMING SHRUBS MONTH BY MONTH
JANUARY
Heather (Erica)
FEBRUARY
Arnold Promise Witch hazel, Heather (Erica)
MARCH
Arnold Promise Witch hazel, Cornelian Cherry Dogwood, Heather (Erica), Ann, Jane & Star Magnolia
APRIL
Flowering Quince, Cornelian Cherry Dogwood, Forsythia, Pieris Andromeda, White Forsythia, Exochordia (Pearl Bush), Camellia, Dogwoods, Nandina
MAY
Azalea, Barberry, Flowering Quince, Fothergilla, Kerria, Purple Leaf Plum, Flowering Almond, Bridalwreth Spirea, Lilacs, Crabapple, Rhododendron, Viburnums, Scotch Broom, Deutzia, Kousa Dogwoods, Tree Peony
JUNE
Carolina Allspice, Fringetree, Smokebush, Cotoneaster, Virginia Sweetspire, Privet, Mockorange, Potentilla, Spirea, Viburnum, Weigela, Winterberry, Deutzia, Kalmia (Mt. Laurel), Sambucus (Elderberry), Rhodotypos (Black Jetbeard), Styrax (Snowbell), Peony
JULY
Butterfly Bush, Clethra, Hydrangeas, Potentilla, Spirea, Abelia, Diervillia (Summer Stars), Crepe Myrtle, Knock Out Roses, Ninebark
AUGUST
Butterfly Bush, Caryopteris (Blue Beard), Clethra, Rose o Sharon, Hydrangea, Potentilla, St. Johns Wort, Crepe Myrtle, Knock Out Roses, Vitex
SEPTEMBER
St. Johns Wort, Hydrangea, Beauty Berry, Crepe Myrtle, Knock Out Roses
OCTOBER & NOVEMBER
Common Witchhazel, Knock Out Roses
| SUN PERENNIALS | SHADE PERENNIALS |
| Yarrow Aster Baptisia Boltonia Hollyhock Campanula Amsonia Centranthus Artemesia Chelone Shasta Daisy Coreopsis Dianthus Foxglove Gaillardia Gaura Eupatorium Geum Geranium (Cranesbill) Baby’s Breath Rock Rose Helen’s FLower Heliopsis Kalimeris Red Hot Poker Liatris Cardinal Lobelia Lupines Lychnis Lysimachia Malva Prunella Grasses (Most) Peony Prickly Cactus Poppy Blackberry Lily Phlox Balloon Flower Penstemon Rudbeckia Salvia Herbs (All) Lambs Ear Sedum Verbena Veronica Hyssop Lavender Daylily Scabiosa Crocosmia Buddleia Blue Flax Maclayea SUN GROUND COVERS |
Lady’s Mantle Columbine Bergenia Astilbe Foxglove (partly shaded) Chelone (partly shaded) Bleeding Heart Ferns Christmas Fern Daylily (Partly shaded) Coral Bells Hosta Money Plant Forget Me Nots Woodland Phlox Obediant Plant Solomon’s Seal Foam Flower Spiderwort Anemone Violets Brunnera Campanula (Partly shaded) Gaura (Partly shaded) Yellow Loosestrife (Partly Shaded) Beebalm (Partly shaded) Amsonia (Partly shaded) Primrose SHADE GROUND COVERS |
WHY PLANT NATIVES
What is a Native Plant?
Native plants (also called indigenous plants) are plants that have evolved over thousands of years in a particular region. They have adapted to the geography, hydrology, and climate of that region. Native plants occur in communities, that is, they have evolved together with other plants. As a result, a community of native plants provides habitat for a variety of native wildlife species such as songbirds and butterflies.
Why Should I Use Native Plants?
Native plants provide a beautiful, hardy, drought resistant, low maintenance landscape while benefiting the environment. Native plants, once established, save time and money by eliminating or significantly reducing the need for fertilizers, pesticides, and water and lawn maintenance equipment.
Native plants provide shelter and food for wildlife. Native plants attract a variety of birds, butterflies, and other wildlife by providing diverse habitats and food sources. Closely mowed lawns are of little use to most wildlife.
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- Plants are great at fighting off disease and infection when they are in their natural habitat. They have adapted over time to survive almost anything they encounter in that area. Also, native plants are adept at surviving any natural disasters you may encounter. They have been surviving in your area for centuries and have seen the worst of it, yet still survived.
- Native plants tend to grow looking naturally beautiful with little or no design work or maintenance on your part. This is because those plants belong there, and therefore just seem to fit in to our eyes. The plants rarely look out of place, if they truly are in their natural environment.
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Which Plants Attract Birds and Butterflies? There are several species of native wildflowers and grasses that will attract particular birds and butterflies. |
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| For song birds: sunflowers*, blazing star*, compass plant, big bluestem, little bluestem, sideoats grama, switch grass, serviceberry, coneflower, penstemon,aronia, blueberry, viburnum,dogwood, juniper*, elderberry, |
For hummingbirds: columbine, jewelweed*, phlox*, honey- suckle, salvia, bee balm and cardinal flower. |
For butterflies: milkweed*, aster*, purple cone-flower*, blazing star*, phlox*, black-eyed Susan*, dogbane*,, coreopsis*, joe-pye weed*, goldenrod*, and ironweed*. |
White tailed deer are beautiful animals, but very destructive to gardens. The best thing for deer control is the most often recommended repellent Liquid Fence it works the best and lasts the longest. The other option is fencing to exclude them, Ther is a good deer fence product called Deer Netting which is less than 30 dollars for a 7′ by 100′ piece. Certain plants are naturally repulsive to deer. In general, deer avoid eating coarse, fuzzy or spiny plants, or
those with strong aromas, especially lemony and minty ones. Although, as you may already know, if they are hungry enough, deer will eat just about anything. Below is a list of rarely eaten good plants to try when gardening with a deer problem.
DEER RESISTANT PLANTS:
ANNUALS
Ageratum Lantana
Angel Trumpet Marigolds
Begonia Petunia
Cosmos Salvia
Dusty Miller Sunflowers
Dahlia Strawflowers
Geranium Vinca
Heliotrope Zinnia
Lobelia Herbs
DEER RESISTANT PERENNIALS:
Yarrow Daffodils Turtlehead
Monkshood Bleeding Heart Helleborus
Allium Foxglove Lamiastrum
Anemone Delphinium Lavender
Anise Hyssop Echinacea Shasta Daisy
Artemesia Geranium Liatris
Butterfly Weed Gypsophila Rose Campion
Astilbe Geranium Circle Flower
Bergenia Gallium Lonicera Vine
Brunnera Monarda Herbs
Campanula Mertensia Salvia
Centaurea Myosotis Stokes Aster
Columbine Narcissus Verbascum
Bugbane Poppy Veronica
Clematis Obedient Plant
Lily of Valley Potentilla
Coreopsis Pulmonaria
Turtlehead Rudbeckia (Fuzzy)
Crocosmia Santolina
Some other suggestions: Block their way with fencing. Deer can’t eat what they can’t reach.
Interplant aromatic herbs and plants to confuse their sense of smell.
Spray Liquid Fence to repel them. Repeat often and after rain.
Use nets, radios, sprinklers, & lights. But deer will eventually get used to all of them.
DEER RESISTANT SHRUBS:
Aucuba – Golddust Kolkwitzia – Beautybush
Berberis – Barberry Peony
Buddleia – Butterfly Bush Philadelphus – Mock Orange
Buxus – Boxwood Picea glauca – White Spruce
Cedrus – Cedar Salix – Pussy Willow
Clethra – Summersweet Sambucus – Elderberry
Chaenomeles – Quince Spirea
Hibiscus – Rose of Sharon Syringa – Lilac
Hollies – All Weigelia
Hydrangea Yucca
Hypericum – St. John’s Wort Wisteria
Juniperus – Juniper
Kerria
PERENNIALS FOR PROBLEM AREAS
SEASHORE OR COASTAL GARDENS: HOT DRY SOILS – FULL SUN
Achillea Limonium Achillea Iberis
Allium Oenothera Arabis Kniphofia
Armeria Ornamental Grass Artemesia Lavender
Artemesia Painted Daisy Asclepias Liatris
Aster Penstemon Alyssum Linum
Bergenia Perovskia Campanula Lychnis
Dianthus Potentilla Cerastium Penstemon
Echinops Sedum Coreopsis Potentilla
Erigeron Sempervivum Dianthus Salvia
Eryngium Stachys Echinacea Santolina
Euphorbia Veronica Echinops Sedum
Gypsophila Yucca Eryngium Sempervivum
Heuchera Euphorbia Stachys
Iris Gaillardia Thyme
Kniphofia Gypsophila Veronica
Helianthemum Yucca
Hemerocallis
MOISTURE TOLERANT PERENNIALS: PERENNIALS FOR DRY SHADE:
Aegopodium Iris kaempferi Alchemilla Pachysandra
Aquilegia Iris siberica Brunnera Polygonatum
Arenaria Liatris Epimedium Pulmonia
Aruncus Ligularia Geranium Stachys
Astilbe Liriope Lamium
Baptisia Lysimachia
Bergenia Lythrum POOR SOIL & FULL SUN:
Brunnera Mertensia Achillea Gaillardia
Campanula Monarda Arabis Hemerocallis
Centranthus Nepeta Artemesia Liatris
Digitalis Oenothera Asclepias Linum
Epimedium Papaver Aster Potentilla
Filipendula Peony Alyssum Rudbeckia
Geranium Phlox Baptisia Santolina
Hemerocallis Physostegia Centauria Saponaria
Heuchera Pulmonaria Cerastium Sedum
Hosta Tradescantia Coreopsis Thyme
Iberis Echinops Yucca
Euphorbia
TREES & SHRUBS SUITABLE FOR SHADE AREAS
Aronia – Choke Berry
Aucuba – Gold dust Plant – Evergreen
Azaleas, Deciduous & Evergreen
Camellia – Evergreen flowering shrub
Clethra – Summersweet
Cornus – Dogwoods, Red Twig Dogwood, Kousa
Diervillea – Bush Honeysuckle
Hydrangeas, Climbing Hydrangea
Hypericum – St. John’s Wort
Ilex crenata – Japanese Holly – Evergreen
Itea – Sweetspire
Kalmia – Mountain Laurel – Evergreen
Leucothoe – Evergreen
Lonicera nitida – Dwarf golden Honeysuckle – Evergreen
Microbiota – Siberian Cypress – Evergreen
Nandina – Heavenly Bamboo – Evergreen
Pieris – Andromeda, Lily of Valley Shrub – Evergreen
Rhododendrons – Evergreen
Skimmia – Evergreen
Taxus – Yew – Evergreen
| PERENNIAL PLANTS OF THE YEAR 2020 Aralia ‘Sun King’ 2019 Stachys ‘Hummelo’ 2018 Allium ‘Millenium’ 2017 Asclepias tuberosa 2016 Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert’ 2015 Geranium ‘Biokova’ 2014 Panicum ‘Northwind’ 2013 Polygonatum variegatum 2012 Brunnera Jack Frost 2011 Amsonia hubrectii 2010 Baptisia australis 2009 Hakonechloa ‘Aureola’ 2008 Geranium ‘Rozanne’ 2007 Nepeta ‘Walker’s Low’ 2006 Dianthus ‘Firewitch’ 2005 Heleborus Lenten Rose 2004 Japanese Painted Fern 2003 Leucanthemum ‘Becky’Shasta Daisy’ 2002 Phlox ‘David’ 2001 Calamagrostis Grass ‘Carl Foerster’ 2000 Scabiosa ‘Butterfly Blue’ Pincushion Flower 1999 Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’ Black Eyed Susan 1998 Echinacea ‘Magnus’ Purple Coneflower 1997 Salvia ‘May Night’ May Night Sage 1996 Penstemon ‘Husker Red’ 1995 Perovskia atriplicifolia Russian Sage 1994 Astilbe ‘Sprite’ 1993 Veronica ‘Sunny Border Blue’ Speedwell 1992 Coreopsis ‘Moonbeam’ Tickseed 1991 Heuchera ‘Purple Palace’ Coral Bell 1990 Phlox stolonifera Woodland Phlox |
PERENNIALS BLOOMING 4 WEEKS OR LONGER
Achillea (Yarrow) ‘Coronation Gold’ |
STEPABLES
Below is a listing of resilient perennial plants that can be walked upon or planted between pavers or in stone & brick pathways and borders:
Ajuga ‘Chocolate Chip’
Arabis – Rock Cress
Arenaria – Sandwort
Armeria – Sea Thrift
Cerastium –Silver Snow In Summer
Gypsophila rosea – Creeping Baby’s Breath
Gypsophila cerastoides–Mouse Ear Baby’s Breath
Hedera – Ivy
Lysimachia – Creeping Jenny
Lysimachia ‘Persian Chocolate’
Mazus – White & Purple
Sagina – Irish Moss
Sedum – Angelina, Dragon’s Blood,
Blue Spruce, Acre
Silene Druette’s Variegated
Stachys – Lamb’s Ear
Thyme Creeping & Wooly
Veronica ‘Baby Blue Eyes’ & ‘Waterperry Blue’
Violet – Labrador Violet
CUTTING GARDEN FLOWERS & PLANTS
Aster Liatris
Boltonia Echinacea
Astilbe (False Spirea) Rudbeckia
Gaura Ferns
Delphinium Candy Lily
Scabiosa (Pincusion) Joe Pye Weed
Campanula (Cut & Saucer) Veronica
Heliopsis (False Sunflower) Flax
Lobelia Balloon Flower
Shasta Daisy Verbascum
Lupines Circle Flower
Gaillardia (Blanket Flower) Hesperis
Penstemon Phlox
Stoke’s Aster Foxglove
Physostegia (Obedient) Red Hot Poker
Coreopsis Yarrow
Chelone (Turtlehead) Mt. Bluet
Crocosmia Rose Campion
PLANTS FOR CLAY SOIL
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BEST TREES FOR CLAY SOIL Apples & Crabapples |
BEST SHRUBS FOR CLAY SOIL Alpine Currant |
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| TREES THAT TOLERATE CLAY Balsam & White Fir Norway & Black Hills Spruce Austrian, White & Scotch Pines Japanese Tree Lilac Gingko Black Walnut
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SHRUBS THAT TOLERATE CLAY Barberry |