Bee Balm
Monarda fistulosa
24" - 60"
Full Sun
Moisture: Medium to Dry
- Native
- Drought tolerant
- Foliage is susceptible to powdery mildew
- Great for bumble bees
- Minty aroma
- Individual flowers are slender and pink to lavender tubes clustered together, each with lobes
Blue Vervain
Verbena hastata
5 feet
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Wet-Medium
- Native
- Candelabra-like appearance
- Many small mammals and birds eat the seeds
Button Blazing Star
Liatris aspera
3 feet
Sun/Partial Shade
Moisture: Medium - Dry
- Native
- Grows best in full sun
- Butterflies and bees are very attracted to this plant
- Great in flower arrangements
Common Milkweed
Asclepias syriaca
3 feet
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Medium-Dry
- Native
- Host plant for monarch butterfly
- Flower can vary from nearly white to deep purple
- Delicate fragrance
Dense Blazing Star
Liatris spicata
5 feet
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Wet, Medium Wet
- Native
- Moisture-tolerant
- Purple wands of crowded flowers
- Attracts pollinators
Dotted Blazing Star
Liatris punctata
2 feet
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Medium Dry, Dry
- Native
- Typically found in Loess Hills
- Has a long taproot that makes this plant extremely drought resistant
- Attracts pollinators
- Makes excellent cut flowers
Flax Leaved Aster
Lonactis linariifolius
1 foot
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Medium-dry to Dry
- Native
- Grows in clumps
- Showy blue-purple blossoms
Germander
Teucrium canadense
3 feet
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Medium
- Native
- Also called wood sage
- Attracts hummingbirds
- Can be aggressive
Great Blue Lobelia
Lobelia siphilitica
2-3 feet
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Medium to Wet
- Native
- Showy flowers
- Needs constant moisture
Hoary Vervain
Verbena stricta
2-4 feet
Full Sun
Moisture: Dry to Medium
- Native
- Easily grown
- Vigorous
Ironweed
Vernonia fasciculata
6 feet
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Medium
- Native
- Stately plant
- Brilliant purple flowers
- Host plant to American Painted Lady
Large Flowered Penstemon
Penstemon grandiflorus
2 feet
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Medium to Dry
- Native
- Host plant for the Chalcedon Checkerspot and Edith’s Checkerspot butterflies
- Endangered in some states and rare to see in the wild
Lead Plant
Amorpha canescens
3 feet
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Medium to dry
- Native
- Several years to mature
- Unique floral display
- Tends to sprawl
- Attracts pollinators
This is part of the DMACC Urban Food Forest Permaculture.
Learn more about Permaculture.
Nodding Onion
Allium cernuum
1.5 feet
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Medium-wet to medium-dry
- Native
- Pom-pom blooms
- Can be eaten like chives
Obedient Plant
Physostegia virginiana
4 feet
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Wet to Medium
- Native
- Thrives in wetter soils
- Flower stems will remain in any direction you point them in
Ohio Spiderwort
Tradescantia ohiensis
3 feet
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Medium-wet to dry
- Native
- Most widespread of spiderworts
- Very drought tolerant
- Very attractive
- Can be aggressive
Pale Purple Coneflower
Echinacea pallida
2-3 feet
Full/Partial Shade
Moisture: Dry to Medium
- Native
- Attracts butterflies
- Showy, fragrant
- Great cut flowers
- Easily grown
- Host plant for Ottoe-skipper butterfly
Pasque
Anemone patens va. wolfgangiana
6 inches
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Medium-dry to dry
- Native
- One of the first perennials to bloom in spring
- Delicate lavender flowers
- Sometimes called May Day Flower
Prairie Blazing Star
Liatris pycnostachya
2 feet
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Wet to Medium
- Native
- Excellent cut flower
- Attracts butterflies and bees
- Favorite of hummingbirds
Prairie Phlox
Phlox pilosa
2 feet
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Medium-wet to Dry
- Native
- Wide variety of colors from white to dark purple
- Butterflies love this plant as the broad petals make great landing pads
Prairie Smoke
Geum triflorum
8 inches
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Medium- Wet-Dry
- Very attractive flowing style
Prairie Spiderwort
Tradescantia bracteata
1 foot
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Medium- Dry
- Native
- Very attractive
- Smaller than Ohio Spiderwort
Prairie Violet
viola pedatifida
6 inches
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Medium to Medium-Dry
- Native
- Not aggressive
- Host plant for several butterflies
Purple Poppy Mallow
Callirhoe involucrata
6 inches
Full Sun
Moisture: Medium-Dry
- Native
- Also known as winecup
- Very drought resistant
- Excellent ground cover
- Host plant for Gray Hairstreak
Purple Prairie Clover
dalea purpurea
2 feet
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Medium to Dry
- Native
- Deep taproot
- Attracts pollinators
Showy Penstemon
Penstemon cobaea
2 feet
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Medium- Dry
- Native
- Very attractive
- Host plant for Chalcedon Checkerspot and Edith’s Checkerspot
Silky Aster
Symphyotrichum sericeum
1-2 feet
Full Sun
Moisture: Dry
- Native
- Heads are purple to violet
- Soft petals
- Attracts pollinators
Smooth Blue Aster
Symphyotrichum laeve
4 feet
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Medium-wet to Medium-Dry
- Native
- Smooth leaves
- Slow spreader
- Host plant for Silvery Checkerspot and Pearl Crescent butterflies
Sullivant’s Milkweed
Asclepias sullivantii
3 feet
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Medium-wet to Medium
- Native
- Host plant to the monarch butterfly
- Very similar to common milkweed
- Very fragrant
Wild Mint
Mentha arvensis
2 feet
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Wet to Medium
- Native
- All parts of the plant are aromatic
- Special value to native bees
- Aggressive spreader
Wild Petunias
Ruellia humilis
12 inches
Full Sun
Moisture: Medium to Dry
- Native
- Blooms throughout the hottest and driest times of summer
- Great as ground cover
- Attracts pollinators
- Host plant for Common Buckeye butterfly
Wild Rose
Rosa arkansana
2 feet
Full/Partial Sun
Moisture: Medium-wet to Dry
- Native
- Hardy low shrub
- Food for birds and wildlife into winter
Winged Loosestrife
Lythrum alatum
3 feet
Full Sun
Moisture: Medium-wet to Dry
- Native
- Beneficial to pollinators and birds
- Similar to invasive plant, Purple Loosestrife
