Types of Native Plants

Native Annual Wildflowers

• Annual wildflowers appear throughout meadows and open places each year after dispersing seeds. One annual flower is the plains coreopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria), which produces a clump 2 to 5 feet tall spreading 1 to 1 1/2 feet wide. This summer flower resembles a large yellow daisy-like bloom with a red center. This low-maintenance flower prefers sunny areas and dry growing conditions. Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) reaches 3 to 10 feet tall, spreading 1 1/2 to 3 feet wide and blooming in the summer with yellow and red petals surrounding a brown center disk. This sun-loving annual attracts birds and butterflies to the yard.

North American Ferns

• North American ferns give shady areas color throughout the growing season. They produce a lush rainforest feel in the yard. American maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum) grows best in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 8, producing lacy fan-shaped shiny green fronds on black stems. This deciduous fern likes constantly moist soil reaching 2 feet tall and wide. Fronds survive through the winter, so the old fronds are trimmed back in the spring as the new ones begin to grow. “Lady in Red” fern (Athyrium filix-femina “Lady in Red”) reaches 3 feet tall and wide, producing dramatic lacy leaf color. The light green fronds grow on red-violet stems in USDA zones 2 through 8.

Native Perennial Flowers

• Native perennials come back year after year, spreading in favorable growing conditions. One spring flower that grows well in a woodland garden is the bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis), producing 3-foot-tall arching stems with dangling purplish-red and white heart-shaped blossoms. This shade-loving plant grows well in USDA zones 3 through 9. “Indian Summer” black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta “Indian Summer”) grows golden-yellow petals surrounding a black middle. This daisy-like flower reaches 24 to 30 inches tall and 24 inches wide in sunny conditions. This perennial grows best in USDA zones 3 through 9, attracting butterflies and hummingbirds to the yard from summer through fall.

North American Shrubs

• North American shrubs offer habitat and food for native wildlife. “Belle Etoile” mock orange (Philadelphus x lemoinei “Belle Etoile”) is a fragrant deciduous shrub growing in sunny sites in USDA 4 through 7. This 6- to 8-foot-tall bush covers itself with masses of white blossoms in early summer. Silver dalea (Dalea bicolor var. argyraea) produces a low-growing evergreen mass of hairy leaves and short purple flower spikes. This summer-blooming plant grows best in USDA zones 8 through 10 in sunny locations. This bush is native to New Mexico, Texas and Mexico, reaching 3 feet tall and wide and acting as a nectar plant for butterflies.