Category: Sun

Asclepias speciosa is similar to Common Milkweed, but its pinkish-purple flowers have longer petals that taper more and are covered with fine hairs. Asclepias are excellent nectar sources and are food for the larval stages of Monarch and Queen butterflies. 

Louisiana Irises typically bloom after both Siberian and Tall Bearded Irises have finished blooming for the season.  It is known for multiplying quickly when sited in consistently moist to boggy soil or shallow water. Blooming reliably each year, huge 4-6” blossoms open flat to display deep purple flowers with a narrow gold spot on each… Continue reading Louisiana Gamecock Iris

Purple Coneflower – Echinacea purpurea A native plant with foliage clumps that grow only 1-2 feet tall. Bloom stalks soar to 3-4 feet with purple blooms in July/August. Seed heads are the clear favorite of our finches and other song birds so we don’t deadhead these until spring. Tolerates some shade and will naturalize well.… Continue reading Echinacea Pupurea

Echinacea Pallida or Pale Purple Coneflower should be planted in well-drained soil in full to partial sunlight. Most native Coneflowers dislike soil that is kept excessively moist or has poor drainage and they will start to rot in these situations. Once the taproot is established it is extremely drought-tolerant and needs little care, but then… Continue reading Echinacea Pallida or Pale Purple Coneflower

Heliopsis helianthoides (Early Sunflower)Easily grown and quick to develop, Heliopsis helianthoides long has been popular in Europe and many large-flowered cultivars have been developed using its western variety.  Early Sunflower can be aggressive and therefore may not be suitable for small landscape plantings. It is a short-lived perennial.

Darmera peltata, commonly called umbrella plant, is thick-rhizomed perennial which typically grows 3-5′ tall and is native to mountain stream banks and woodlands from southwestern Oregon to northern California.Features small pink to white flowers (to 1/2″) in terminal, rounded clusters (corymbs) which appear atop thick hairy stems in early spring before the foliage. Large, rounded,… Continue reading Darmera peltata

Pale Corydalis  Corydalis sempervirens An attractive biennial native for rocky, shallow-soil sites and cooler climates.  Easy to start from seed, it has light to dark pink tubular flowers with yellow tips and greenish-blue leaves.  Being a biennial, it will have basal rosettes at ground-level the first year and flowering plants the 2nd year.

Asclepias syriaca (Common Milkweed) Once found in abundance in nearly every farm field, ditch, and disturbed site, Common Milkweed numbers have been in dramatic decline in recent years, due in part to suburban development and the increased efficiency of herbicides used in conjunction with herbicide-tolerant, genetically modified row crops. It spreads readily by seed and… Continue reading Common Milkweed

Cardinal Flower – Lobelia cardinalis Cardinal Flower is named for its beautiful scarlet red flowers which are an important nectar source for hummingbirds and swallowtail butterflies. Lobelias produce a secondary compound known as “lobeline,” which deters herbivores. The flowering spikes open from the bottom to the top and bloom for several weeks. They grow best… Continue reading Cardinal Flower

Campanula americana Tall Bellflower Campanula americana, Tall Bellflower or American Bellflower, reaches from three to five feet in height, its blue-violet blooms providing a bright late-summer accent to savanna or woodland plantings. Self-seeding, it is either annual or biennial by habit, seemingly depending on when germination occurs. First-year plants are tight rosettes of heart-shaped leaves… Continue reading Campanula americana