White Turtlehead
Chelone glabra
Well sought-after host plant for the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly. Blooms are white, sometimes tinged with pink. Perfect plant for a damp spot with intermittent light. Grown from Kentucky-source seed.
Light: Part Sun
Soil: Moist
Height: 2'-4 feet
Blooms: August-October
Flower: White, White & Pink
Southern Blue Flag Iris
Iris virginica
Plant with sword-like leaves and large blue-violet flowers (1-3 cm across) is also well-rooted to help prevent erosion in low areas. Best grown in consistently moist organic soils. Good candidate for a rain garden.
Light: Full Sun
Soil: Moist-Wet
Height: 1 to 3 feet
Blooms: June
Flowers: Blue-Violet with Yellow
Great Blue Lobelia
Lobelia siphilitica
Spikes of tubular blue-violet flowers attract and support bumblebees. This plant works well in a rain garden, along a waterway or at the edge of a pond. Grown from Kentucky-source seed.
Light: Full Sun to Part Shade
Soil: Moist to Wet
Height: 2 to 4 feet
Blooms: July-September
Flowers: Blue-violet
Garden Phlox
Phlox paniculata
True to it's name, Garden Phlox does well in the home garden and in rain gardens. Best planted in full sun. It is an excellent source of nectar for hummingbirds.
Light: Full Sun to Part Shade
Soil: Average
Height: 2 to 4 feet
Blooms: July-September
Flowers: Pink-Purple
Obedient Plant
Physostegia virginiana
White to pink tubular flowers fill the flowering stalk attracting bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Makes a lasting cut flower. Spreads readily. Consider using in contained situation for home garden use.
Light: Full Sun to Part Shade
Soil: Average
Height: 3 to 4 feet
Blooms: August-October
Flowers: White to Pink
Blue Sage
Salvia azurea
Pairs of true blue flowers arranged on thin flowering stalks catch the eye even from a distance. Foliage is nicely aromatic when crushed. May be trimmed back in late spring to desired height and shape. Attracts bees and butterflies & is deer resistant.
Light: Full Sun
Soil: Average to Dry
Height: 3 to 5 feet
Blooms: July-October
Flowers: Blue
Buttonbush
Cephalanthus occidentalis
Shrub. Showy white flowers borne in spherical clusters draw numerous pollinators. Bees use nectar for making honey, seeds feed wildlife. Great for borders, rain gardens or as a specimen plant, even erosion control. Larval host plant for a number of species of Lepidoptera. Prune to desired shape. Grown from Kentucky-source seed.
Light: Full to Part Sun
Soil: Average to Wet
Height: 5 to 12 feet
Blooms: June-September
Flowers: White
Downy Skullcap
Scutellaria incana
Blue flowers are conspicuous and attractive, gorgeous in masses. Primarily pollinated by bumblebees. Grown from Kentucky-source seed.
Light: Full Sun to Part Shade
Soil: Average to Dry
Height: 2 to 3 feet
Blooms: July-September
Flowers: Blue
Yellow Giant Hyssop
Agastache nepetoides
A 'one-stop-shop' for bees and butterflies with many flowers in dense terminal spikes. Deer resistant. Grown from Kentucky-source seed.
Light: Full Sun to Part Shade
Soil: Average
Height: to 6 feet
Blooms: July-September
Flowers: Yellow-Green
Culver's Root
Veronicastrum virginicum
Tall wispy, white candelabra-like flowers attract a multitude of pollinators and produce an especially strong effect when a number are planted together in a group. Candidate for rain gardens.
Light: Full Sun
Soil: Average to Wet
Height: 4 to 7 feet
Blooms: May-August
Flowers: White
Giant Ironweed
Vernonia gigantea
Try Ironweed in a bouquet with Mist Flower, just beautiful. Highly attractive to butterflies. Deer resistant. Grown from Kentucky-source seed.
Light: Full Sun to Part Shade
Soil: Average to Wet
Height: 5 to 8 feet
Blooms: August-September
Flowers: Purple-Magenta
Foxglove Beardtongue
Penstemon digitalis
Perfect for a sunny border, the tubular flowers are white or tinged with pink and attract a variety of native bees & hummingbirds. Foliage is a smooth, glossy dark green.
Light: Full Sun to Part Shade
Soil: Average to Dry
Height: 3-5 feet
Blooms: April-June
Flowers: white to pink
Joe Pye Weed
Eupatorium fistulosum, Eutrochium fistulosum
Billowy clusters of pinkish-purple flowers are lovely en mass, especially in a damp area. Height can be controlled by trimming by up to 1/2 in June. Excellent for attracting butterflies, as a cut flower and dried. Grown from Kentucky-source seed.
Light: Full Sun to Part Shade
Soil: Average to Wet
Height to 7 feet
Blooms July to September
Flowers: Pinkish-Purple
Wild Bergamot
Monarda fistulosa
Also known as Bee Balm, this is a wonderful plant for a pollinator garden. It attracts hummingbirds and butterflies and has a long bloom period.
Light: Full Sun to Part Shade
Soil: Average to Dry
Height: 2 to 4 feet
Blooms July-September
Flowers: Pink-Lavender
Allegheny Monkey Flower
Mimulus ringens
Best used for bordering ponds and waterways, for erosion control & to support pollinators. Flowers resemble snapdragons. Rhizomatous perennial. Grown from Kentucky-source seed.
Light: Full Sun to Part Shade
Soil: Average to Wet
Height: 1 to 3 feet
Blooms: June to September
Flowers: Pink to Purple
Carolina Wild Petunia
Ruellia caroliniensis
A wonderful little plant that produces a relatively big, cheerful flower (to 2" long). Blooms intermittently throughout the growing season. Drought tolerant. One larval host plant for the Common Buckeye butterfly & a source of nectar for hummingbirds. Grown from Kentucky-source seed.
Light: Part to Full Sun
Soil: Moist to Dry
Height: 6-24"
Blooms: May-September
Flowers: Pale Purple
Cross Vine
Bignonia capreolata
Trumpet-shaped, fragrant orange-red flowers provide early season nectar for hummingbirds. Foliage is semi-evergreen & attractive. Tolerant of shade but best flowering in more sun. Tall trellises, walls, fences.
Light: Full sun to Part shade
Soil: Medium
Height: 35 to 50 feet
Blooms: May to June
Figwort
Scrophularia marilandica
Tall plant with airy panicles of flowers providing ample nectar for pollinators, including the hummingbird. Lots of pollinator visitation. Grown from Kentucky source seed.
Light: best in intermediate light
Soil: Medium
Height: 3 to 8 feet
Blooms: July to September
Rose Mallow
Hibiscus moscheutos
Although not a woody plant, this plant fills out like a bush & dies back to the ground each winter. Rose Mallow flowers are large, 4" to 6" across and showy. Ideal for a rain garden, hummingbird garden, or grouped along a patio, pond or ditch. Trim to desired height. A larval host plant to the following butterflies: Common Checkered Skipper, Painted Lady, and Gray Hairstreak.
Light: Full Sun
Soil: Average to Wet
Height: 3 to 7 feet
Blooms: July-October
Flowers: White to Pink with Maroon center
Trumpet Honeysuckle
Lonicera sempervirens
Gorgeous trumpet-shaped scarlet flowers with orange throat attract hummingbirds & butterflies. Growth form tends to be "bushy," filling out nicely against a support. Easily trained to a trellis or arbor by tying & trimming to shape. Red berries feed birds in fall.
Light: Full Sun
Soil: Average
Length: 10 to 15 feet
Blooms: May to June
Flowers: Red & Orange