Nodding Wild Onion
Allium cernuum
Eye-catching and under-used in the home garden, white-pink globose umbels nod gracefully from arch at the top of the stem. Nectar and pollen primarily attract bees. Grown from KY source seed.
Light: Full to Part Sun
Soil: Moist to Dry
Height: 1.5 feet
Blooms: June-August
Flower Color: White to Pink
Attracts: Butterflies
Deer Resistant
Prairie Onion
Allium stellatum
A gem for the home garden. An umbel of star-shaped flowers form a charming pink sphere. Nectar and pollen primarily attract bees and flower flies.
Light: Full Sun to Part Shade
Soil: Average to Dry
Height: to 1.5 feet
Blooms: July-August
Flower Color: Pink
Deer resistant.
Butterfly Milkweed
Asclepias tuberosa
Flame orange flowers are stunning in masses or drifts and attract pollinators galore. Interestingly, this plant does not exude the milky sap. Monarch butterfly host plant.
Light: Full Sun
Soil: Dry to Average
Height: 2 feet
Blooms: June-August
Flowers: Orange
Lance-leaf Coreopsis
Coreopsis lanceolata
A tried and true plant for the home garden, Lance-leaf Coreopsis is a prolific bloomer and provides excellent cut flowers.
Light: Full Sun
Soil: Average to Dry
Height: to 2 feet
Blooms: May-July
Flowers: Yellow
Purple Prairie Clover
Dalea purpurea
Purple prairie clover has a deep taproot, making it a good choice for tough, full sun spots prone to drought. Bright, interesting flowers with a long lasting bloom time. Seed is high in protein, a good food source for mammals. A larval host plant for the Dogface Sulfur and Reakirt's Blue butterflies. Grown from Kentucky-source seed.
Light: Full Sun
Soil: Average
Height: 1 to 3 feet
Blooms: June-August
Flowers: Purple
Purple Coneflower
Echinacea purpurea
A popular plant for good reason. Blooms attract pollinators in summer and their seed feeds birds in the cold months. Beautiful in a home or business planting and in a vase. One larval host plant for the Silvery Checkerspot butterfly and Wavy-lined Emerald moth. Grown from Kentucky-source seed.
Light: Full Sun
Soil: Average
Height: 1 to 3 feet
Blooms: June-August
Flowers: Purple-Magenta
Spotted Beebalm
Monarda punctata
Showy pagoda-like white to deep pink bracts form a ring below less conspicuous spotted yellow flowers. Low maintenance, long-lasting bloom period, though a 'weak perennial' but may self-seed. A pollinator favorite.
Light: Part to Full Sun
Soil: Average to Dry
Height: 1 to 3 feet
Blooms: July-September
Flowers: Yellow, White-Pink Bracts
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
Wild Hydrangea
Hydrangea arborescens
Medium sized shrub with clusters of lacy white flowers. Excellent choice for planting in groups along edge habitat in a woodland garden. Also good for rain gardens and along streams. Host to the nifty Hydrangea Sphinx moth with 2" to 3" wingspan. Grown from Kentucky-source seed.
Light: Part Sun
Soil: Average to Moist
Height: 3 to 6 feet
Blooms: June-August
Flowers: White
Eastern Redbud
Cercis canadensis
In spring Redbud is often loaded with purplish-pink blooms that support pollinators at a critical time of year. Leaves are heart-shaped and tree has graceful spreading form. Larval host plant for Henry's Elfin butterfly and several species of moth. Grown from Kentucky-source seed.
Light: prefers Part Sun
Soil: Average
Height: to about 30 feet
Blooms: April
Flowers: Pink
Eastern Bergamot
Monarda bradburiana
Excellent choice for a yard, this Bee Balm is clump-forming & short (1' to 2'). It is also less aggressive & more mildew-resistant than other Bee Balms. It has a long bloom period and is a great pollinator plant.
Light: Best in Intermediate Light
Soil: Average
Height: 1 to 2 feet
Blooms: May to June
Flowers: Light Pink
Maryland Golden Aster
Chrysopsis mariana
Daisy-like yellow flowers provide much-needed late-season nectar. This plant is a good option for use as a matrix species in a flower garden, reducing the need to mulch between plants. Grown from KY-source seed.
Light: Full Sun to Part Shade
Soil: Average to Dry
Height: 1 to 2.5 feet
Blooms: August-October
Flowers: Yellow
Blazing Star
Liatris spicata
Also known as Gayfeather, this plant produces striking dense purplish wands of flowers from a clump of narrow, shiny, strap-like basal leaves. Beautiful in a front yard, butterfly garden, rain garden, cut flower or large pot. Grown from Kentucky-source seed.
Light: Full Sun
Height: 2 to 4 feet
Soil: Average
Blooms: July to August
Flowers Reddish-Purple
Hairy Alumroot
Heuchera villosa
Low, clump-forming perennial with tidy rosettes reminiscent of maple leaves. Lovely when grouped for use in borders, rock gardens. Grown from Kentucky-source seed.
Light: Part Sun
Soil: Average
Height: 1 to 2 feet
Blooms: July to September
Flowers: White to Pink
Calico Beardtongue
Penstemon calycosus
Under-used & well-suited for home garden use, Calico Beardtongue has 1" long pink tubular flowers that attract hummingbirds. Foliage is semi-glossy and may turn purple in fall. Grown from Kentucky-source seed.
Light: Full Sun to Filtered Shade
Soil: Moist to Dry
Height: 1 to 3 feet
Blooms: June to July
Flowers: Violet to Pink
Rose Vervain
Verbena canadensis
Attractive low mounding short-lived perennial with an extended bloom period. Good for ground cover, hanging baskets, window boxes, rock gardens & in pots. Attracts hummingbirds.
Light: Full Sun
Soil: Average to Dry
Height: to 1.5 feet
Blooms: May to August
Flowers: Pink to Purple
Pink Muhly Grass
Muhlenbergia capillaris
Highly ornamental grass with thread-like leaves that form a tidy clump to 2 feet in height. Named for the lasting pink clouds of flowers that rise to 1 foot above the leaves.
Light: Full Sun to Light Shade
Soil: Dry to Average
Height: 2 feet, 3 feet when in bloom
Blooms: September to November
Flowers: Pink
Virginia Sweetspire
Itea virginica
Delightful mounding shrub with arching stems that produce drooping fragrant racemes of white flowers. Excellent for rain gardens, border, or adjacent to a pond or stream. Can sucker to form colonies.
Light: Full to Part Sun
Soil: Average to Wet
Height: 3 to 5 feet
Blooms: June-July
Flowers: White
Orange Coneflower
Rudbeckia fulgida
A pleasing clump forming plant bearing bright & bold yellow-orange blooms that last for weeks. Great as a cut flower, for use in rain gardens & massing to create a border. Remove spent flowers to prolong bloom time. Spreads by rhizomes. Grown from Kentucky-source seed.
Light: Full sun
Height: 2 to 3 feet
Soil: Average to Dry
Blooms: June to October
Flowers: yellow-orange
Hairy Beardtongue
Penstemon hirsutus
Front yard worthy. At 18 inches tall, this plant will grow in full sun to shade, moist soil to dry. Lovely purple tubular flowers support the hummingbird & many pollinators. Under-used as a yard plant. Grown from Kentucky-source seed.
Light: Full Sun to Shade
Height: to 18"
Soil: Moist to Dry
Blooms: May to June
Flowers: Pink-Purple
Aromatic Aster
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium, Aster oblongifolius
Perfect height for the home garden, profuse blue-lavender blooms provide the solution to both late-season color and nectar. Trim to desired shape through June. Grown from Kentucky-source seed.
Light: Full to Part Sun
Soil: Average to Dry
Height: to 2 feet
Blooms: September-November
Flowers: Blue-Violet
Mouse Ear Tickseed
Coreopsis auriculata
Short stature and charming, airy and long-blooming yellow-orange flowers make this an
ideal choice for a front border in intermediate light. Foliage is compact, low & mounding. Remove spent flowers to extend blooming. Self-seeding & slowly spreading by stolons.
Light: Intermediate
Soil: Medium
Height: Flowers to 18 inches
Blooms: April to June
Flowers: yellow-orange
Cliff Goldenrod
Solidago drummondii
Arcs or cascades over retaining walls or slopes in full sun, dry to average soil. Not aggressive like other goldenrod species. Goldenrods are excellent pollinator plants.
Light: Full Sun
Soil: Dry to Medium
Height: 1.5 to 3 feet
Blooms: August to September
Oakleaf Hydrangea
Hydrangea quercifolia
Ornamental shrub with multi-season interest. Showy flowers are good cut or dried. Nice fall color and exfoliating bark is attractive in winter. Prune in spring if winter damage occurs.
Light: Full sun to Part shade
Soil: Medium
Height: 6 to 8 feet
Blooms: May to July
American Alumroot
Heuchera americana
Attractive mounded rosette makes excellent front border plant. Appreciates some afternoon shade. In fall, leaves may turn interesting shades of purple, orangish-brown. Kentucky source.
Light: Intermediate
Soil: Medium
Height: 1 to 2 feet
Blooms: June to August
Pale Beardtongue
Penstemon pallidus
At the nursery, this beardtongue flowers early, is typically 2' tall or less and stays put. It's a good choice for early nectar & for a spot in the front yard. Flowers white to pale pink on downy stems.
Light: Full sun to Part shade
Soil: Dry to Medium
Height: 1 to 2.5 feet
Blooms: May to July
Dwarf Blazing Star
Liatris microcephala
Also called Appalachian Blazing Star, this plant prefers sandy, well-drained sites and will reward with interesting blooms. In photo it is paired with Purple Lovegrass. Drought tolerant, good cut & attracts hummingbirds & butterflies.
Light: Full sun
Soil: Dry to Medium
Height: to 2 feet
Blooms: July
Wild Geranium
Geranium maculatum
Pretty little plant with mounding habit. Can be massed as a ground cover. Resistant to rabbits, deer.
Light: Prefers intermediate
Soil: Medium
Height: 1 to 2 feet
Blooms: April to May