ANISE HYSSOP

Agastache foeniculum

This plant does it all: blooms for months, is good as fresh or dried cut flowers, has leaves that smell great, can be used for tea, is highly deer resistant, works well in your garden AND provides rich nectar. 

Attracts:bees, butterflies, hummingbirds
Growth: perennial, 2-4’h, sun/part shade, dry soil
Bloom: June-August

NEW ENGLAND ASTER and PURPLE DOME

Symphyotrichum novae-angliae

When all other plants in the garden are fading in the fall these pop.  Pruning mid summer can encourage “flower business” and prevent them from flopping.

Attracts: Butterfiles, moths, bees and birds
Hosts: Pearl Crescent Butterfly
Growth: Perennial, 3-5’h, Part sun, moist soil  
Bloom August - October

DENSE BLAZING STAR

Liatris spicata

This plant has dense spikes of flowers that bloom from the top down.  They are best suited planted in masses or scattered as accents.

Attracts: Hummingbirds, Bees, Butterflies
Growth: Perennial 2-3’h, sun, tolerates all soil types
Bloom: May-July

CUTLEAF CONEFLOWER

Rudbeckia laciniata

Another tall relative of black eye’d susans this has clusters of flowers making it a vibrant addition to a border.  Keep an eye on its growth and divide it regularly.  While deadheading will encourage a re-bloom in the fall, it also means depriving birds, especially goldfinches of the plant’s seeds. 

Attracts: butterflies, birds, bees, predatory wasps, moths, flies
Growth: perennial 2-10’, sun to part shade, average well drained soil
Bloom: July-September

LARGE CONE FLOWER

Rudbeckia maxima                

These tall flowers tower above their surroundings on grey/green stalks- a great accent in the back of your garden.  The large (24”long) leaves are a point of interest in the spring.  Leave the spent flowers so our park mascot, the goldfinch can visit and eat them.

Attracts: butterflies, goldfinches
Growth: Perennial, 7’h, sun, dry organically rich soil
Bloom: June-July

CHOKEBERRY

Aronia melanocarpa

This provides multi season interest with fragrant white flowers in spring, brilliant red/purple foliage in fall, and bitter berries that may persist well into the winter. Spreads by suckers.  

Attracts: Birds
Growth: shrub, 3-6’h, sun/part shade, well drained average soil
Bloom: May

SWEET JOE PYE WEED

Eutrochium purpureum

This tall plant fits best in the back of borders.  Providing food for many pollinators, it’s a keystone plant in the garden.  It is named after Joe Pye, a Native American herbalist who used it to cure a variety of illnesses.  Joe Pye was the nickname for Joseph Shauquethqueat a Mohican chief.

Attracts: butterflies, native bees
Hosts: Ruby Tiger Moth
Growth: perennial 5-7’h, all sun/part shade, medium/wet soil
Bloom: July-September

GOLDEN ALEXANDER

Zizia aurea

Part of the carrot family this plant attracts many pollinators with its multiple flowers.  If you look closely through out the summer you can find the caterpillar (larvae) of the swallowtail butterfly as well as adults laying eggs.

Attracts: bees, butterflies, beetles, pollinating flies
Hosts: Black Swallowtail Butterfly
Growth: perennial, 3’h, sun/part shade, average well drained soil
Blooms: May-June

GARDEN OR SUMMER PHLOX

Phlox paniculata ‘Jeana’

The clusters of fragrant flowers bloom for a prolonged time in the summer.  This looks stunning in the home garden paired with blues and purples, toned down with white flowers or contrasted with yellow.  Very versatile!

Attracts: bees, butterflies, hawk moths, hummingbirds
Growth: perennial, sun to part shade, fertile well drained soil
Blooms: June-August

LITTLE BLUESTEM

Schizachyrium scoparium

This native ornamental grass is a winner, offsetting the flowers in your garden. Blueish foliage lasts all summer turningreddish-bronze in autumn. The silvery white tufted seeds attract birds. The rigid clumps can withstand snow and rain, allowing the reddish grass stems to remain upright for most of the winter.

Attracts: birds, butterflies
Growth: grass, 2-3’h, sun, tolerates all soils, likes dry soil
Blooms: mid to late summer

WILD BERGAMOT

Monarda fistulosa

This monarda’s showy flowers are as at home in a butterfly or native garden as in a traditional border.  These flowers are visited by hummingbirds, once they find the flower in your yard they tend to come back daily.  While monarda can get powdery mildew this does not harm the plant or others in the border and seems a small price to pay for hummingbird visits! 

Attracts:  Hummingbirds, song birds, bees, butterflies
Growth:  perennial, 3-4’, sun/part shade , dry soil
Bloom: May-July

CAREX, APPALACHIAN 

Carex Appalachia

This sedge forms a fine-leaved, 16-inch-wide clump on well drained slopes.  It works well as a ground cover with other woodland plants as it does not spread.   

Growth: sedge, .8’h, shade to part shade, average to dry soil

EASTERN BLUESTAR ‘STORM CLOUD’

Amsonia tabernaemontana ‘Storm Cloud’

The blue star-shaped flowers bloom in mid-spring. Leaves turn a pretty yellow in fall. Easy plant to grow that looks great as an accent plant and also en masse. Prune after flowering to avoid it flopping over.

Attracts: Bees and other pollinators

Growth: Perennial, 2-3’h, Full sun/partial shade, tolerate of most soil types, likes moist well-draining soils

Blooms: Mid-spring

CANADA ANEMONE

Anemone canadensis

When in ideal conditions, this perennial in the buttercup family will spread quickly, making it a good ground cover. The white flower with yellow center sits atop a delicate whirled leaf and blooms in mid-late spring. It’s found in woodlands, along rivers and in moist meadows and thickets.

Attracts: Bees and other pollinators

Growth: Perennial, .5-1’, partial-shade to shade, tolerates most soil types, likes moist soil

Blooms: Mid to late spring

GERANIUM WILD

Geranium maculatum

Once established it will settle into your garden with bright green palmate leaves and lavender spring flowers.  It spreads about 2-3 ft keeping weeds at bay.  If the soil gets too dry the plant may die back and then reappear the next spring. 

Attracts: bees, butterflies

Growth: Perennial, 1-2’, sun/part shade, dry or moist soil

Blooms: May

OSTRICH FERN

Matteuccia struthiopteris

This fern is easily grown in the garden, especially if you keep it moist.  It spreads with rhizomes underground, forming clumps that provide interest throughout the summer.  Its scientific name honors Carlo Matteucci, a physicist who was the first to discover muscular current - the electrical phenomenon related to muscular effort. 

Growth: fern, 2-6’, part to full shade, rich, moist soil

PARTRIDGE PEA

Chamaecrista fasciculate

An annual. this plant dies at the end of the season. However, it readily self seeds, and will continue to appear every year to show off its blue-green leaves and yellow flowers. You can grow this plant by simply sowing the seeds in your garden in the fall. Allow it to wind its way through a native plant flower bed. It is nitrogen-fixing so it enriches your soil. 

Attracts: bees, wasps, flies, ants

Growth: annual, 1-3’ h, full sun, dry soil

Blooms: July - September

PENSTEMON, TALL WHITE

Penstemon digitalis

This plant is also called Foxglove Beardtongue, referring to the shape of the flower which looks like a gloved finger. and the long hairy filament that protrudes from that flower.  It looks great in naturalized areas of your yard, or at the back of a border.  

Attracts:  Bees, Hummingbirds, Butterflies

Growth: perennial, 2-3’ h, sun, well-drained soil

Bloom: April-June

QUEEN OF THE PRAIRIE

Filipendula rubra

With its pink flowers on tall stalks that rise above their surroundings and its star-shaped leaves, this plant is quite distinctive. Though native to New Jersey, it is endangered and rarely seen.  We hope it thrives in Brookdale Park.

Attracts: bees, beetles, flies

Growth: perennial, 6-8’h, sun, average moist soil

Blooms: June, July

SOLOMON’S SEAL, VARIGATED

Polygonatum odoratum var. pluriflorum

The fragrant flowers and striped leaves make this plant stand out in your shade garden. The blooms attract butterflies and birds love the berries that follow. Once planted, there is little upkeep, other than enjoying it. 

Attracts: butterflies, birds

Growth: perennial, 2-3’, sun/part shade, moist soil

Blooms: April-June

VIOLETS

Viola sororia 

Violets are our state flower and important to our ecosystem. Fritillary butterfly larvae eat only violets.  While some people prefer a very tidy lawn or flower border, allowing violets in your yard provides color and supports 30 different species of fritillaries.  Violets come in a variety of colors, blue, pink, white and bi-colored.

Attracts: bees, butterflies, birds  Host plant: Greater and Lesser Fritillary Butterflies; Mining bee Andrena violae

Growth: perennial, .5’h, sun/part shade, well-drained soil

Bloom: April-June

YARROW

Achillea millefolium

With its finely cut fern-like leaves and tall flat flowers, yarrow is a soft accent in a border.  It spreads through rhizomes and also self seeds, Watch it pop up in the garden filling in empty spaces and outcompeting weeds. 

Attracts: bees, butterflies

Growth: perennial, 1-3’, full to part sun, dry soil

Blooms: June-September

CHOKEBERRY ‘Low Scape’

Aronia melanocarpa ‘Low Scape’

This shrub provides multi-season interest with fragrant white flowers in spring, brilliant red/purple foliage in fall, and bitter berries that provide food to birds and mammals in late winter. Spreads by suckers.  This variety is bred to stay shorter than others. 

Attracts: Birds and small mammals

Growth: shrub, 1-2’h, sun/part shade, well-drained, average soil

Bloom: May

DOGWOOD, RED OSIER

Cornus sericea

The bright red stems of this shrub provide winter interest but to have consistent color you must prune in late winter/early spring (remove up to a third of the oldest stems).  It is a larval host for butterflies and an excellent addition to a pollinator garden with white flowers in summer and white berries in fall. 

Attracts: butterflies, bees, birds and small mammals

Growth: shrub, 6-9’, sun/part shade, rich moist soil

Blooms: May-June

HONEYSUCKLE, BUSH

Diervilla ‘Kodiak Orange”

During the spring and summer this shrub has glossy green leaves and yellow flowers in the early summer.   In the fall, the leaves are vibrant orange and provide a wonderful alternative to the non-native, invasive “burning bush” Euonymus. 

Attracts: hummingbirds, butterflies

Growth: shrub, 3-4’h, sun/part shade, dry

Blooms: May-June

HYDRANGEA, OAKLEAF ‘ALICE’

Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Alice’

This native hydrangea is a multi-season showstopper.  Its green oak-shaped leaves are attractive in the spring/summer and its white flowers rival many non-native hydrangeas in size and beauty.  In the fall, the flowerhead ages to pink and the leaves turn a deep red, persisting well into winter. 

Attracts: bees

Growth: shrub, 6’, full sun/part shade, moist, well-drained soil

Blooms: May-July

NINEBARK ‘SUMMER WINE’

Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Summer Wine’

This variety of ninebark stands out for its dark red foliage which contrasts so well with its pink flowers. In the winter its bark exfoliates or peels showing several colors in the inner bark which adds interest to the landscape.  These bushes are quick growers, filling in while other shrubs establish themselves.

Attracts: birds, bees

Growth: shrub, 6’h, full sun, well-drained soil

Blooms: June-July

VIBURNUM, ARROWWOOD ‘BLUE MUFFIN’

Viburnum dentatum ‘Blue Muffin’

This straight-stemmed shrub provided wood for arrows hence its common name.  White flowers produce blue-black fruits that are eaten by birds. If you need to prune, do so immediately after blooming so that you do not lose flower buds. 

Attracts: birds, butterflies, birds

Growth: shrub, 3-5’, sun/part shade, average soil

Blooms: May-June

SUMAC, FRAGRANT

Rhus aromatica

This bush has yellow flowers which are followed by red berries that birds love. It is a stand out in the fall when the aromatic leaves turn orange/red/reddish-purple. Planted in a group to form a border or on a slope to prevent erosion, this is a stunning landscaping choice.

Attracts: bees, butterflies  Host: Red-banded Hairstreak 

Growth: shrub, 3’h, sun, dry soils

Bloom: Spring

SUMMERSWEET

Clethera alnifolia ’16 Candles’

Planted near a door the sweet fragrance will delight you every time you go in or out.  The clusters of white flowers produce peppercorn like seeds.  Pollinators love the flowers in the summer and birds feast on the seeds in the fall/winter.  

Attracts: bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, birds   

Growth: shrub, 4’h, part shade, most soils

Bloom: Summer

VIRGINIA SWEETSPIRE

Itea virginica

In early summer, long tassels of tiny, fragrant flowers appear. In the fall, the leaves turn a reddish purple. As the bush tolerates wet locations, it’s great in a woodland garden, along a pond or in a rain garden.  

Attracts: bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, birds 

Growth: shrub, 3-4’h, part shade, most soils, including wet 

Bloom: Late Spring

WITCHHAZEL, OZARK

Hamamelis vernalis

This brings in wildlife and provides beauty throughout the seasons.  Fragrant flowers with yellow crumpled petals and red centers early in the year before the leaves.  Seed capsules mature in the summer attracting birds.  Witchhazel also has abundant medicinal uses.

Attracts: bees, butterflies, birds

Growth: small tree or shrub, up to 15’h, part shade, most soil conditions

Bloom: mid to late winter