Gardening and Landscaping
Seven easy-care native plants bring color, pollinators and resilience
A tired lawn takes time and water but offers little for pollinators. A few well-chosen native plants can bring seasonal flowers and wildlife while making your yard easier to care for.
Match each native plant to its sunlight, soil and space. These seven ornamental choices tolerate a range of conditions and offer flowers, seeds or berries for wildlife through the seasons.
Purple coneflower blooms from June into September, often later. Once established, it tolerates dry soil and clay amended with compost; plant it in sunny borders or a wildflower patch.
Black-eyed Susan flowers from July to October and tolerates drought and poor soil. Plant it along sunny paths or in meadows; pull a few seedlings if it reseeds more than you want.
Plant milkweed in sunny clumps near nectar sources. Choose a species suited to your soil and drainage: some tolerate wetter ground, while others prefer dry conditions.
New England aster blooms in September and October, offering nectar when many flowers have faded. It prefers sun and tolerates average to moist soil; plant it at the back of a border.
Serviceberry brings white spring blossoms, summer berries and fall color. Its varied soil tolerance and bird-friendly fruit make it a useful specimen, hedge or understory tree near a patio.
Bee balm blooms from June to August in sun or part shade and attracts bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. It spreads, so grow it in a container or a dedicated patch with average, moist soil.
Little bluestem handles drought and poor soil, helps reduce erosion and provides winter seed for birds. Use it on slopes or in prairie-style plantings alongside coneflowers and asters.
Flowering natives can draw visiting bees and butterflies in their first season; a fuller pollinator community takes time. Plant one choice, let it root and watch what arrives.
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