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http://chicagocommunitygardens.org/resources_menu/environment-and-safety/sustainable-gardening/native-plants/

Native Plants for the Small Yard

Perennials

  • Baneberry Actaea rubra part shade-full shade; Nodding Pink Onion Allium cernum 1-2’ full sun; it will seed, pink flowers;
  • Bluestar Amsonia full sun-part shade; light blue flowers in early summer; native to Missouri; Wild Columbine, Red Columbine Aquilegia canadensis 2-3’ full sun-part shade; it will seed American Spikenard Aralia racemosa 2-4’ part shade-full shade; greenish white spikes July/August, followed w/red berries Goat’s beard Aruncus 3-5’ part shade-full shade; Wild Ginger Asarum part shade-full shade; Swamp Milkweed Asclepias incarnata 2-4’ full sun; great for moist heavy soils…rain garden & butterflies
  • Butterfly Weed Asclepias tuberosa 2-3’ full sun; orange-red June-August followed by milkweed-like pods, butterflies lay eggs it since parts are poisonous to birds and they avoid it, cut flower
  • AsterAster 2-4’full sun; violet with gold center August to October, cut back in late spring to maintain form, cut flower Blue False Indigo Baptisia 2-4’ full sun; blue spikes May to June, dried pods that follow can be used in dried arrangements, several prairie species are wonderful in the garden, cut flower
  • False Aster Boltonia 4-5’ full sun; white or pink daisy-like flowers, cut flower
  • Bugbane Cimicifuga or Actaea part shade-full shade;
  • Dutchman’s Breeches Dicentra cucullaria 6-8”part shade-full shade; ephemeral;
  • Coneflower Echinacea 3-4’ full sun; rosy-purple with orange center, July to September. Looks great with yarrow, grasses and evergreens, cut flower
  • Joe Pye Weed Eupatorium 4-6’ full sun-part shade; purple flowers in late summer; ‘Little Joe’ is 3-4’  Wild Geranium Geranium maculatum 18” full sun-part shade; rose-lavender flowers in April & May
  • Perennial Sunflower Helianthus full sun; ‘Lemon Queen’ Ox-eye Sunflower Heliopsis 2-3’ full sun; yellow August to October, cut flower
  • Alumroot Heuchera americana 1-2’ full sun-part shade; var. Interior, ‘Green Spice’
  • Virginia Bluebells Mertensia 2’ part shade-full shade; ephemeral, underplant hosta, it will seed Wild Quinine Parthenium integrifolium 3-5’ full sun; long blooming white flower clusters Woodland Phlox, Sweet William Phlox divaricata 1’ part shade-full shade; bright lavender April-May; it will seed
  • False Dragonhead Physostegia 2-3’ full sun-part shade; pink to lavender in mid to late summer, cut flower; ‘Vivid’
  • Solomon’s Seal Polygonatum 3-4’ part shade-full shade; white flower in early summer, variegated form is great, dwarf form Polyganatum humile Yellow Coneflower Ratibida pinnata 4’ full sun; yellow in late summer; prefers lean dry soils Black-eyed Susan, Orange Coneflower Rudbeckia fulgida 2-4’ full sun; yellow July-September Brown Eyed Susan Rudbeckia triloba 2-4’ full sun; yellow July-September
  • Bloodroot Sanguinaria canadensis 12” part shade-full shade;
  • Rosin Weed Silphium integrifolium 3-5’ full sun;
  • Cup Plant Silphium perfoliatum 5-9’ full sun; it will seed Prairie Dock Silphium terebinthinaceum 5-10’ full sun; basal rosette of foliage with giant flower stalks
  • Solomon’s Plume Smilacina 18” part shade-full shade; white plumes followed by red berries
  • Goldenrod Solidago 2-4’ full sun; yellow flower in Iate-summer & fall. It blooms same time as ragweed & mistakenly blamed for allergies. ‘Fireworks’ & ‘Golden Fleece’ Zigzag Goldenrod Solidago flexicaulis 2-3’ full sun-part shade; unusual that it tolerates shade Ohio Goldenrod Solidago ohioensis 3-4’ full sun; Anise-scented Goldenrod Solidago odora 3-4’ full sun; Celandine Poppy, Wood Poppy Stylophorum diphyllum 16” part shade-full shade; flowers May-June; it will seed
  • Bellwort or Marybells Uvularia 18” part shade-full shade;
  • Culvers Root Veronicastrum 3-5’ full sun;

https://illinoisprairie.wildones.org/resources/handouts-and-guides/