Planning Your Native Flower Garden

Even in the chilly beginning of spring, I’m planning my native flower garden. Every year, I add new plants. I love flowers. I enjoy looking out of my kitchen window and seeing blazes of color. Even better, I like it when butterflies come for a meal. One morning, I spotted a family of four goldfinches chowing down on coneflower seeds. But I’m a lazy gardener and want to be kind to my local environment, so I use native flowers.

Using Native Plants for Pollinators

Birds and bugs have struggled to survive as their habitats are converted into manicured lawns and sprayed with pesticides. Native plants are much easier to care for than hybrids, giving your yard plenty of color while providing much-needed habitat. Once you have native plants started in a suitable location, they are usually happy with minimal watering and attention, and you will have the added benefit of watching butterflies and birds enjoy your flowers.

Plants with a single layer of flower petals are better for pollinators because simple flowers make it easier for birds and bugs to get at the nectar or seeds in the plant. Will you be using pots, planting into a raised bed, or planting directly into the ground? The great thing about native plants is that they are easy to grow, and if you choose a blooming variety, they will reward you with magnificent blossoms.

Native Flower to Consider for Your Garden

Black-eyed Susan is Maryland’s state flower.
Blooms June – October
Likes full to part sun, moist to dry soil, and is 1-3 feet high. Suitable as a cut flower. Songbirds eat seeds.

Blue Wood Aster
Likes partial sun to shady areas, moist to wet soil, 2-3 feet high. Suitable as a cut flower.

Butterfly Weed
Blooms June – September
Likes partial to full sun, poor sandy soil, up to 3 feet high. Suitable as a cut flower. Host for Monarch Butterflies.

False Blue Indigo
Blooms May – June
Likes full sun to partial shade, sandy to clay soil, 2 – 5 feet tall. Hosts moths, butterflies, and insects.

Golden Groundset
Blooms April – May
Likes partial sun to full shade and moist, rich soil. Plants are 6-8” tall, with the blooms on stems up to 2.5 feet tall—host to small butterflies and bees.

Joe Pye Weed
Bloom July – September
Likes full to part sun and moist soil. Plants can be up to 6 feet tall—butterflies and bees like sipping on the nectar and sunning themselves.

Purple Coneflower
Blooms June – August
Likes full to part sun and moist soil. Plants are 1-3 feet tall. Hosts bees, butterflies, and birds that eat the seeds after the blooms have died.