Anise Hyssop
Agastache foeniculum
Made for open ground — blooms Jun through Sep, 2–4 ft tall.
- Full–part sun
- Dry–average
- 2–4 ft
- Blooms Jun–Sep
Minnesota · Zones 3–5
Native Plants for Full Sun in Minnesota
Sun-loving native wildflowers, grasses, and shrubs for the hot, bright, open parts of the yard that bake all afternoon. Minnesota sits in a landscape of Northern tallgrass prairie & North Woods, and the natives that thrive here are the ones built for its cold continental character. The list below — led by Anise Hyssop and Wild Bergamot — is filtered to species genuinely native to Minnesota and the wider flora of the Midwest and hardy through zones 3–5. A spot with six or more hours of direct sun is prime real estate for the prairie and meadow natives that evolved in the open — most want exactly that much light to bloom hard and stand up straight. Give them lean, well-drained soil rather than rich and pampered, skip the fertilizer, and they will reward the tough love with more flowers and sturdier stems.
The plants
58 native species for Minnesota
Each one native to your region and hardy in zones 3–5 · see this collection in other states.
Wild Bergamot
Monarda fistulosa
Give it full sun and it blooms Jun through Aug, 2–4 ft tall.
- Full–part sun
- Dry–average
- 2–4 ft
- Blooms Jun–Aug
Great Blue Lobelia
Lobelia siphilitica
Give it full sun and it flowers in Aug and Sep, 2–3 ft tall.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 2–3 ft
- Blooms Aug–Sep
Foxglove Beardtongue
Penstemon digitalis
A sun-lover that flowers in May and Jun, standing 2–4 ft tall.
- Full–part sun
- Dry–average
- 2–4 ft
- Blooms May–Jun
Swamp Milkweed
Asclepias incarnata
Give it full sun and it flowers in Jul and Aug, 3–4 ft tall.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 3–4 ft
- Blooms Jul–Aug
Lanceleaf Coreopsis
Coreopsis lanceolata
Give it full sun and it blooms May through Jul, 1.5–2 ft tall.
- Full sun
- Dry–average
- 1.5–2 ft
- Blooms May–Jul
Winterberry
Ilex verticillata
Give it full sun and it flowers in Jun and Jul, 5–10 ft tall.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 5–10 ft
- Blooms Jun–Jul
Purple Coneflower
Echinacea purpurea
Made for open ground — blooms Jun through Sep, 2–4 ft tall.
- Full–part sun
- Dry–average
- 2–4 ft
- Blooms Jun–Sep
Showy Goldenrod
Solidago speciosa
A sun-lover that flowers in Sep and Oct, standing 2–4 ft tall.
- Full–part sun
- Dry–average
- 2–4 ft
- Blooms Sep–Oct
Golden Alexanders
Zizia aurea
Give it full sun and it blooms Apr through Jun, 1.5–2.5 ft tall.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 1.5–2.5 ft
- Blooms Apr–Jun
Eastern Redbud
Cercis canadensis
Made for open ground — flowers in Mar and Apr, 20–30 ft tall.
- Full–part sun
- Dry–average
- 20–30 ft
- Blooms Mar–Apr
Aromatic Aster
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
A sun-lover that blooms Sep through Nov, standing 1.5–2.5 ft tall.
- Full sun
- Dry
- 1.5–2.5 ft
- Blooms Sep–Nov
Common Yarrow
Achillea millefolium
A sun-lover that blooms May through Aug, standing 1.5–3 ft tall.
- Full sun
- Dry–average
- 1.5–3 ft
- Blooms May–Aug
New England Aster
Symphyotrichum novae-angliae
Give it full sun and it flowers in Sep and Oct, 3–5 ft tall.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 3–5 ft
- Blooms Sep–Oct
Obedient Plant
Physostegia virginiana
Give it full sun and it flowers in Aug and Sep, 2–4 ft tall.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 2–4 ft
- Blooms Aug–Sep
Culver's Root
Veronicastrum virginicum
Made for open ground — blooms Jun through Aug, 3–5 ft tall.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 3–5 ft
- Blooms Jun–Aug
Cup Plant
Silphium perfoliatum
Give it full sun and it blooms Jul through Sep, 5–8 ft tall.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 5–8 ft
- Blooms Jul–Sep
Butterfly Weed
Asclepias tuberosa
A sun-lover that blooms Jun through Aug, standing 1.5–2.5 ft tall.
- Full sun
- Dry
- 1.5–2.5 ft
- Blooms Jun–Aug
Maximilian Sunflower
Helianthus maximiliani
Made for open ground — blooms Aug through Oct, 5–8 ft tall.
- Full sun
- Dry–average
- 5–8 ft
- Blooms Aug–Oct
Arrowwood Viburnum
Viburnum dentatum
Made for open ground — flowers in May and Jun, 6–10 ft tall.
- Sun to shade
- Average–wet
- 6–10 ft
- Blooms May–Jun
Short-Toothed Mountain Mint
Pycnanthemum muticum
Made for open ground — blooms Jul through Sep, 2–3 ft tall.
- Full–part sun
- Dry–average
- 2–3 ft
- Blooms Jul–Sep
Black-Eyed Susan
Rudbeckia hirta
A sun-lover that blooms Jun through Sep, standing 1.5–3 ft tall.
- Full–part sun
- Dry–average
- 1.5–3 ft
- Blooms Jun–Sep
Scarlet Beebalm
Monarda didyma
A sun-lover that flowers in Jul and Aug, standing 2.5–4 ft tall.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 2.5–4 ft
- Blooms Jul–Aug
Buttonbush
Cephalanthus occidentalis
Give it full sun and it blooms Jun through Aug, 5–10 ft tall.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 5–10 ft
- Blooms Jun–Aug
34 more also qualify: Dense Blazing Star, Cardinal Flower, Pasque Flower, Chocolate Flower, Prairie Smoke, Trumpet Honeysuckle, Blanketflower, Spotted Joe-Pye Weed, Prairie Blazing Star, Serviceberry, Ninebark, Showy Milkweed, Compass Plant, Blue Vervain, Wild Lupine, Bearberry, Virginia Creeper, New Jersey Tea, Common Milkweed, Stiff Goldenrod, Rattlesnake Master, Red-Twig Dogwood, Blue Grama, American Elderberry, Sideoats Grama, Creeping Phlox, Common Boneset, Fragrant Sumac, Purple Prairie Clover, Indian Grass, Big Bluestem, Switchgrass, Prairie Dropseed, Little Bluestem.
Sourcing
Where to find these in Minnesota
Seeds & live plants on Amazon
Seed packets, plugs, and starter plants for many of these species ship to your door.
Browse on AmazonSome links here are affiliate links — we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. The surest source of locally-adapted stock is a native-plant nursery or a native plant society sale in your area.