Every plant in the guide.

Firecracker Penstemon

Penstemon eatonii

Scarlet tubular flowers timed to the spring hummingbird migration through the desert Southwest.

Full sun
Dry
1.5–3 ft
Blooms Mar–May

Pasque Flower

Pulsatilla patens

One of the very first prairie flowers, silky purple cups pushing up through cold early-spring ground.

Full sun
Dry
6–12 in
Blooms Mar–Apr

Foamflower

Tiarella cordifolia

Frothy white spring spires over heart-shaped, semi-evergreen foliage in deep shade.

Part shade
Average
6–12 in
Blooms Apr–May

Golden Alexanders

Zizia aurea

Early flat gold heads that feed the first small bees and host the black swallowtail.

Full–part sun
Average–wet
1.5–2.5 ft
Blooms Apr–Jun

Prairie Smoke

Geum triflorum

Nodding pink spring bells that turn into smoky, feathered seed plumes — the show after the flower.

Full–part sun
Dry
6–16 in
Blooms Apr–May

Western Columbine

Aquilegia formosa

The West's nodding red-and-gold columbine, the first big hummingbird draw of the mountain spring.

Part shade
Average
1.5–3 ft
Blooms Apr–Jul

Wild Bleeding Heart

Dicentra eximia

Ferny mounds that drip with pink hearts from spring straight through summer in shade.

Part shade
Average
12–18 in
Blooms Apr–Aug

Wild Columbine

Aquilegia canadensis

Nodding red-and-gold lanterns that greet the first spring hummingbirds at a woodland edge.

Part shade
Dry–average
1–2.5 ft
Blooms Apr–Jun

Wild Geranium

Geranium maculatum

A mounding woodland staple with lilac-pink spring flowers and good fall foliage color.

Part shade
Average
1.5–2 ft
Blooms Apr–Jun

Woodland Phlox

Phlox divaricata

A sweetly fragrant, low spreading phlox that carpets the spring woodland floor in blue.

Part shade
Average
10–15 in
Blooms Apr–May

Chocolate Flower

Berlandiera lyrata

Yellow daisies that genuinely smell of chocolate each morning — and bloom all summer in heat.

Full sun
Dry
1–2 ft
Blooms May–Sep

Common Yarrow

Achillea millefolium

A near-continental native with flat flower heads that feed tiny beneficial insects, tough as a weed.

Full sun
Dry–average
1.5–3 ft
Blooms May–Aug

Foxglove Beardtongue

Penstemon digitalis

Airy white bells in early summer, a bridge bloom between spring ephemerals and the summer prairie.

Full–part sun
Dry–average
2–4 ft
Blooms May–Jun

Gregg's Mistflower

Conoclinium greggii

Fuzzy blue flowers that act like a magnet for queen and monarch butterflies in the Southwest.

Full–part sun
Dry–average
1–2 ft
Blooms May–Oct

Lanceleaf Coreopsis

Coreopsis lanceolata

Sunny gold daisies for weeks in early summer on the leanest, driest soil you can offer.

Full sun
Dry–average
1.5–2 ft
Blooms May–Jul

Rocky Mountain Penstemon

Penstemon strictus

Spires of glossy blue tubes built for bumblebees, and one of the easiest western penstemons to grow.

Full sun
Dry
1.5–2.5 ft
Blooms May–Jul

Anise Hyssop

Agastache foeniculum

Months of lavender spikes over licorice-scented foliage, mobbed by bees from dawn to dusk.

Full–part sun
Dry–average
2–4 ft
Blooms Jun–Sep

Black-Eyed Susan

Rudbeckia hirta

A cheerful, unkillable starter native that blooms its first year and seeds itself politely around.

Full–part sun
Dry–average
1.5–3 ft
Blooms Jun–Sep

Blanketflower

Gaillardia aristata

Fiery red-and-gold wheels that bloom nonstop all summer on hot, dry, sandy ground.

Full sun
Dry
1–2.5 ft
Blooms Jun–Sep

Butterfly Weed

Asclepias tuberosa

A monarch host plant and the brightest orange in the native palette, thriving in lean, dry soil.

Full sun
Dry
1.5–2.5 ft
Blooms Jun–Aug

Culver's Root

Veronicastrum virginicum

Elegant white candelabra spires that bring vertical structure and a haze of bees to midsummer.

Full–part sun
Average–wet
3–5 ft
Blooms Jun–Aug

Purple Coneflower

Echinacea purpurea

The garden workhorse — months of nectar for bees and butterflies, then seed heads goldfinches strip all winter.

Full–part sun
Dry–average
2–4 ft
Blooms Jun–Sep

Wild Bergamot

Monarda fistulosa

Ragged lavender crowns that hum with bees, hummingbirds, and clearwing moths; foliage smells of oregano.

Full–part sun
Dry–average
2–4 ft
Blooms Jun–Aug

Cardinal Flower

Lobelia cardinalis

The most intense red in the native flora, built for the hummingbirds that pollinate it.

Full–part sun
Average–wet
2–4 ft
Blooms Jul–Sep

Cup Plant

Silphium perfoliatum

A prairie giant whose paired leaves hold rainwater for birds; goldfinches mob the seeds.

Full–part sun
Average–wet
5–8 ft
Blooms Jul–Sep

Dense Blazing Star

Liatris spicata

Vertical wands of magenta that open top-down and pull in every swallowtail in the neighborhood.

Full sun
Average–wet
2–4 ft
Blooms Jul–Aug

Prairie Blazing Star

Liatris pycnostachya

The tallest blazing star, a five-foot torch of purple over the high-summer prairie.

Full sun
Dry–average
3–5 ft
Blooms Jul–Aug

Scarlet Beebalm

Monarda didyma

A hummingbird magnet with fireworks-red blooms for moist, rich soil at a woodland edge.

Full–part sun
Average–wet
2.5–4 ft
Blooms Jul–Aug

Short-Toothed Mountain Mint

Pycnanthemum muticum

Trial after trial names it the single most attractive plant to pollinators — and deer won't touch it.

Full–part sun
Dry–average
2–3 ft
Blooms Jul–Sep

Spotted Joe-Pye Weed

Eutrochium maculatum

Statuesque domes of vanilla-scented mauve that swallowtails and monarchs cover in late summer.

Full–part sun
Average–wet
4–7 ft
Blooms Jul–Sep

Swamp Milkweed

Asclepias incarnata

A well-behaved, clump-forming milkweed for wet ground — a monarch host that also looks at home in a border.

Full–part sun
Average–wet
3–4 ft
Blooms Jul–Aug

Douglas Aster

Symphyotrichum subspicatum

The Pacific Northwest's late-season aster, feeding bees into the first cool, wet days of fall.

Full–part sun
Average–wet
2–4 ft
Blooms Aug–Oct

Great Blue Lobelia

Lobelia siphilitica

Spikes of true blue for late summer shade and damp ground, worked hard by bumblebees.

Full–part sun
Average–wet
2–3 ft
Blooms Aug–Sep

Maximilian Sunflower

Helianthus maximiliani

A towering fall sunflower whose stems are studded top to bottom with gold, then thick with seed for birds.

Full sun
Dry–average
5–8 ft
Blooms Aug–Oct

Obedient Plant

Physostegia virginiana

Snapdragon-like pink spikes for late summer, beloved by bumblebees and hummingbirds.

Full–part sun
Average–wet
2–4 ft
Blooms Aug–Sep

Aromatic Aster

Symphyotrichum oblongifolium

A drought-proof, mounding aster that closes the pollinator season with sheets of blue.

Full sun
Dry
1.5–2.5 ft
Blooms Sep–Nov

New England Aster

Symphyotrichum novae-angliae

Late-season fuel — clouds of purple daisies feeding migrating monarchs and the last bumblebees of fall.

Full–part sun
Average–wet
3–5 ft
Blooms Sep–Oct

Showy Goldenrod

Solidago speciosa

Upright golden candles that anchor the fall garden — and no, goldenrod doesn't cause hay fever.

Full–part sun
Dry–average
2–4 ft
Blooms Sep–Oct

Wild Lupine

Lupinus perennis

The sole host plant of the endangered Karner blue butterfly, thriving in poor sandy soil.

Full–part sun
Dry
1–2 ft
Blooms Apr–Jun

Common Milkweed

Asclepias syriaca

The classic monarch nursery, with honey-scented summer flowers that perfume an entire meadow.

Full–part sun
Dry–average
3–5 ft
Blooms Jun–Jul

Purple Prairie Clover

Dalea purpurea

Thimble-shaped flowers ringed in orange pollen, a nitrogen-fixing backbone of the dry prairie.

Full sun
Dry
1–3 ft
Blooms Jun–Jul

Rattlesnake Master

Eryngium yuccifolium

Architectural yucca-like leaves and golf-ball flower heads give the prairie its modern edge.

Full sun
Dry–average
3–5 ft
Blooms Jun–Aug

Showy Milkweed

Asclepias speciosa

The West's monarch milkweed — bolder, fuzzier, and more drought-hardy than its eastern cousins.

Full sun
Dry–average
2–4 ft
Blooms Jun–Jul

Blue Vervain

Verbena hastata

Candelabras of tiny violet flowers for wet ground, working for small native bees all summer.

Full–part sun
Average–wet
3–5 ft
Blooms Jul–Sep

Compass Plant

Silphium laciniatum

A signature tallgrass-prairie plant with a taproot that can plunge fifteen feet down.

Full sun
Dry–average
5–9 ft
Blooms Jul–Aug

Common Boneset

Eupatorium perfoliatum

Frothy white heads alive with small native bees and wasps, for ground that stays damp.

Full–part sun
Average–wet
3–5 ft
Blooms Aug–Sep

Stiff Goldenrod

Solidago rigida

A prairie goldenrod with flat-topped flower heads that double as a butterfly landing pad.

Full sun
Dry–average
3–5 ft
Blooms Aug–Oct

Spring ephemerals

Spring ephemeral

Virginia Bluebells

Mertensia virginica

Pink buds opening to drifts of sky-blue bells, then vanishing underground by summer.

Part shade
Average–wet
1–2 ft
Blooms Mar–May

Subshrubs

Subshrub

Autumn Sage

Salvia greggii

A tough little evergreen sage that feeds hummingbirds from spring to frost in Texas and the Southwest.

Full–part sun
Dry
2–3 ft
Blooms Apr–Oct

Subshrub

Turk's Cap

Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii

One of the few natives that pours out hummingbird-red flowers in dry shade all season long.

Sun to shade
Dry–average
2–5 ft
Blooms May–Oct

Shrubs

Red-Flowering Currant

Ribes sanguineum

Cascades of rose-pink tassels timed exactly to the return of the rufous hummingbird each spring.

Full–part sun
Dry–average
5–9 ft
Blooms Mar–Apr

Apache Plume

Fallugia paradoxa

White rose-like flowers and feathery pink seed plumes together on one airy desert shrub.

Full sun
Dry
3–6 ft
Blooms Apr–Sep

Arrowwood Viburnum

Viburnum dentatum

A bulletproof hedge shrub with white spring flowers, blue fall berries, and burgundy autumn leaves.

Sun to shade
Average–wet
6–10 ft
Blooms May–Jun

Oakleaf Hydrangea

Hydrangea quercifolia

A four-season southeastern shrub — white flower cones, wine-red fall leaves, cinnamon peeling bark.

Part shade
Average
4–8 ft
Blooms May–Jul

American Beautyberry

Callicarpa americana

Unreal clusters of metallic-purple berries hug the stems in fall and feed dozens of bird species.

Full–part sun
Dry–average
4–7 ft
Blooms Jun–Jul

Buttonbush

Cephalanthus occidentalis

Spherical white 'pincushion' flowers over standing water, swarmed by butterflies and bees.

Full–part sun
Average–wet
5–10 ft
Blooms Jun–Aug

Flame Acanthus

Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii

A heat-loving shrub covered in tubular orange flowers through the hottest, driest weeks of summer.

Full sun
Dry
2–4 ft
Blooms Jun–Oct

Smooth Hydrangea

Hydrangea arborescens

The native parent of the 'Annabelle' hydrangea, with white summer domes for shade.

Part shade
Average
3–5 ft
Blooms Jun–Aug

Winterberry

Ilex verticillata

A deciduous holly that drops its leaves to reveal branches packed with brilliant red winter berries.

Full–part sun
Average–wet
5–10 ft
Blooms Jun–Jul

Fragrant Sumac

Rhus aromatica

A low, spreading shrub that blankets dry banks and blazes scarlet and orange in fall.

Full–part sun
Dry
2–6 ft
Blooms Mar–Apr

Spicebush

Lindera benzoin

An early-blooming shade shrub, host to the spicebush swallowtail, with butter-yellow fall color.

Part shade
Average–wet
6–12 ft
Blooms Mar–Apr

New Jersey Tea

Ceanothus americanus

A compact, drought-proof shrub frothing with white flowers that pollinators and hummingbirds adore.

Full–part sun
Dry
2–3.5 ft
Blooms May–Jul

Ninebark

Physocarpus opulifolius

An adaptable, four-season shrub with spring flowers, colorful foliage, and peeling winter bark.

Full–part sun
Dry to wet
5–10 ft
Blooms May–Jun

Red-Twig Dogwood

Cornus sericea

Grown for its fire-engine-red winter stems, with white spring flowers and berries birds devour.

Full–part sun
Average–wet
6–9 ft
Blooms May–Jun

American Elderberry

Sambucus canadensis

Big lacy flower heads in summer give way to purple-black berries for both birds and your kitchen.

Full–part sun
Average–wet
6–12 ft
Blooms Jun–Jul

Evergreen shrubs

California Lilac

Ceanothus thyrsiflorus

Sheets of true-blue spring flowers on an evergreen shrub that hums with bees on the West Coast.

Full sun
Dry
6–20 ft
Blooms Mar–May

Hairy Manzanita

Arctostaphylos columbiana

Sculptural mahogany bark and early urn-shaped flowers that feed the West Coast's first bees of spring.

Full–part sun
Dry
3–9 ft
Blooms Mar–May

Oregon Grape

Berberis aquifolium

Holly-like evergreen leaves, fragrant yellow spring flowers, and blue berries — Oregon's state flower.

Sun to shade
Dry–average
3–6 ft
Blooms Mar–Apr

Inkberry Holly

Ilex glabra

A native evergreen alternative to boxwood that takes wet feet and feeds bees and birds.

Full–part sun
Average–wet
4–8 ft
Blooms May–Jun

Toyon

Heteromeles arbutifolia

California's evergreen 'Christmas berry,' with white summer flowers and red winter fruit for birds.

Full–part sun
Dry
8–15 ft
Blooms Jun–Jul

Small trees

Eastern Redbud

Cercis canadensis

Bare branches erupt in rose-magenta in early spring — and the flowers feed the season's first bees.

Full–part sun
Dry–average
20–30 ft
Blooms Mar–Apr

Flowering Dogwood

Cornus florida

The classic understory tree of the eastern woods, with white spring bracts and crimson fall leaves.

Part shade
Average
15–25 ft
Blooms Apr–May

Serviceberry

Amelanchier canadensis

A small four-season tree: white spring flowers, June berries for the birds, and fiery fall color.

Full–part sun
Average–wet
15–25 ft
Blooms Apr–May

Desert Willow

Chilopsis linearis

A graceful desert tree hung with orchid-like trumpets all summer, fueled by nothing but heat.

Full sun
Dry
15–25 ft
Blooms May–Sep

Vines

Vine

Crossvine

Bignonia capreolata

A vigorous, semi-evergreen climber that smothers a fence in orange-red trumpets each spring.

Full–part sun
Dry–average
25–50 ft
Blooms Apr–May

Vine

Trumpet Honeysuckle

Lonicera sempervirens

A well-mannered native vine that pours out coral-red hummingbird trumpets from spring to frost.

Full–part sun
Dry–average
8–15 ft
Blooms Apr–Sep

Vine

Virginia Creeper

Parthenocissus quinquefolia

A tough native climber grown for spectacular scarlet fall color and berries that 35+ bird species eat.

Sun to shade
Dry–average
30–50 ft
Blooms Jun

Ornamental grass

Pink Muhly Grass

Muhlenbergia capillaris

An autumn cloud of luminous pink that stops traffic when it blooms en masse.

Full sun
Dry–average
2–3 ft
Blooms Sep–Oct

Blue Grama

Bouteloua gracilis

A fine, low prairie grass with quirky horizontal 'eyebrow' seed heads — a great no-water lawn.

Full sun
Dry
8–20 in
Blooms Jun–Aug

Sideoats Grama

Bouteloua curtipendula

A tidy mid-height grama hung with one-sided seed oats — the state grass of Texas.

Full sun
Dry
1.5–2.5 ft
Blooms Jun–Jul

Big Bluestem

Andropogon gerardii

The towering 'turkey-foot' grass that once defined the tallgrass prairie, head-high by fall.

Full sun
Dry to wet
4–7 ft
Fall color

Indian Grass

Sorghastrum nutans

Tall golden plumes catch the autumn light above a classic tallgrass-prairie planting.

Full sun
Dry–average
4–7 ft
Fall color

Little Bluestem

Schizachyrium scoparium

The backbone grass of the prairie — blue-green in summer, glowing copper and silver all winter.

Full sun
Dry–average
2–4 ft
Fall color

Prairie Dropseed

Sporobolus heterolepis

The most refined native grass — a fountain of fine emerald threads that turn amber in fall.

Full sun
Dry–average
2–3 ft
Fall color