Long blooming plant, great for boarders. Host to the Common Buckeye butterfly.

Can take shadier and wetter conditions than Blephilia ciliata. A great, spreading, pollinator plant for your shade garden. Smells deliciously minty.

A cool-season, clump-forming grass for a shady area. Small mammals and birds feed on the seeds and deer and rabbits eat the foliage.

Produces a delicious nut in late summer that is enjoyed by wildlife and humans alike. Thicket-forming shrub that will grow in several sun/moisture conditions.

Blooms are cute as a button. Use in a consistently moist rain garden (doesn’t like to dry out). Can be cut back in June to produce a shorter, fuller plant. Deadhead for longer blooms.

Host to the hummingbird clearwing Hemaris diffinis. Often confused with common milkweed when it's younger. Popular with many small pollinators. Can be aggressive from horizontal roots.

Large, compound leaves, and large flowers make for an unique specimen. Due to size, thorns, and tendency to spread into a hedge, this plant is best suited for a large garden or fence row. The berries attract birds in the fall.

Larval host for the Common Buckeye Butterfly. Grows well in hot/dry “bad” soil. Doesn’t compete well with aggressive plants.

Annual, taprooted, climbing vine. A nitrogen fixing legume with two types of fruit, including one that is self-fertile, fleshy, and edible.

The tallest Joe Pye. Typically avoided by mammals, but a favorite of many pollinators. May flop or you can stake it up.

Interesting leaf structure and seed pods.

You often find the seeds of this genus sticking to you after a hike – these seeds are eaten by lots of wildlife. Flowers of this plant aren’t especially showy, but the plant is great for insects, birds, and mammals.

Great plant for the pollinators; attracts several butterflies, moths, and bees. Can be aggressive. Deer/rabbit don’t prefer.

A forest species for your shade garden with beautiful structure and flowers for spring garden interest. Not preferred by deer.

A butterfly magnet. Try in a shady rain garden. Can be tall, floppy, and take up a lot of space, but a stunning statement in the garden.