Large, showy flowers can range from white to a light pink. Requires moist soil, like in the base of your rain garden. Taller plants may need to be staked.

Birds love the seeds. Bees love the flowers. Tolerates dry conditions. The smallest and least aggressive Silphium, but will still spread by rhizomes to create a small colony.

Good in dry, poor soils. Butterflies love the Blazing Stars! But rodents also like to eat the corms.

Though the flower may not be showy, the silvery-leaves, brown winter seedheads, and strong up-right stature make a beautiful statement, especially when massed together or planted in grasses. Great wildlife benefits for bees, butterflies, birds, and mammels.

Can be used as a ground cover in consistently moist areas. A good early summer bloom for a shadier garden. Packera is one of the plant genera in our area that attracts the largest number of different bee species.

Likes some shade. Soil must be well drained. Plant multiple and allow for disturbed soil for better chance of reproduction. Spreads slowly. Sticky stems trap insects and the plant's enzymes break down the insect bodies.

Native to the southern half of Missouri and Southeast Kansas. May be used as a ground cover with a long, early summer bloom. Often found in rocky and acidic soils and prefers partial to full sun but tolerates lots of conditions.

Wonderful choice for a shorter liatris. Butterflies love the Blazing Stars!

Rain garden plant - likes wet places. Also called rattlebox because of the square shaped fruit that rattles when dried.

The leaves curl when you touch them, but be careful, it will poke back (hence the name).

Great texture for the garden. Stays more compact in full sun conditions. May be cut back after blooming or groomed into a short hedge. Prefers moist sites but also grows in rocky sites.

Very interesting flowers ranging in color from white to purple; an early source of pollen for bees (mostly bumblebees). The plant disappears in summer, but will return again the following spring. Can be difficult to establish.

A spring ephemeral; rises and blooms quickly in spring, then disappears. Prefers rich, well-drained soil and afternoon shade from heat. Foliage poisonous to mammals.

Remove spent blooms to extend the blooming season. Colony-forming.

Similar to C. lanceolata, but leaves not as dense and flowers a bit smaller. Good in a hot, dry area. Deadhead for persistent blooms.