FERNS

Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides)

• Height 12”-18”, evergreen

• Partial to full shade

• Medium water. Tolerates slopes and shallow soil, often found in the woods growing in rock crevices

• Instructions: Plant 2’ apart. Spreads slowly to form clumps.

Hay-scented Fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula)

• Height 2’

• Partial sun or partial shade

• Medium water to wet

• Instructions: Shallow rooted. Plant 18’-24’” apart. Spreads by rhizomes (underground roots.) Can handle sun with sufficient moisture. Good on slopes and under trees.

Lady Fern (Athyrium filix-femina)

• Height 2’

• Partial to full shade

• Medium water to moist

• Instructions: Plant 24” apart.

Marginal Wood Fern (Dryopteris marginalis)

• Height 2’, evergreen

• Partial to full shade

• Medium water to moist

• Instructions: Plant 18” to 24” apart

New York Fern (Thelypteris noveboracensis)

• Height 12”-18”

• Partial to full shade

• Medium water

• Instructions: Plant 18” apart. Shallow rooted. Spreads by rhizomes (underground roots.)

Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris)

• Height 2’-3’

• Partial sun to shade

• Medium water to moist

• Instructions: Plant 2’ apart with the crown just above ground. Shallow-rooted. Will spread by rhizomes (underground roots.) Can take more sun if the location is moist. Aggressive spreader, good for colonizing large areas.

Sensitive Fern (Onoclea sensibilis)

• Height 2’

• Sun or shade

• Medium water to wet & swampy

• Instructions: Plant 2’ apart. Shallow-rooted. Will spread by rhizomes (underground roots.) Can take full sun in a wet location. Needs less moisture in full or partial shade.

GRASSES & SEDGES

Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii)

• Height 5’-7’, green flowers in late summer

• Full sun

• Low to Medium water

• Instructions: Plant 24” to 36” apart.

Bottlebrush Grass (Elymus hystrix)

• Height 3’, green flowers in summer

• Part shade to full shade

• Medium water

• Instructions: Plant 12” to 18” apart.

Fox Sedge (Carex vulpinoidea)

• Height 2’, brown flowers in summer

• Full sun to partial shade

• Medium water to moist

• Instructions: Plant 18”-24” apart.

Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)

• Height 3’, green flowers in summer

• sun

• Well drained to medium water

• Instructions: Plant 18”-24” apart.

Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis)

• Height 18”, green flowers in summer

• Full sun

• Low to medium water

• Instructions: Plant 18”-24” apart.

Purpletop (Tridens flavus)

• Height 3’, purple flowers in late summer

• Full sun to part sun

• Well drained to medium water

• Instructions: Plant 12”-24” apart.

River Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium)

• Height 3’, green flowers in summer

• Partial shade

• Medium to medium wet

• Instructions: Plant 18”-24” apart.

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)

• Height 5’

• Sun

• Dry to medium water

• Instructions: Plant 3 to 4 feet apart. Mixes well with wildflowers, but don’t plant with water-lovers. If it gets a lot of water, it will get too big and flop over.

FLOWERING PERENNIALS

Autumn Helenium (Helenium autumnale)

• Height 3’-4’, yellow flowers in fall

• Full sun

• Medium water to wet

• Instructions: Plant 18”-24”apart.

Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis)

• Height 2’-3’, white flowers in spring

• Sun or partial shade

• Medium water

• Instructions: Plant 18” - 24” apart.

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

• Height 6”-12”, white flowers in early spring

• Partial to full shade

• Medium water

• Instructions: Plant 12”-18” apart. Spreads by rhizomes (underground roots.)

Blue False Indigo (Baptisia australis)

• Height 4’ tall and wide, blue flowers in late spring

• Sun

• Medium water to medium wet

• Instructions: Plant 30” apart. For the first couple of years, it may not bloom yet and stems are floppy. Takes several years to reach its full size. Deep rooted and long-lived.

Bluestem Goldenrod (Solidago caesia)

• Height 3’, yellow flowers in fall

• Partial shade

• Well drained to medium water

• Instructions: Plant 18”-24” apart.

Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum)

• Height 2’-3’, white flowers in summer

• Full sun

• Medium water to moist

• Instructions: Plant 18”-24” apart. Will form a clump over time.

Broad-leaved Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum muticum)

• Height 3’, white flowers in summer with silvery bracts

• Full sun to partial shade

• Medium water

• Instructions: Plant 18” to 30” apart. Spreads quickly. Works well mixed with other assertive species.

Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)

• Height 2’, orange flowers in summer

• Sun

• Dry to medium

• Instructions: Plant 18” to 24” apart.

Calico Aster (Symphyotrichum lateriflorum)

• Height 3’, white flowers in fall

• Full sun to part shade

• Medium water to moist

• Instructions: Plant 18” to 24” apart.

Canadian Anenome (Anemone canadensis)

• Height 12”-24”, white blooms in late spring to summer

• Sun to partial shade

• Medium water

• Instructions: Plant 18” apart. Spreads by rhizomes (underground roots.)

Common Blue Violet (Viola sororia)

• Height 6”, blue or bicolor flowers in early spring

• Sun to shade

• Well drained to medium wet

• Instructions: Plant 8”-12” apart. Aggressive spreader, good as a ground cover. Easy to dig up if it spreads too much.

Common Cinquefoil (Potentilla simplex)

• Height 6”, yellow flowers in spring and summer

• Sun or partial shade

• Dry to medium water

• Instructions: Plant 8”-12” apart. Will spread by runners (horizontal stems that root.) Spreads quickly to create a loose ground cover that can fill in nicely around other plants in a meadow or shade garden.

Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

• Height 4’’, pink flowers in summer

• Sun

• Well drained to medium wet

• Instructions: Plant 24”-30” apart. Self-seeds readily.

Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata)

• Height 7’

• Partial shade

• Well drained to medium wet

• Instructions: Plant 24”-30” apart.

Dwarf False Blue Indigo (Baptisia australis var. Minor)

• Height 3’, blue flowers in late spring

• sun

• Dry to medium water

• Instructions: Plant 18”-24” apart. For the first couple of years, it may not bloom yet and stems are floppy. Takes several years to reach its full size. Deep rooted and long-lived.

Early False Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides)

• Height 4’, yellow flowers in summer

• Medium to medium wet

• Instructions: Plant 18”-24” apart. This is a short-lived perennial that will re-seed readily.

Eastern Prickly Pear (Opuntia cespitosa)

• Height 12”, yellow and red flowers in late spring

• Sun

• Dry to well drained

• Instructions: Plant 18”-24” apart. Handle with tongs to avoid teeny spines in your fingers. Place pad in contact with soil, with young roots facing down. Bury it slightly in the ground. It will root and grow. Too much water may cause it to rot.

Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia)

• Height 6”, white flowers in spring

• Partial to full shade

• Medium water

• Instructions: Plant 12” apart. Will spread by rhizomes (underground roots.) Mixes well with other perennials in a shade garden.

Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea)

• Height 12”, yellow flowers in spring

• Full sun to partial shade

• Medium water to moist

• Instructions: Plant 12” apart. Will spread quickly by rhizomes (underground roots.) Mixes well with other ground covers. Easy to dig up if it goes where you do not want it.

Hairy Beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus)

• Height 2’-3’, lavender flowers in spring

• Sun or partial shade

• Medium water

• Instructions: Plant 18” - 24” apart.

Hairy Wood Mint (Blephilia hirsuta)

• Height 3’, white flowers in summer

• Partial shade

• Medium to medium wet

• Instructions: Plant 18”-24” apart.

Heartleaf Aster (Symyphotrichum cordifolium)

• Height 3’, light purple flowers in fall

• Partial shade to shade

• Well drained to medium water

• Instructions: Plant 18:-24” apart.

Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium maculatum)

• Height 6’, pink flowers in late summer

• Full sun

• Medium water to wet

• Instructions: Plant 24”-30” apart.

Lanceleaf Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata)

• Height 2’, yellow flowers in late spring

• Sun

• Dry to well drained

• Instructions: Plant 12”-24” apart.

New England Aster (Symphotrichum novae-angliae)

• Height 3’, purple flowers in fall

• Sun

• Medium to medium wet

• Instructions: Plant 24”-30” apart.

New York Ironweed (Vernonia novoborocensis)

• Height 5’-7’, purple flowers in fall

• Full sun

• Medium water to moist

• Instructions: Plant 2’ to 3’ apart. Comes up from the ground in late spring, grows steadily all season and blooms very late. Put against a wall, at the back of a border or in the middle of a meadow. Likes a wet spot.

Nodding Onion (Allium cernuum)

• Height 18”, pink flowers in summer

• Full sun to part sun

• Well drained to medium water

• Instructions: Plant 12”-18” apart.

Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana)

• Height 2’, pink flowers in summer

• Sun or partial shade

• Medium water to moist

• Instructions: Plant 18” -24” apart. Will spread quickly by rhizomes (underground roots.)

Orange Coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida)

• Height 2’, golden flowers in late summer

• Full sun to part shade

• Well drained to medium water

• Instructions: Plant 18”-24” apart.

Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea)

• Height 12”

• Full sun

• Dry to medium water. Likes rocky or sandy soil, poor soil

• Instructions: Plant 12”-18” apart.

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

• Height 3’, pink-purple flowers in summer

• Sun to partial shade

• Well drained to medium wet

• Instructions: Plant 18”-24” apart.

Red Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)

• Height 12”

• Partial shade to shade

• Dry to medium water

• Instructions: Plant 12”-24” apart.

Robin’s Plantain (Erigeron pulchellus)

• Height 18”, pale pink flowers in spring

• Full sun to part sun

• Dry to medium

• Instructions: Plant 12” apart. Will spread to form a ground cover. Easy to control.

Rose Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

• Height 2’, pink flowers in summer

• Sun to partial shade

• Medium wet to wet

• Instructions: Plant 18” apart. Spreads by rhizomes (underground roots.)

Smooth Blue Aster (Symphyotrichum laeve)

• Height 3’, blue flowers in fall

• Full sun to part sun

• Well drained to medium water

• Instructions: Plant 18”-24” apart.

Stiff Goldenrod (Oligoneuron rigidum)

• Height 2’, yellow flowers in fall

• Full sun

• Medium water

• Instructions: plant 18”-24” apart.

Sundial Lupine (Lupinus perennis)

• Height 3’, blue flowers in spring

• Full sun, partial sun

• Low to medium water, well-drained location. Prefers sandy soil. Has a deep taproot.

• Instructions: Plant 18” to 2’ apart. Leaves are beautiful in spring but get tattered later in the season, so consider planting something in front of it that gets tall.

Sweet Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia subtomentosa)

• Height 5’, yellow flowers in late summer to early fall

• Full sun

• Low to medium water

• Instructions: Plant 24”to 30” apart.

Sweet Joe-Pye Weed (Eutrochium purpureum)

• Height 7’, pink-purple flowers in fall

• Partial shade

• Medium water to medium wet

• Instructions: Plant 24”-30” apart.

Virginia Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum virginiana)

• 3’, white flowers in summer

• Full sun to Partial shade

• Well drained to medium water

• Instructions: Plant 18”-24” apart.

White Snakeroot (Ageratina altissima)

• 2’, white flowers in fall

• Partial shade to full shade

• Medium water

• Instructions: Plant 18” to 24” apart. Spreads quickly by reseeding.

• WARNING - all parts of this plant are extremely poisonous.

White Wood Aster (Eurybia divaricata)

• 2’, white flowers in fall

• Partial sun to partial shade

• Medium water

• Instructions: Plant 18” to 24” apart. Spreads quickly by reseeding.

Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)

• Height 3’, lavender flowers in late summer

• Sun

• Well drained to medium wet

• Instructions: Plant 18”-24” apart.

Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum)

• Height 12”, pink flowers in spring

• Sun, partial shade or shade

• Medium dry to medium wet

• Instructions: Plant 12” apart. Will grow in a variety of conditions including rocky soil, slopes, and under trees.

Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense)

• Height 6” - 12”, brown flowers in early spring

• Partial to full shade

• Medium water to moist

• Instructions: Plant 12” apart. Spreads by rhizomes (underground roots.)

Wild Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana)

• Height 6”, white flowers in spring, followed by edible fruit

• Sun or partial shade. Will flower and fruit better in full sun.

• Medium water

• Instructions: Plant 12” apart. Will spread by runners (horizontal stems that root)

Zigzag Goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis)

• Height 2’, yellow flowers in fall

• Partial shade

• Well drained to medium water

• Instructions: Plant 18”-24” apart.