Non-Edible Native Plants

Ascelpias tuberosa
Butterflyweed / Butterfly Weed / Butterfly Milkweed / Orange Milkweed / Pleurisy Root

Apocynaceae family
Perennial in zones 3-9
Native to southern and eastern North America

This showy herbaceous perennial plant produces brilliant orange flowers that attract butterflies and bumblebees. It is a larval host for the Queen butterfly and the threatened Monarch butterfly. 

The distinctive seed pods have copious amounts of fluff to disperse the seeds, and the seeds can be easily germinated with cold stratification. Seeds.

Calycanthus floridus
Carolina Allspice / Eastern Sweetshrub / Sweetshrub 

Calycanthaceae family
Perennial in zones 4-10
Native to southern and eastern North America

A deciduous suckering  shrub that tops out around 6-9 feet. Features dark red flowers in the spring, and yellow fall foliage. Found in average to rich, well-drained soil in anywhere from full sun to deep shade, usually in shady woodlands and along streambanks. Requires  no maintenance once established.

Chamaecrista fasciculata
Partridge Pea / Sleepingplant / Sensitive Plant (not Mimosa pudica)

Fabaceae family
Reseeding annual in zones 3-9
Native to central and eastern North America

A nitrogen-fixing native annual legume often confused with mimosa and chamberbitter - other quick growing plants with compound leaves. A host plant for butterflies and important to bumblebees and birds, this plant supports pollinators – it’s a bumblebee magnet. A great choice to build soil and/or produce some showy blooms quickly while slower-growing native perennials grow in. More upright than sensitive pea.

Single-stemmed plant up to 3 feet tall with yellow blooms up to 1 inch across. When my patch is in full bloom, I can hear it from 6 feet away - it's simply covered in bumblebees. Seeds.

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Chamaecrista nictitans
Sensitive Partridge Pea / Sensitive Pea / Sleepingplant / Sensitive Plant (not Mimosa pudica)

Fabaceae family
Reseeding annual in zones 3-9
Native to central and eastern US and south-central Canada

A nitrogen-fixing native annual legume often confused with mimosa and chamberbitter - other quick growing plants with compound leaves.  A host plant for butterflies and important to bumblebees, this plant supports pollinators – it’s a bumblebee magnet. A great choice to build soil and/or produce some showy blooms quickly while slower-growing native perennials grow in. More branching than partridge pea.

Branching plant up 3-5 feet tall with yellow blooms 1/2 inch across. When my patch is in full bloom, I can hear it from 6 feet away - it's simply covered in bumblebees. Seeds.

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Conoclinium coelestinum
Blue Mistflower / Purple Mistflower / Wild Ageratum / Blue Boneset / Purple Boneset / Hardy Ageratum

Asteraceae family
Perennial in zones 5-10
Native to eastern North America

A spreading native flowering plant that has a mint-like growing habit and readily self-seeds - though it is easy to pull up when it grows in an undesired location. It grows 3-5 feet tall and can tolerate wet soils.

It is an important pollinator plant, especially late in the season. Its showy, pale lavender blossoms are some of the last seen at the end of fall.

Physostegia virginiana
Obedient Plant / Fall Obedient / Obedience / False Dragonhead / Virginia Lions-Heart

Lamiaceae family
Perennial in zones 3-9
Native to the Eastern US and Southeastern Canada
Aggressive, could become invasive outside of its native range - should be potted or avoided in those areas.

This native mint is very aggressive; an excellent selection for erosion-prone areas. Spires of pink-purple blooms are showy in the late summer/early fall, and attract bees, butterflies, hummingbirds. Also suitable as a cut flower. Unpalatable to deer.

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Rudbeckia fulgida
Black-Eyed Susan / Orange Coneflower 

Asteraceae family
Perennial in zones 3-9
Native to the Eastern US

Reaching 2-3 feet, this plant matures in early summer with prolific, yellow, daisy-like flowers that have a brownish-purple center, and continues blooming through the fall. A rosette of leaves that originate at the base of the stem persists through the winter, creating an attractive winter ground cover. 

This plant provides nectar for pollinators. It is a larval host plant to multiple broods of Lepidoptera. Songbirds, especially American goldfinches, eat the seeds on standing stems in the winter. Available bareroot, dug on demand.

Vernonia gigantea
Ironweed / Tall Ironweed / Giant Ironweed

Asteraceae family
Perennial in zones 4-9
Native to Eastern US

A tall, narrow flowering plant growing from 5 to (rarely) 12 feet tall, this pollinator magnet is worth the trouble of a Chelsea Chop in the spring to help keep it manageable. Attracts hummingbirds, and is a host to several Lepidoptera.

Intense lavender, magenta, or deep purple flowers appear in late summer to early fall. Tufts of seeds form in the flowers' place and provide winter interest and food for birds. Native bees nest in the dead, hollow stems, so if you must trim the stems, leave at least 24 inches and allow them to remain standing until they disintegrate on their own. Historically used in herbalism, but not considered edible.* Bareroot and seeds.