Favorite native plants

Native Plants, Natural Landscapes
Lexington KY Chapter

Some of our favorite native wild flowers, grasses, shrubs and trees:
Wild Flowers
Asters: Aromatic Aster (Aster oblongifolius) – blooms in October
Smooth Aster ‘Bluebird” (Aster laevis ‘Bluebird’) – no mold, no staking New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae, was Aster novae-angliae) Beardtongue (especially Foxglove Beardtongue-Penstemon digitalis) – June bloom
Bee Balm (Monarda didyma) – red bloom and Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) – lavender
bloom and Bradbury’s Bee Balm (Monarda bradburiana_ - lavender bloom Black-eyed Susan (especially Rudbeckia fulgida var. fulgida, aka orange coneflower)
Blazing Star (Liatris spicata)
Bluestar, aka Eastern Bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana)
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) – much prefers dry areas
Celandine Poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum)
Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) – special mention made of Pale Coneflower
(Echinacea pallida)
False Blue Indigo, or Blue Wild Indigo (Baptisia australis)
Goldenrod ‘Fireworks’ (Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’) – noted that showy goldenrod
(Soligado speciosa) tends to flop over and gray goldenrod (Solidago nemoralis) may spread aggressively Heuchera or Alumroot (many species native to Kentucky, per USDA plants database:
Heuchera villosa, Heuchera parviflora, Heuchera pulescens, Heuchera longiflora, Heuchera Americana) Indian Pink (Spigelia marilandica)
Joe-Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpureum)
Lobelia: Blue Lobelia, or Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica) – blue bloom
Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) – red bloom Maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum)
Mist Flower or Hardy Ageratum (Eupatorium coelestinum)
Ox-eye Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides) – self seeds abundantly
Pachysandra or Allegheny Spurge (Pachysandra procumbens)
Phaecelia (Phaecelia bipinnatifida)- can be difficult, moves around a lot
Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccafolium)
Royal Catchfly (Silene regia) –late June bloom
Sensitive Fern (Onoclea sensibilis)
A vine was also noted: Trumpet Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)

Please see over for grasses, shrubs and trees….
GRASSES
Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) – coppery winter color
Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis)
Switchgrass ‘Northwind’ (Panicum virgatum ‘Northwind’) – this cultivar stays upright!

SHRUBS
Blueberry (Vaccinium)
Bottlebrush Buckeye (Aesculus parviflora)
Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
Carolina Buckthorn (Frangula caroliniana)
Chokeberry (Black chokeberry, Aronia malanocarpa & Red chokeberry, Aronia
arbutifolia)
Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)
Spicebush (Lindera benzoin)
St. John’s Wort (Hypericum frondosum)
Sweetspire (Itea virginica)
Viburnum – some favorites notes were Rusty Blackhaw and Arrowwood viburnums
Witchhazel (Hamamelis virginiana)

TREES
Blackgum (Nyssa sylvatica)
Dwarf Red Buckeye (Aesculus pavia)
Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) – full sun to dense shade
Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
Serviceberry (Amelanchier)
Sourwood (Oxydendron arboreum) – hard to grow in this part of Kentucky, better for E.
Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)
Yellowwood (Cladrastis kentukea)

Source: http://www.wildones.org/chapters/lexington/docs/Favorite%20Native%20Plants.pdf