American Beauties Native Plants

This Maple is perfect for a small garden! Its light green leaves are round, wide and lobed offering superb cover and nesting sites for many native birds. Small white flowers bloom in early April providing early nectar for local native bees and butterflies. Amazingly colorful fall foliage show!

Dense clusters of red flowers in late winter offer nectar early in the season. Cardinals, chipmunks and squirrels eat the red, winged "helicopter" fruits. The stems and twigs are reddish; the buds are red; and, in fall, the leaves turn orange-red. 'Red Sunset' is one of the best cultivars available, with outstanding orange to red fall color. Swamp red maple grows faster than Norway and sugar maples, but slower than silver maple.

Benefits:

• First tree to bloom, drawing all kinds of pollinators
• Insect eating birds visit the tree to feed on the pollinators
• Seeds are great food for birds and chipmunks
• Provides cover and nest sites for all kinds of birds
• Outstanding fall color and grows in wet soil

Sugar maple has a dense, rounded crown and is one of the trees responsible for giving New England its reputation for spectacular fall color, as the medium green leaves turn brilliant yellow or red-orange in autumn. The familiar two-winged "helicopter" fruit is a favorite food of chipmunks, and they store it away in winter larders. This is a long-lived tree that grows relatively slowly.

Red Baneberry is a lovely woodland native with fine-textured foliage and a light and airy texture. Its lacy leaves resemble those of Astilbe and its similar needs make it a great native substitute. In late spring and early summer lightly scented, delicate white flowers appear above the foliage. Flowers give way to clusters of bright red berries in late summer that are attractive to mammals and many songbirds. Planted in groups, it is a lovely groundcover and it combines well with other woodland natives such as Wild Ginger and Wood Ferns.

Dainty bright green fronds are held aloft on shiny black stems creating a light, airy texture in the woodland garden. In rich soil and bright shade it will spread by shallow rhizomes to form a dense groundcover. Found in the humus-rich woodlands and moist woods of Eastern North America. Easy to grow as long as the soil is loose and rich.

Easy to identify by its distinctive, nodding, pastel lilac-pink flowers in late spring, Nodding Onion thrives in challenging sites such as hot sun and gravely soil. It is strikingly beautiful and is well-suited a formal or wild garden, as well as a natural meadow. Easy, dependable and very drought tolerant once established.

Clusters of fragrant white flowers emerge in early April just before the small, light-green, oval leaves appear attracting clouds of nectar seeking native butterflies. Small, sweet, blue berries ripen in summer and are loved by songbirds. Orange to red fall foliage is spectacular and long lasting.

One of the first native trees with showy flowers to bloom, serviceberry has slightly fragrant, white flowers in drooping clusters that are quite conspicuous because they appear before the leaves emerge. The nectar attracts butterflies and other pollinators. Flowers give rise to very flavorful, purple-black, berrylike fruits relished by both songbirds and people. Edible berries resemble blueberries in size and color and can be used in jams, jellies and pies. The colorful fall foliage is a blend of orange, gold, red and green.

Allegheny Serviceberry is a native tree for all seasons. In April and May it has beautiful white flowers that are delicately scented and provide nectar for the season's early bees and butterflies. In mid summer its fruits ripen to brilliant violet pink, aging to deep blue purple when fully ripe. Its leaves play occasional host to the larvae of viceroy, striped hairstreak, and Canadian tiger swallowtail butterflies. And the grand finale comes in fall with brilliant oranges, yellows and reds as the leaves prepare to drop. Amelanchier laevis is found in moist woods and meadows, but tolerates most any garden situation. It will bloom more in full sun, but have a more open and graceful habit in shade. It is drought tolerant once established, but will grow taller and faster in consistently moist soils. Amelanchier can be grown as a small tree pruned to become a densely branched shrub.

Amorpha canescens is a small shrubby plant that is graced with long spikes of clear purple flowers from July to September. Its long bloom time and attractiveness to butterflies make Leadplant a great native substitute for Butterfly Bush (Buddleia).

The king of native grasses, Big Bluestem has handsome gray to blue-green stems in spring turning to green alternating with deep red in summer then to coppery red in fall. Three fingered seed heads top tall stems in August. Clump forming with excellent drought tolerance once established.

Versatile and easy to grow, 'Corbett' is a charming selection of our native Columbine with delicate light yellow flowers. More compact than the species, 'Corbett' is about a foot tall and heavily branched, sporting many flowers on a single plant. Though native to rocky woods and slopes, wild columbine thrives in average or even moist garden conditions. Hummingbirds love it! Self sows readily where happy.

'Little Lanterns' is a compact columbine that only grows 10" tall. Deep red and yellow nodding flowers top blue-green foliage for many weeks in spring. This is a good choice for shade gardens, woodland gardens, rock gardens and naturalized areas.

A shorter version of the species, this pink-flowered form of Wild Columbine is delicate and lovely. The light pink color combines beautifully with other early and mid spring plants like Phlox divaricata and Iris cristata.

Deep red, horned nodding flowers with yellow centers float above bright green foliage on long, thin stems for weeks starting in late April. This plant loves partially to fully shaded woodland areas, is easy to grow, very adaptable and is a huge nectar source for native butterflies and hummingbirds.

This tree has it all - colorful exfoliating bark, white flowers that attract hummingbirds and native woodland butterflies, bright red berries that feed the birds and other woodland critters in the fall and winter. Its deep roots tenaciously hold the soil making it a great erosion buffer.

Common Bearberry is an evergreen groundcover that is suited to sandy or other well-drained soils with acidic pH. It can be a marvelous solution for a difficult site since it grows where few other plants are happy. Artostaphyllos is lovely draped over the edge of a wall or large rock. Its small green leaves have silver grey backs and often appear to be edged in silver.'Massachusetts' flowers and fruits abundantly and is a disease-resistant selection with smaller leaves than the species. Introduced by west coast growers, but seed for this selection originated in Massachusetts.

This deciduous woody vine is an old-fashioned favorite grown for its large, heart-shaped, glossy green leaves (6-12" long) which can quickly cover sun porches, verandas, pillars, posts, trellises, arbors, fences or walls. It is commonly called Dutchman's pipe because the unusual, 2" long flowers look something like Dutch smoking pipes. They are quite interesting so be sure to look behind the dense foliage, which usually hides them. This is the larval host plant for the blue and black pipevine swallowtail butterfly.

Benefits:

• Grows quickly
• Provides dense shade
• Grows well in moist soil
• Host plant for pipevine swallowtail butterfly

This deciduous shrub has it all! Fruit for the birds, nectar for insects, cover for wildlife and multi-season beauty. Clusters of spring blooming white to pinkish flowers provide loads of nectar for pollinators. Dense clusters of glossy red fruit follow the flowers. The fruit ripens in late summer and persists through winter. The glossy foliage turns brilliant red in autumn, making it a terrific alternative to the non-native, burning bush (Euonymus alatus).

Benefits:

• Compact plant that makes an excellent hedge and provides cover for wildlife
• This selection has lustrous foliage with superior red color in the fall
• Abundance of large glossy fruit provides late season berries for birds
• Prolific flowers provide nectar in spring for early butterflies and pollinators
• Tolerant of a wide range of conditions including wet or poor soils

Upright and multi-branched, this plant's dark green, glossy leaves serve as the backdrop for heads of dainty white flowers in May that are a key native insect nectar source. Berries appear in summer and ripen to black in fall and are feasted on by songbirds.  Brilliant red fall color is striking.

Giant 20" plumes white flowers bloom starting in May above deep green, highly textured, Astilbe-like foliage. This semi-shade lover's huge flower plumes attracted masses of native insects and butterflies to the garden wile its easy care nature makes it a shade gardening natural for any landscape.

Wild ginger is a native spring wildflower that makes a lovely groundcover with its satiny, heart-shaped leaves. Pollinated by ants, its unique purplish brown flowers appear beneath the leaves in spring. Flowers are quite attractive on close inspection, but are usually hidden from view by the foliage. The leaves of Asarum have a spicy fragrance when crushed, but shouldn't be eaten. The roots are edible and can be used as a flavoring like ginger.

Swamp milkweed has big heads of rose pink, sweetly scented flowers. It's not unusual to see two or three butterflies on a single flower at the same time. Swamp milkweed grows naturally in wet soil but also grows well in regular garden soil.

Benefits:

• Attracts butterflies and hummingbirds
• Host and nectar plant for monarch butterflies
• Lovely vanilla fragrance
• Thrives in sun in average or moist soil
• Deer resistant

Butterfly weed produces many bright orange, flat-topped flower clusters in early June. Flowering goes on for many weeks. Green pods full of seeds with silky white hairs follow the flowers. This is an essential plant if you want to attract a variety of butterflies to your property, especially monarchs.

Benefits:

• Nectar and sometime host plant for monarch butterflies
• Great nectar source for many other butterflies
• Thrives in sun in average or dry soil
• Deer resistant

Hello Yellow Butterfly Weed produces many golden yellow, flat-topped flower clusters in early June. Flowering goes on for many weeks. Green pods full of seeds with silky white hairs follow the flowers. This is an essential plant if you want to attract a variety of butterflies to your property, especially monarchs.

Benefits:

• Nectar and sometime host plant for monarch butterflies
• Great nectar source for many other butterflies
• Thrives in sun in average or dry soil
• Deer resistant

This hardy native plant lights up the autumn garden with it's brilliant pale blue blooms. Found throughout the tallgrass prairie, Sky Blue Aster is found in a wide variety of locations from wet meadows to dry gravel outcrops. This is good news for the gardener because it will be happy in any sunny location! Attractive to butterflies and other nectar-loving insects.

Asters are the backbone of many late summer and fall landscapes. The white woodland aster is a terrific ground cover and is especially valuable because it grows so well in dry shade. Thin, nearly black stems are topped with clouds of white flowers in early fall. Benefits:

Nectar plant for butterflies and other pollinators

Seed source for songbirds

Provides nesting material for birds

Grows in sun or dry shade

Great ground cover

Smooth Aster, Symphyotrichum laeve, has big cone-shaped clusters of violet-blue flowers with golden yellow centers that appear on the top half of a vase shaped clump. Unlike many other asters, this one has perfectly clean foliage. Tolerates a variety of soil types and moisture levels, and it needs no staking in full sun. Benefits:

• Attracts butterflies and a variety of native bees
• Drought tolerant
• Clean foliage all season
• Does not need to be staked

Selected many years ago in Germany, this New England Aster produces warm, deep pink blooms without interruption for 4-6 weeks, beginning in early September. A bright color for the fall garden, it provides nectar for butterflies and cover for birds and other small animals.

'Purple Dome' is a compact bushy plant with a profusion of dark purple, semi-double flowers which cover the plant entirely from September thru October.

Handsome crowns of feathery fronds are typical of Lady Ferns. Delicate and lacy with arching fronds and feathery texture, Athyrium filix-femina is a strong-growing and dependable garden plant. Tough and easy to grow, this beauty is the right choice for perennial borders and woodlands alike. A breathtaking flush of new fronds appears in the spring, with new leaves appearing throughout the season for a continuously fresh look. Lady fern is tolerant of drought, but survives by allowing foliage to die back until the next season.

'Lady in Red' has sultry red stems surrounded by bright green, lacy fronds. New fronds arise gracefully from the crown all season long, keeping plants from getting worn looking. Clumps are dense and upright. This deciduous fern is vigorous and easy to grow. Ferns provide seasonal cover and hiding places for ground frequenting birds such as ovenbirds, waterthrushes, wood thrushes, robins and Carolina wrens.