Optimizing your native plant options

In the early days of public interest in gardening with native plants, there were relatively few choices available at nurseries, and the only ones for sale were the easy-to-grow species. If you wanted to grow any natives other than the common garden varieties such as black-eyed Susan, purple coneflower or Virginia creeper, you needed to hunt them down at specialty growers, from native plant society or arboretum sales, or through seed exchanges. Fortunately, things have changed dramatically over the past decade. Native plants are no longer relegated to an obscure corner of the gardening world, grown only by enthusiasts.

Many more kinds of plants have entered the mainstream. Garden centres now not only carry a wide variety of native plants, they often have large sections devoted to them. And, if the big stores don’t carry what you’re looking for, chances are there’s a specialty native plant nursery within driving distance.

So, with a nod to expanding the plant palette and encouraging gardeners to branch out into less well-known territory, here are 10 native plants to consider for your garden — some a bit harder to grow than the “starter” natives like black-eyed Susan, some now (finally!) readily available, some less well covered in books, but all of them wonderful.

10 native plants for your garden

Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana)

This is one of my all-time favourite native perennials; yet even so, I have been known to curse it. Be warned: pokeweed takes up prime real estate. Not only is it five feet (1.5 m) or more tall and at least two feet (60 cm) wide, it also self-seeds like a fiend. But every feature of this plant is gorgeous: rosy, purple-tinged, fleshy stalks; prolific, long-lasting white flowers in summer; drooping clusters of deep purple berries that cover the plant in late summer and fall. (The berries are poisonous but alluring, so keep them away from children.)

Pokeweed grows in sun or shade, in dry or average soil. If I didn’t know that it died back to the ground in the fall (its fleshy leaves turn mushy with the first frost), I’d think it was a shrub. I treat it like one — in terms of the space I allow for it — and plant it anywhere I have an area that needs a quick, dramatic filler. Dig up its volunteer seedlings (there are dozens each year) and give them to friends, but with a warning about pokeweed’s profligacy. Zone 5

Swamp rose mallow (Hibiscus palustris)

A friend gave me some swamp rose mallow seedlings, and although I didn’t think I had the right conditions for this plant — the “swamp” in the name suggested a moisture lover — I figured I’d see what happened. What happened was a delightful surprise. It grew happily in my dry shade, producing huge saucer-shaped pink flowers in late summer that look almost tropical. It grows to four feet (1.2 m) tall and prefers sun and moisture, but try it in open, dry shade if that’s what you’ve got. Zone 5

Wild senna (Senna hebecarpa)

I love most of the legumes because their leaves are often interesting, their pods are an attractive bonus feature, and their nitrogen-fixing good work is always welcome as a soil builder. With pinnately compound leaves (like a honey locust) and branched clusters of creamy yellow flowers in mid- to late summer, wild senna grows three to six feet (90 cm to 1.8 m) tall and looks almost like a shrub. Give it full sun to very light shade and dry to moist soil. Zone 5

Plantain-leaved sedge (Carex plantaginea)

Whenever I give native plant presentations to horticultural groups, I always include a couple of slides of sedges, along with the prediction that sedges will be “the next big thing.” Clearly, I’m no good at forecasts because I’ve been saying this for a decade and sedges are still highly underused in gardens. But if you’re looking for a low-maintenance alternative to lawn grass, plantain-leaved sedge is a great place to start.

Clump forming and about nine inches (23 cm) tall, it produces deep green, somewhat shiny leaves. It grows in shade and prefers average to moist soil (though I grow it in dry shade and it does fine). Its early-spring flowers are tiny and inconspicuous, but for me, they are the clearest declaration that the season is on its way. Zone 4

American ground nut (Apios americana)

Any one of ground nut’s features would make it a plant of interest. That it combines so many desirable characteristics in one beautiful package is amazing: edibility, fragrance, lovely blooms, nitrogen fixation, speedy growth. I just don’t understand why this plant is not more popular or more widely available. The flowers, which appear in midsummer, are particularly compelling — maroonish and, as typical of flowers in the pea family, showy. A vine, ground nut grows in part shade to sun, in moist to average soil. The tubers are edible (treat them like a potato). Zone 4

Round-headed bush clover (Lespedeza capitata)

Low-maintenance, drought-tolerant perennials are always welcome, and round-headed bush clover delivers. It’s a legume, with creamy white flowers (pink near the base) in midsummer. Growing in full sun to part shade and reaching two to four feet (60 to 120 cm), its main requirement is good drainage. Both its flowers and its leaves resemble clover. Zone 5

False Solomon’s seal (Smilacina racemosa)

The more commonly grown Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum biflorum) gets all the good press, eclipsing the much more interesting and versatile false Solomon’s seal (not that you need to choose between them; grow both). False Solomon’s seal shares with its namesake a clustered growing habit; all its stems arch in one direction to produce a delightfully rhythmic effect in the garden. Its early-summer flowers are showy — huge, creamy white plumes at the tips of stems that droop with the weight. Even showier are the berries, which appear in late summer and turn from green to red-speckled white and then to bright red. False Solomon’s seal grows three to four feet (90 to 120 cm) tall, in part shade to sun, in dry to moist soil. It spreads quickly and is ideal for naturalizing. Zone 4

Turk’s cap lily (Lilium superbum)

There’s something wanton about the Turk’s cap lily — maybe it’s because the flowers, which appear in midsummer, are so prolific (a dozen or more on each stem). Or, perhaps it’s that each one is so showy — orangey red and speckled with dark dots, the petals curve upward. Doubtless, this lily is a dramatic charmer. Plant it in a sunny, moist meadow or in a damp woodland garden and delight in its towering growth (up to eight feet/2.5 m). It may need staking. Zone 4

Fringed gentian (Gentianopsis crinita)

There is no better blue than the colour of the gentians. They positively glow, and what a welcome blast they are in late summer, just when you think that yellow is taking over the world (or at least the garden). Though fringed gentian is hard to find in nurseries and a bit fussy to grow, it more than rewards the effort of finding it and coddling it. It’s a biennial, so you won’t see much in the first year — just a rosette hugging the ground — but in year two it produces beautiful tubular flowers with bearded petals. A moisture lover, it reaches one to three feet (30 to 90 cm); grow it in sun or part shade. Zone 5

Sweetgrass (Hierochloe odorata)

Sweetgrass won’t win any beauty prizes — essentially looking like, well, tall, wide-bladed grass — but its scent is intoxicating. With its long history as an important ceremonial plant in First Nations cultures, sweetgrass is dried and burned to release its divine fragrance. In the wild, it grows in moist areas, and in the garden, it needs to be kept well watered. Plant it in sunny areas, and be aware that it does spread. Grows from one to two feet (30 to 60 cm) tall. Zone 3

Natives to try for trying conditions

Here are a few more native plants to search out. These are particularly suited to difficult conditions gardeners often have to deal with — dry shade, moist conditions and acidic soil. Some regional codes:

• NW includes British Columbia
• P includes Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba
• NE includes Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland

Dry shade

• Deer fern (Blechnum spicant) Zone 5 NW
• Trumpet vine (Campsis radicans) Zone 5 NE
• Virgin’s bower (Clematis virginiana) Zone 4 P, NE
• Broad-leaved shooting star (Dodecatheon hendersonii) Zone 6 NW
• White wood aster (Eurybia divaricata syn. Aster divaricatus) Zone 3 NE
• Coastal strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis) Zone 5 NW
• Salal (Gaultheria shallon) Zone 6 NW
• Bottlebrush grass (Hystrix patula) Zone 4 P, NE
• Wild lupine (Lupinus perennis) Zone 3 P, NE
• Satin flower (Olsynium douglasii) Zone 7 NW
• Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum biflorum) Zone 3 P, NE
• Polypody fern (Polypodium virginianum) Zone 4 NW
• Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) Zone 4 NE
• Western sword fern (P. munitum) Zone 4 NW
• Pasque flower (Pulsatilla patens) Zone 4 NW, P
• Zigzag goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis) Zone 4 P, NE
• Barren strawberry  (Waldsteinia fragarioides) Zone 4 P, NE

Moist conditions

• Canada anemone (Anemone canadensis) Zone 4 P, NE
• Deer fern (Blechnum spicant) Zone 5 NW
• Camas (Camassia quamash) Zone 4 NW
• White fawn lily (Erythronium oregonum) Zone 5
• Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) Zone 4 P, NE
• Coastal strawberry (Fragaria chiloensis) Zone 5 NW
• Salal (Gaultheria shallon) Zone 6 NW
• Bottle gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) Zone 4 P, NE
• Small-flowered alumroot (Heuchera micrantha) Zone 4 NW
• Michigan lily (Lilium michiganense) Zone 3 P, NE
• Twinflower (Linnaea borealis) Zone 2 NW, P
• Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) Zone 3 P, NE
• Bee balm (Monarda didyma) Zone 3 NE
• Satin flower (Olysnium douglasii) Zone 7 NW
• Sensitive fern (Onoclea sensibilis) Zone 3P, NE
• Western sword fern (Polystichum munitum) Zone 4 NW
• Western white trillium (Trillium ovatum) Zone 6 NW
• Inside-out flower (Vancouveria hexandra) Zone 6 NW
• Blue vervain (Verbena hastata) Zone 3 P, NE

Acid soil

• Vanilla leaf (Achlys triphylla) Zone 6 NW
• Nodding wild onion (Allium cernuum) Zone 3 NW, P, NE
• Wild columbine (Aquilegia formosa) Zone 4 NW
• Deer fern (Blechnum spicant) Zone 5 NW
• Camas (Camassia quamash) Zone 4 NW
• Western bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa) Zone 4 NW
• Salal (Gaultheria shallon) Zone 6 NW
• Bottle gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) Zone 4 P, NE
• Twinflower (Linnaea borealis) Zone 2 NW, P
• False lily of the valley (Maianthemum dilatatum) Zone 3 NW
• Redwood sorrel (Oxalis oregana) Zone 7 NW
• Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides) Zone 4 NE
• Western sword fern (P. munitum) Zone 4 NW
• Broad-leaved stonecrop (Sedum spathulifolium) Zone 5 NW
• Golden alexanders (Zizia aurea) Zone 5 P, NE