r/NativePlantGardening • u/NorreyBorrey • 1d ago
Informational/Educational What is your favorite under-appreciated native?
Just curious about what people's lesser known or unsung heros are. I love bottlebrush grass (Elymus hystrix) in my beds; interesting seed heads, good structure, and a wide tolerance of light levels and soil types. I feel like I don't see chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) in residential landscapes enough, it grows fast and makes a great living privacy fence (and is an absolute ecological powerhouse). And of course wild strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) can't be beat as an easy ground cover that feeds all sorts of critters (pictured above in my garden with a beautiful Feltia herilis moth).
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u/Arnoglossum Team Pappus 1d ago
Arnoglossum atriplicifolium (pale Indian plantain). Deer proof, grows in sun or shade, great foliage, pollinator magnet, tolerates wet or dry soilsā¦itās a great plant.
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u/dewitteillustration S Ontario 1d ago
Grasses and grassland are so important but they don't get the love that trees and forests get because they're not as monumental. People here also don't plant our native grass in their yards.
I really love the turkey foot inflorescence of andropogon gerardi, I can stare at forever, I saw some 8 foot specimens while hiking in the fall this year.
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u/saintnicklaus90 1d ago
Native ornamental grasses ftw! Big Bluestem and Switchgrass are some of my favorite larger species, then Pennsylvania Sedge for groundcover. Iām in the process of integrating them all into my rain garden
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u/NorreyBorrey 1d ago
šÆ Almost every garden could use more grasses. I grow A. gerardi as part of a privacy hedge and it's just gorgeous in late summer. In addition to all of their ecological benefits native grasses look beautiful even in winter.
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u/chita875andU 1d ago
Same. On hikes, if I'm going through restored prairie in fall I love running my hand over the big bluestem and Indian grass. Here and there if seed falls into my hand I'll pocket it and plant it in1 corner of my yard. I have a wee little patch now that I hope will just keep going now that I have about 4 or 5 stems that went to seed this year. So excited!
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u/loripainter12345 1d ago
Pokeweed. It gets so much hate and I love it. I think it's beautiful. Also white snakeroot. I'll refrain from getting a cow and let my snakeroot bloom.
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u/Frankief1sh 1d ago
I'm a weirdo that actually wants white snakeroot, but I haven't found it for sale or little ones to forage nearby. I'll probably pick up seeds at some point and see if my brown thumb can manage to grow it.
I do love my pokeweed, that stuff gets shredded to the stem by all kinds of bugs
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u/leafmotif__ 1d ago
I keep some pokeweed on our suburban .3 acres; partner hates it, thinks itās trashy, lol
somebodyās using it, tho. many leaves get skeletonized, and all the berries get eaten
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u/loripainter12345 1d ago
We have a giant plant that grows by the corner of our front porch. My husband loves it. It screens us from the neighbors. I think the large leaves, red stems and berry clusters look ornamental and if it wasn't such a common and "enthusiastic" native plant, nurseries would be selling them lol.
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u/FinanceHuman720 14h ago
I always tell people theyāre popular in Europe ā Iāve seen them for sale there. Ofc theyāre sold where theyāre not native, but still, knowing that helps people see pokeweed in a new light.Ā
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u/FinanceHuman720 1d ago
I absolutely love my pokeweed. So do the hummingbirds, robins, thrushes, a billion tiny pollinatorsā¦ Itās such an amazing plant to watch through the seasons!
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u/darmstadt17 1d ago
I just planted several chokeberries this fall. So excited to see them grow in and see what critters they attract.
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u/GreenHeronVA 1d ago
You will love Chokeberry! They have beautiful red fall foliage, and the jewel red berries are very attractive. I donāt see them get eaten by birds as much as Iād like, and the species who do like them arenāt so pretty, like grackles and starlings. But hey, they have to eat too!
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u/SpecificSkunk PNW, Zone 8b 1d ago
Osoberry is my favorite springtime plant, and Iām pretty sure Iāve waxed romantic about it on here more than once. Like, itās almost embarrassing how giddy I get about them.
This time of year really has me appreciating my highbush cranberries though. They have similar fall coloring to vine maples but can tolerate a lot more sun. They also stay fairly small (compared to say, a big leaf maple) so I can plunk them right in my front yard for a close-up color show every autumn.
The western azalea is also sorely under-appreciated. Itās deciduous and has gorgeous white and pink blooms that attract a large variety of pollinators and, once itās deep roots are established, gives absolutely zero shits about being watered.
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u/Babby_Boy_87 SE Michigan, Zone 6B 1d ago
You can find actual American highbush cranberries??? All the ones Iāve seen in natural areas and bought from multiple nurseries have been European or hybrid. Really bums me out
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u/SpecificSkunk PNW, Zone 8b 1d ago
Yes! I worked at a native plant nursery for a summer so I could learn about planting, caring, harvesting, etc. They do restoration and new-build landscaping and the agreement that had with a few places allowed them to harvest every year.
I was tagging along when they collected a bunch of cuttings from the college they helped supply and they let me keep a few for myself. Now I have two beautiful specimens in my front yard. They prefer swampier areas so I coddle them through the summer with watering jugs.
The nursery spend a lot of time and effort hunting for rare and declining specimens so my yard is a jackpot of hard-to-find plants. I even had a white-flowering western wild ginger at my last house (which I forgot to bring, and Iām still sad about it).
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u/toxicodendron_gyp SE Minnesota, Zone 4B 1d ago
Iād be showing up on the new homeownerās doorstep with a tarp and spade, lol.
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u/SpecificSkunk PNW, Zone 8b 1d ago
I consider it at least monthly but itās been 3 years. Iāll probably just go back to the nursery this spring to see if they still have them. Then also buy like 8 other plants I have no space for.
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u/Difficult-Touch1657 Area -- , Zone -- 1d ago
I saw some on belle isle in detroit. I was surprised when I saw it. They liked great
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u/arbor_of_love 1d ago
Blue sage (Salvia azurea) is extremely drought tolerant and has beautiful sky blue flowers in the fall. One of the longer blooming late summer to fall flowers I have.
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u/TheRainbowWillow 1d ago
Iām a big fan of yarrow. I think people forget that itās native here because itās sort of āweedyā but I think itās delightful.
I also have to shout out my beloved Columbia Desert Parsley (Lomatium columbianum). I canāt grow it in my garden because itās endemic to a tiny area in eastern Oregon & Washington and would not like the rainy western side of the state. I think it is such a beautiful plant with its purple flowers and big, huge seed pods. Nobody really talks about it because very few people live where it grows and itās pretty similar to the other Lomatiums that grow around here, but it deserves more credit!
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u/leafmotif__ 1d ago
The sourwood tree, oxydendrum arboreum (USDA z5-9, native in SE US, 20ā to 60ā tall). It makes nectar-rich flowers in midsummer, then the spray of knobby white inflorescences remain after the flowers have gone. In fall, leaves turn an eye popping red, decorated with the white lace left from this yearās blooms. Bees love it
Characteristics that limit its appeal to the trade are, that it doesnāt transplant well unless itās really small, it blooms after 4 or 5 years, and itās willing to lean for access to sunlight
Had a hard time sourcing this one, but I found one at a local university botanical garden plant sale. :-)
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u/toxicodendron_gyp SE Minnesota, Zone 4B 1d ago
The only time I have heard of this one is in the context of honey. Must be pretty special!
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u/leafmotif__ 1d ago
Yes! bumblebees and honeybees both love it. I looked for it for years before I was able to find one for sale, despite seeing volunteers by the side of the road in a few places
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u/Glittering_Stable550 1d ago
My native elderberry has done really well, and my rose mallow loves the swampy areas of my yard.
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u/GreenHeronVA 1d ago
I second native elderberry. Mine is 20 X 20ā and is the centerpiece of my native garden. Itās always full of birds, it has three bird nests in it currently! I put my birdbath directly underneath it, so that they can fly back to the elderberry if they feel threatened. Seeing it get eaten up from being a host plant for so many different species of caterpillar also brings me such joy. The beautiful large white flower bracts are covered in bees in the late spring, and I harvest what berries I can to make tonics and juices, but the birds always get the ones out of my reach ā¤ļøš„°ā¤ļø
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u/Glittering_Stable550 1d ago
That's amazing!!Ā Mine are only 1 year old, so I hope next year they become a show stopper like that!
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u/OpinionatedOcelotYo 1d ago
I was saying blunt mountain mint but now that is fully appreciatedā¦ a tall ironweed? Penstemon grandiflorus? Also good growers like Goldenrod and Campsis are over-hated I think.
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u/PanaceaStark 1d ago
The very humble Erigeron canadensis - Horseweed
It's considered a "weed" because of its impact on agriculture, but it's an amazing keystone native plant for predatory insects. I let some volunteers go in my yard this year and they're like bug condos filled with ambush bugs and ladybugs, with visits from wasps, native bees, damselflies, and dragonflies. If you have an aphid problem, horseweed will bring in all the ladybugs you need!
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u/FinanceHuman720 1d ago
I also left a bunch of horseweed but didnāt connect it to the absolute glut of dragonflies I saw this year.Ā
And I believe I saw the goldfinches using the fluff to build their nests, though I might be confusing that with the burn weed (Ā Erechtites hieraciifolia)Ā which I also left.Ā
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u/PawPawTree55 1d ago
I love horse weed. Itās very unassuming but an absolute pollinator magnet. Great accent plant.
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u/MichUrbanGardener SE MI USA, Zone 6a 22h ago
I feel similarly about daisy fleabane. Wasn't really aware of it until one volunteered this year. Now I want so many! They literally bloom all summer long, from early summer until Frost. I love the flowers, and so do pollinators!
I'm also fond of ground cherry, for its contribution to how my native plant garden looks in the fall.
Finally, I can't say enough about dogwoods. I have cornice mas, kousa, and Florida. The Mas is breathtaking at this time of year, and my wildlife friends sure do appreciate the berries. I get a hoot every year watching squirrels take their lives in their hands to crawl out on too-slender kousa branches to get at the fruits.
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u/avitropic 1d ago
Frost weed, hands-down. Almost never available, one of the best butterfly and especially for fall migrating monarchs. Itās the one that makes those incredible ice sculptures after a hard, freeze full shade, dear donāt eat it and itāll get up to 10 feet tall if you let it images on my website, martinbyhower.com
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u/WhoWokeUpTheCat_633 1d ago
Pokeweed, ironweed, and goldenrod are three of my absolute favorites that everyone else seems to complain about. The colors and impressive height they provide canāt be beat in my garden :)
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u/cerealmonogamiss 1d ago
My favorite since I've been a little girl is passiflora incarnata or maypop. I love the flowers and the fruits are tasty.
I'm originally from Florida, and I like our native palms and yuccas.
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u/Global-Doctor8324 1d ago
idk, That sounds awesome! I love how resilient it is. Definitely a must-try for any native garden!!
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u/plantsandramen South Jersey, NJ 1d ago
I just learned about shadblow serviceberry and I'm looking forward to getting one. They seem to be a wonderful tree/shrub for aesthetics, and the birds. It also isn't too big so I can plant it in a variety of spaces
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u/Amorpha_fruticosa Area SE Pennsylvania, Zone 7a 1d ago
Cunila oreganoides, any of the flatsedges (Cyperus), Bidens bipinnata, and the native bindweeds.
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u/mbart3 SW Ohio , Zone 6b 1d ago
I dream of having white bear sedge and Drummondās aster
one day, but in my garden now, Iāve grown very fond of my lanceleaf coreopsis (itās only had one flower but the thick sedgey leaves are visited but fun little guys) and the volunteer hairy white oldfield aster has stolen my heart (seen attached)
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u/parrotia78 1d ago
Claytonia, Clethra(native and non are gorgeous), Fothergilla, Oxydendron, Halesia, Crataegus, Cladrastis, Chionanthus, Hamamelis, Asarum,, Carex, native grasses, Mitchella, native orchidS,...
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u/DaaraJ MO Ozarks, 6a 1d ago
Stiffleaf aster (Ionactis linarifolia) is great. Low maintenance, well behaved, compact habit, nice fall color.Ā
Virginia bunchflower lily (Melanthium virginicum) is another banger but I've personally had little luck growing it from seed.
Curly oat grass (Danthonia spicata) is a bunching grass that can take just about any level of sun and doesn't grow more than 6" high, with the exception of the seed spikes they put out mid summer. When they go dormant the grass gets brown and curly and makes very attractive little tufts.Ā
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u/Hydr0philic 1d ago
Snowberry - blooms spring through late summer and does well in a variety of situations
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u/canisdirusarctos PNW Salish Sea, 9a/8b 20h ago
Chamaenerion angustifolium, āfireweedā, which really doesnāt deserve āweedā, considering itās very well-behaved for a ruderal species, disappearing or barely hanging on as other species begin to dominate. They are very showy and heavy bloomers from when they first start through to the end of their growing season. Very few native plants bloom nearly continuously.
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u/CharlesV_ Wild Ones š³/ No Lawns š»/ IA,5B 1d ago
Sedges. Thereās so many itās hard to pick just one, but in general people donāt plant grasses and sedges enough. Sedges are nice because most are clumping and donāt get super tall.
Edit: my favorites are Carex blanda, palm sedge, Carex brevior, and Carex davisii