Native Plant Program

Gardening with native plants only makes good sense. Just what is a native plant? A native is a plant that originated in a particular climate and was not introduced, or a plant that existed within the state borders prior to the arrival of settlers. These plants generally display better hardiness, disease and insect resistance and tolerate local weather extremes. Native plants conserve soil and water because they don't require fertilizers and pesticides. Native plants also provide habitat and food for birds and other wildlife.

For more information about natives visit Grow Native!, the joint program of the Missouri Department of Conservation  and the Missouri Department of Agriculture. The  Grow Native! program helps protect and restore our state's biodiversity by increasing conservation awareness of native plants and their effective use.

Our native program is divided into three categories 
 
 

    Perennials

Asclepias tuberosa

Asclepias tuberosa
Common Name: Butterfly Milkweed
Lots of bright orange, flat-topped flower clusters open in early June. Plants bloom for many weeks. Host plant for the monarch butterfly and a great nectar source for many other butterflies and pollinators...

Aruncus dioicus

Aruncus dioicus
Common Name: Goat's Beard
Large wands of frothy, creamy white flowers in June. Tiny brown seed capsules dry and stay on females plants after flowering is finished. Foliage is similar to astilbe but growth habit is shrub like

Amsonia illustris

Amsonia illustris
Common Name: Shining Blue Star
Rounded spikes of starry, sky blue flowers emerge in spring and last for several weeks. Deep green willowlike leaves turn bright gold in the fall. The plant takes on a substantial rounded form in the garden. Plant Of Merit and swallowtail butterflies love the nectar.....

Aster oblongifolius

Aster oblongifolius
Common Name: Aromatic Aster
One of the last wildflowers to bloom, this aster is loaded with blue-purple daisylike flowers that persist into late fall. This aster grows into a tidy, compact, self-supporting mound and is a Plants of Merit.

Baptisia australis

Baptisia australis
Common Name: Blue False Indigo
Clusters of indigo-blue, pealike flowers followed by interesting blue-black pods. Foliage is blue-green and growth habit is shrublike. Plant of Merit

Calylophus 'Prairie Load'
Common Name: Evening Primrose
2007 GreatPlants. Butter-yellow cup shaped flowers on spreading ground cover sub-shrub. Outstanding selection of native. Flowers all summer if trimmed.

Callirhoe involucrata

Callirhoe involucrata
Common Name: Purple Poppy Mallow
Showy, cup-shaped red-violet flowers bloom from June through frost. The trailing stems will hang over walls and make an excellent ground cover. This pretty ground cover is a Plants of Merit.

Chelone obliqua

Chelone obliqua
Common Name: Rose Turtlehead
Dense spikes of rose-pink flowers are a welcome sight in late summer and early fall. Deep green foliage is handsome all season long. Late bloomer.

Echinacea paradoxa

Echinacea paradoxa
Common Name: Yellow Coneflower
Each flower stem produces a single bloom with yellow ray petals around a brown cone-shaped seed head. Very drought tolerant.

Liatris pycnostachya

Liatris pycnostachya
Common Name: Prairie Blazing Star
Unbranched stalks bear dense spikes of magenta flowers in July and August on strong stems. The nectar-rich flowers are a favorite with butterflies and hummingbirds. Songbirds love the seed.

Lobelia cardinalis

Lobelia cardinalis
Common Name: Cardinal Flower
Strong, upright stems bear dozens of brilliant red flowers in late summer. A favorite source of nectar for hummingbirds. This striking plant is a Plant of Merit winner.

Ostrich Fern

Matteucia struthiopteris
Common Name: Ostrich Fern
Tall fronds unfurl in late April-early May. This large yet elegant vase-shaped fern is very popular & often planted in open shade gardens. The long arching light-medium green leaves are slender at their bases and widen dramatically before their tips, thus its namesake. Will tolerate some sun if kept moist.

Mertensia virginica

Mertensia virginica
Common Name: Virginia Bluebells
Pink flower buds open to sky blue in March and April. Foliage is blue-green. This plant is a spring ephemeral, meaning the foliage goes dormant in summer. Great for naturalizing in a rich, moist woodland environment....

Oenothera macrocarpa

Oenothera macrocarpa
Common Name: Missouri Primrose
A showy, trailing plant with large, yellow, fragrant flowers up to 4" across. Plants bloom for a long period from spring through summer....

Polystichum acrostichoides

Polystichum acrostichoides
Common Name: Christmas Fern
This beautiful native fern has glossy, deep-green, lance-shaped fronds that emerge upright, then proceed to arch gently and eventually 'lay down' to cover the ground as they mature. This evergreen fern has 'hairy' brown leaf stems and fiddleheads. Plant of Merit.

Rudbeckia fulgida

Rudbeckia fulgida
Common Name: Orange Coneflower
Yellow petals surround a brown-purple central seed head. Plants bloom from July-September and are good cut flowers. Plants form large clumps after several years, especially in rich loose soil, but are not invasive.

Solidago speciosa

Solidago speciosa
Common Name: Showy Goldenrod
Very showy clusters of bright yellow flowers on stiff reddish stems with narrow leaves. Clump forming plants bloom in late summer and early fall...

Trees & Shrubs

Callicarpa americana

Callicarpa americana
Common Name: American Beautyberry
Small pink blooms in summer are followed by clusters of brilliant fuschia berries in the fall. Berries color in early October and remain until they are eaten by birds and small mammals in late November.

Ceanothus americanus

Ceanothus americanus
Common Name: New Jersey Tea
A low-growing, compact shrub that's excellent for hot, dry sites. Billows of delicate white flowers form at the end of young branches in May and June. Clusters of small black fruit form in July and August.

Cephalanthus occidentalis

Cephalanthus occidentalis
Common Name: Buttonbush
Hundreds of ball-shaped, creamy white flowers dangle from the bush in August. Butterflies and insects find the nectar irresistible. The nutlike seeds are eaten by many waterfowl and many types of birds use it as a nesting site. Will grow in bogs

Cercis canadensis

Cercis canadensis
Common Name: Eastern Redbud
Leafless horizontal branches are smothered in small deep pink flowers in early spring. Red-purple, pea-shaped seed pods follow the flowers. Heart-shaped leaves become a quilt of yellow and green in fall....

Celtis occidentalis

Celtis occidentalis
Common Name: Hackberry
A reliable all-purpose shade tree which is pyramidal when young then develops a broad crown with ascending branches. The leaves are medium green. Fall foliage is a soft yellow. Birds and wildlife relish the small, round, orange-red or purple fleshy fruit.

Cornus florida

Cornus florida
Common Name: Flowering Dogwood
Small, low-branched tree with spreading horizontal branches. Distinctive white flowers, 3" in diameter, bloom mid-April to mid-May. Clusters of glossy red fruit in fall persist into winter and are relished by birds. Consistent deep red fall leaf color.

Hamamelis vernalis

Hamamelis vernalis
Common Name: Ozark or Vernal Witchhazel
This unique native shrub flowers from late winter into early spring, when little else is blooming in the landscape. The fragrant flowers are clustered or solitary, yellow to dark red in color, This Missouri native grows 6-10 ft. Plant of Merit

Lindera benzoin

Lindera benzoin
Common Name: Spicebush
A broad, rounded multi-stemmed shrub covered with fragrant yellow-green flowers in early spring. The flowers open before the leaves emerge and are held close to the branches. Aromatic light green leaves turn deep yellow-gold in fall. Birds feed on the brilliant red fruits of the female plant. Host plant for the spicebush swallowtail and Plant of Merit

Physocarpus opulifolius

Physocarpus opulifolius
Common Name: Ninebark
Clusters of white to pinkish flowers resembling spirea bloom May-June. Birds eat the seed formed in reddish drooping fruit clusters in fall. The bark provides winter interest as it peels away in strips to reveal layers of reddish to light brown inner bark on mature stems. This handsome shrub is a Missouri Botanical Garden Plants of Merit winner.

Rhus aromatica

Rhus aromatica
Common Name: Fragrant Sumac
Low, irregular spreading shrub with lower branches that grow horizontally then turn up at the tips. Tends to sucker and root along stems that touch the soil, forming a dense stand. Yellow-green flowers appear before leaves emerge. Clusters of fuzzy red fruit form on female plants August-September and may persist into winter. Many birds and mammals feed on the fruit. Leaves turn bright red-purple in fall.

 

Grasses & Vines

Panicum virgatum

Panicum virgatum
Common Name: Switch Grass
A clump-forming, columnar grass that grows 3 ft. tall with flower heads rising 3 ft. above the foliage. Medium green leaves turn yellow, sometimes with orange tints, in autumn, fading to tan in winter. . Flower heads turn beige in fall with the seed plumes persisting well into winter. Birds feed on the seed and plants provide cover for wildlife..

Schizachyrium scoparium

Schizachyrium scoparium
Common Name: Little Bluestem
A small, non-spreading, clump-forming grass with blue-green leaves that turn reddish orange in the fall. Fluffy silver seed heads are ornamental through winter. Tolerates heat and humidity easily

Sporobolus heterolepis

Sporobolus heterolepis
Common Name: Prairie Dropseed
Very thin, emerald green leaves form a dense arching tuft. Seed heads form in August and give off a distinct aroma. These graceful clumps turn yellow or deep orange in fall. Provides food and cover for wildlife. Plant of Merit.

Parthenocissus quinquefolia

Parthenocissus quinquefolia
Common Name: Virginia Creeper
A deciduous, climbing woody vine that attached to flat surfaces by tendrils ending in adhesive tips. Leaves composed of five leaflets emerge bronze in spring, mature to dull green in summer and change to purple or crimson-red in autumn. Grow in full sun or full shade in any kind of soil

Passiflora incarnata

Passiflora incarnata
Common Name: Passion Flower
An exotic flowering vine native to southern Missouri. Climbs by tendrils. The intricately fringed flowers, produced from mid summer to early fall are purplish blue with pink and white parts. Each flower is up to three inches across. Can grow in extremely poor soil, in rich soil it will grow rampantly! Extremely adaptable, prefers sun.

Campsis radicans

Campsis radicans
Common Name: Trumpet Creeper
Woody vine that attaches to any surface with rootlike holdfasts. Hummingbirds feed on nectar produced by clusters of orange-red trumpet-shaped flowers from July-September. Brown seed pods, up to 6 in. long, form in late summer

Celastrus scandens

Celastrus scandens
Common Name: American Bittersweet
A twining woody vine that will grow vertically or sprawl horizontally over bushes and fences. Hanging clusters of yellow-orange fruit split open to show bright red-orange seed coats. Plants are male or female

Aristolochia tomentosa

Aristolochia tomentosa
Common Name: Dutchman's Pipe-vine
A high-growing woody vine that climbs by twisitng its trunk around a sturdy support, such as a tree. Strongly curved, green-yellow, pipe-shaped flowers bloom May-June. Dark green, heart-shaped leaves grow up to 15 in. long and wide. Young stems and lower surface of leaves are covered with dense white hairs. Interesting brown fruit capsules form in September.

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