Penstemon digitalis Native to: PA and further south Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium to Medium-Dry Height: 1-4’ Spread: 14-18” Spacing: 12-18” Blooms: June-July Bloom Color: White Natural Habitat: Dry to fertile meadows, woodland edges, roadsides, and waste areas. Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Bird Favorite, Host Plant (eg. Chalcedony Midget moth), Drought Tolerant, Urban Environment, Low Maintenance Pairs Well With: New England aster, Virginia mountain-mint, wild bee-balm, scotch bellflower, little bluestem, switch panicgrass, and red columbine

Zizia aurea Native to: All of New England Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium-Wet to Medium-Dry Height: 1-3’ Spread: 10-14” Spacing: 1-2’ Blooms: April-June Bloom Color: Yellow Natural Habitat: Wet meadows and thickets Pairs Well With: Butterfly milkweed, foxglove beardtongue, sundial lupine, black-eyed coneflower, foxglove beardtongue, flax-leaved aster, and little bluestem Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Deer Resistant, Bird Favorite, Host Plant (eg. Black Swallowtail), Low Maintenance “Golden alexanders are a showy addition to a moist meadow, pond’s edge, or garden.

aka Intermediate Bellflower Campanula rotundifolia (C. intercedens) Native to: All of New England Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium-Dry to Dry Height: 4-18” Spread: 6-8” Spacing: 6-8” Blooms: Jun-Sep Bloom Color: Purple Natural Habitat: Rocky coastlines, cliffs, shores, and dry meadows Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Bird Favorite, Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Host Plant, Drought Tolerant, Salt Tolerant Pairs Well With: Butterfly milkweed and sundial lupine Note: This species was recently reclassified as Campanula intercedens (intermediate bellflower) due to new genetic evidence distinguishing it from its European cousin.

Apocynum cannabinum Native to: All of New England Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium-Wet to Medium-Dry Height: 2’ Spacing: 2-3" Blooms: May-July Bloom Color: White Natural Habitat: Man-made or disturbed habitats, forest edges, meadows and fields, shores of rivers or lakes, woodlands Benefits: Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Host Plant (eg. Snowberry Clearwing, Hummingbird Clearwing) Note: Despite the common name, hemp dogbane is unrelated to hemp or cannabis. “Dogbane is also called Indianhemp.

aka scarlet painted-cup Castilleja coccinea Native to: CT, MA, RI; limited NH, ME (extinct in wild in all but CT) Life cycle: Annual/Biennial Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium-Wet to Medium-Dry Height: 2’ Spacing: 8-12” Blooms: May-June Bloom Color: Red Natural Habitat: Man-made or disturbed habitats, meadows and fields, swamps Benefits: Bird Favorite, Highly Recommended for Home Landscaping, Host Plant (eg. various Checkerspot) Note: This plant is a hemiparasite, meaning it derives part of its nourishment from parasitizing a host plant.

Polemonium reptans Native to: New York and further south/west Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full Sun to Full Shade Soil Moisture: Medium-Wet to Medium-Dry Height: 10-16” Spacing: 6-12” Blooms: April-June Bloom Color: Blue Natural Habitat: Man-made habitats, meadows and fields, woodlands and woodland edges Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Benefits Other Wildlife/Pollinators, Fragrant “Like many spring blooming natives, the bloom time on Jacob’s Ladder is short but sweet. The few short weeks in April or May that the flowers appear, the plant will be covered in blooms that range from shades of pink to blue.

Hypericum kalmianum Native to: New York and Midwest Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium-Wet to Medium Height: 2-3’ Spacing: 1-2’ Blooms: Jul-Aug Bloom Color: Yellow Natural Habitat: Moist open woods to wet lakesides Benefits: Attracts Bees, Drought Tolerant, Low Maintenance “Kalm’s St. John’s Wort is a small shrub topping out at just a few feet. Consider using it as a native hedge in a sunny, medium-moist site. ” –Prairie Moon Nursery “This dense, evergreen shrub is an absolute metropolis for pollinators once it flowers.

Symphyotrichum novae-angliae Native to: All New England Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Wet to Medium-Dry Height: 2-5’ Spread: 2-3’ Spacing: 2-3’ Blooms: August-October Bloom Color: Purple Natural Habitat: Meadows, roadsides, and ditches with fertile, moist soils. Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Bird Favorite, Host Plant (eg. Wavy-Lined Emerald), Drought Tolerant, Urban Environment, Low Maintenance Pairs Well With: Swamp milkweed, blue vervain, closed gentian, golden alexander, and coastal Joe-Pye weed

Liatris novae-angliae Native to: MA, CT, RI, NH, ME (uncommon to extremely rare in wild) Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium to Dry Height: 1-5’ Spacing: 1-2’ Blooms: July-September Bloom Color: Purple Natural Habitat: Dry, sandy, disturbed soils Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Bird Favorite, Host Plant, Urban Environment, Drought Tolerant, Compaction Tolerant, Low Maintenance Pairs Well With: Butterfly milkweed, spotted bee-balm, little bluestem, flax-leaved stiff aster “The only blazing-star truly native to New England, this species is native to dry, sandy, disturbed soils, and produces tall stems with flowers forming separate ‘buttons’ alternating up the spike.

Vernonia noveboracensis Native to: NH, MA, CT, RI Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium-Wet to Medium Height: 4-8’ Spread: 3-4’ Spacing: 3-4’ Blooms: July-October Bloom Color: Purple Natural Habitat: Meadows, wetlands, and roadside edges Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Bird Favorite, Host Plant (eg. American Lady, Crossline Skipper), Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Low Maintenance Pairs Well With: Boneset, swamp milkweed, New England aster, tall white aster, and coastal Joe-Pye weed “A spectacular species for some vibrant, late-season interest.