aka closed gentian, meadow bottle gentian Gentiana clausa Native to: All of New England Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full Sun to Full Shade Soil Moisture: Wet to Medium-Wet Height: 10-18" Spacing: 1-2’ Blooms: Late summer Bloom Color: Blue, Purple Natural Habitat: Wet woods and meadows Benefits: Attracts Bees, Attracts Butterflies, Meadow garden, Rain Garden Pairs Well With: Blue lobelia, golden groundsel, cranesbill geranium, blue iris, swamp milkweed, and tall white aster

Elymus hystrix Native to: All of New England Life cycle: Perennial Light: Partial/Full Shade Soil Moisture: Medium to Medium-Dry Height: 3-5’ Spread: Spacing: 12-18" Blooms: June-August Bloom Color: Green Natural Habitat: River or stream floodplains, forests, ridges or ledges, woodlands Benefits: Bird Favorite, Host Plant (eg. Northern Pearly Eye), Attracts Butterflies, Benefits Other Pollinators/Wildlife, Drought Tolerant, Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Low Maintenance “The unique form and texture of the seed head makes this grass a showstopping addition to any border or meadow garden.

aka clustered mountain mint Pycnanthemum muticum Native to: All New England Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium to Medium-Dry Height: 2-4’ Spread: 1-3’ Spacing: 18-24” Blooms: July-September Bloom Color: white Natural Habitat: Meadows and thickets with moist to dry soils Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Attracts Bees, Attracts Butterflies, Compaction Tolerant, Urban Environment, Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Fragrant, Low Maintenance, Erosion Control/Soil Stabilization, Edible Pairs Well With: Flowering raspberry, three-lobed coneflower, wild lettuce, nodding onion, heart-leaved Alexander, Virginia mountain-mint, and wild bee-balm.

Asclepias tuberosa Native to: All of New England Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium to Dry Height: 12-30” Spread: 1-2’ Spacing: 1-3’ Blooms: June-August Bloom Color: Orange Natural Habitat: Pine barrens, dry, sandy meadows, and roadsides Pairs Well With: Smooth blue aster and sundial lupine Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Bird Favorite, Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Host Plant (eg. Grey Hairstreak, Monarch, Queens), Drought Tolerant, Salt Tolerant, Urban Environment “A summer-blooming wildflower in the milkweed family that is an important host to the monarch butterfly.

Cephalanthus occidentalis Native to: All of New England Life cycle: Perennial Shrub Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium to Wet Soil Height: 3-12’ Spacing: 3-4’ Blooms: June-August Bloom Color: White Natural Habitat: Thickets, low woods, swamps, and stream margins Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Bird Favorite, Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Host Plant, Salt Tolerant, Fragrant, Low Maintenance Pairs Well With: American hazelnut, American spikenard and Shrubby St. John’s wort “Often found in thickets, low woods, swamps, and stream margins, where older shrubs will have many branches and twisted trunks.

aka side-flowering aster Symphyotrichum lateriflorum Native to: All of New England Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full Sun to Full Shade Soil Moisture: Medium-Wet to Medium-Dry Height: 2’ Spacing: 18-36" Blooms: August-October Bloom Color: White, Purple Natural Habitat: Forest edges, forests, meadows and fields Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Bird Favorite “Calico American-aster is so called because the disk flowers start out yellow and turn dark purple or red with age. Often a single plant will have flowers of both colors.

aka Wild Lily-of-the-Valley Maianthemum canadense Native to: All of New England Life cycle: Perennial Light: Partial/Full Shade Soil Moisture: Medium to Medium-Wet Height: 2-8” Spacing: 4-6” Blooms: May-June Bloom Color: White Natural Habitat: Forest understory, roadsides, disturbed areas Benefits: Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Drought Tolerant, Urban Environment, Salt Tolerant, Attracts Bees, Attracts Songbirds, Benefits Other Wildlife, Low Maintenance Pairs Well With: Bunchberry, Northern maidenhair fern, zig-zag goldenrod, and white wood aster “A small white wildflower usually found in boreal coniferous forests.

Lobelia cardinalis Native to: All of New England Life cycle: Short-Lived Perennial Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Wet to Medium-Wet Height: 2-4’ Spread: 8-12” Spacing: 6-16” Blooms: July-September Bloom Color: Red Natural Habitat: Wetlands and streamsides Pairs Well With: Boneset, blue iris, coastal Joe-Pye weed, blue lobelia, heart-leaved Alexander, and Northern lady fern Benefits: Bird Favorite, Pollinator Favorite, Attracts Hummingbirds, Host Plant (eg. Spicebush Swallowtail, Pink Washed Looper Moth), Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Low Maintenance

Eutrochium dubium Native to: NH, ME, MA, CT, RI Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium to Wet Height: 3-6’ Spread: 2-4’ Spacing: 3-4’ Blooms: Late summer Bloom Color: Pink Natural Habitat: Streamsides, pond edges, roadside ditches, and wet meadows Pairs Well With: Blue iris, New England aster, swamp milkweed, and tall-white aster Benefits: Attracts Bees, Attracts Butterflies, Host Plant (eg. Ruby Tiger Moth, Eupatorium Borer Moth, Great Tiger Moth), Salt Tolerant, Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Low Maintenance

Carex grayi Native to: VT, MA, CT (rare in the wild) Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full Sun to Full Shade Soil Moisture: Wet to Medium Height: 3’ Spacing: 1-2’ Blooms: May-August Bloom Color: Nondescript Natural Habitat: Grows in moist environments as slowly-spreading colonies. It is an uncommon sedge because it thrives in both woodlands and wetlands. Benefits: Bird Favorite, Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Host Plant (eg. Eyed Brown Butterfly, Appalachian Brown Butterfly)