Opuntia humifusa Native to: MA, CT, RI Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full Sun Soil Moisture: Dry Height: 4-8” Spacing: 6-8” Blooms: June-July Bloom Color: Yellow Fruits: Fall/Winter Fruit Color: Red Natural Habitat: Coastal beaches, dunes, grassland, meadows and fields, ridges or ledges Benefits: Host Plant, Attracts Bees, Benefits Other Pollinators/Wildlife, Salt Tolerant, Drought Tolerant, Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Edible*, Low Maintenance Caution: In addition to spines, Eastern prickly pear is covered in barbed hairs that easily lodge in the skin when touched.

Rubus odoratus Native to: All of New England Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium Height: 3-5’ Spacing: 4-6' Blooms: Summer Bloom Color: Purple Fruits: Summer Fruit Color: Red Natural Habitat: Woodland edges, shady roadsides, moist rocky slopes, and disturbed areas Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Benefits Other Pollinators/Wildlife, Bird Favorite, Urban Environment, Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Fragrant, Low Maintenance, Edible, Erosion Control/Soil Stabilization Pairs Well With: Tall anemone, three-lobed coneflower, blue iris, bush honeysuckle, heart-leaved alexanders, and Virgin’s-bower clematis

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.

Euthamia graminifolia Native to: All New England Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Wet to Medium-Dry Height: 3-4’ Spread: 2-6’ Spacing: 2-4’ Blooms: Jul-Sep Bloom Color: Yellow Natural Habitat: Man-made or disturbed habitats, meadows and fields, shores of rivers/lakes, wetland margins Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Host Plant, Drought Tolerant, Low Maintenance, Erosion Control “Flat-topped or grass-leaved goldenrod is a striking yet common species throughout the US and Canada; this rhizomatous, colony-forming wildflower will grow in dry to moist soil so long as it gets enough light.

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.

Pycnanthemum incanum Native to: MA, CT, RI, VT, NH Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium to Medium-Dry Height: 3-4’ Spacing: 2-3' Blooms: July-September Bloom Color: white, purple Natural Habitat: Cliffs, balds, or ledges, forest edges, ridges or ledges, woodlands Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Salt Tolerant, Urban Environment, Drought Tolerant, Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Edible, Erosion Control/Soil Stabilization, Fragrant, Low Maintenance “Like other Mountain Mints, Hoary Mountain Mint is a pollinator favorite; bees, butterflies and moths will be in abundance on your plants.

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.