Aronia arbutifolia Native to: MA, NH, CT, RI, ME Life cycle: Perennial Shrub Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Wet to Dry Soil Height: 5-12’Spacing: 4-8’ Blooms: SpringBloom Color: White Fruits: SummerFruit Color: Red Natural Habitat: Human-disturbed or -maintained habitats, bogs, fens, meadows and fields, swamps, woodlands Benefits: Host Plant, Attracts Songbirds, Attracts Bees, Urban Environment, Compaction Tolerant, Salt Tolerant, Drought Tolerant, Edible, Low Maintenance, Erosion Control/Soil Stabilization, Fall Color “This attractive, multi-stemmed shrub blends into the landscape when not in flower or fruit.

Aquilegia canadensis Native to: All New England Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium to Dry Height: 8-24” Spread: 8-12” Spacing: 10-17” Blooms: April-June Bloom Color: Red Natural Habitat: Rocky open woods and ledges, rocky shores, and cliffs Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Bird Favorite, Attracts Hummingbirds, Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Urban Environment, Salt Tolerant, Drought Tolerant, Host Plant (Columbine Duskywing) Pairs Well With: Northeastern and Small’s beardtongue, and spotted crane’s-bill “Red or American Columbine is one of the first plants to provide nectar in the spring for bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds….

Lespedeza capitata Native to: All of New England Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium to Dry Height: 2-4’ Spacing: 1-2’ Blooms: August-September Bloom Color: Green, Cream Natural Habitat: Human-disturbed or -maintained habitats, grassland, meadows and fields, woodlands Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Bird Favorite, Host Plant (eg. Cloudywings, Hoary Edge, Eastern Tailed Blue) “Round Headed Bush Clover is a host plant to a number of butterflies and moths, including the Southern Cloudywing Butterfly, Northern Cloudywing Butterfly, Hoary Edge Butterfly, the Eastern Tailed-Blue, and the Bella Moth.

Solidago sempervirens Native to: MA, CT, RI, ME, NH Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full Sun Soil Moisture: Dry Height: 24-42" Spread: 18-30" Spacing: 2-3' Blooms: Early fall Bloom Color: Yellow Natural Habitat: Dry, sandy, or gravelly beaches, salt marshes, shores, and roadsides Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Host Plant (eg. Wavy Lined Emerald), Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Drought Tolerant, Flood Tolerant, Salt Tolerant, Urban Environment, Low Maintenance Pairs Well With: Butterfly milkweed, smooth blue aster, little bluestem, sundial lupine, spotted bee-balm, bayberry, and flax-leaved stiff aster

Desmodium canadense Native to: All of New England Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium-Wet to Medium-Dry Height: 18-60” Spacing: 1’ Blooms: July-August Bloom Color: Purple Natural Habitat: Man-made or disturbed habitats, river or stream floodplains, forest edges, forests, meadows and fields, shores of rivers or lakes Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Bird Favorite, Host Plant (eg. Silver-spotted Skipper, Hoary Edge), Compaction Tolerant, Low Maintenance “Desmodium canadense is aptly named Showy Tick Trefoil for its numerous pink flowers that bloom along the plant’s upper stems for about three weeks in mid-summer.

Bouteloua curtipendula Native to: MA and CT Life cycle: Perennial Grass Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium to Dry Height: 2’ Spacing: 10-24” Blooms: August-September (non-showy) Natural Habitat: Human-disturbed or -maintained habitats, cliffs, balds, or ledges, river or stream floodplains, meadows and fields, ridges or ledges, woodlands Benefits: Bird Favorite, Deer Resistant, Host Plant (eg. skipper butterflies) “Bouteloua curtipendula, or Side-oats Grama, is a rarity among native grasses in the way that it sports its tiny attractive flowers during the summer bloom time (see detailed photos.

Agalinis tenuifolia Native to: All of New England Life cycle: Annual Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium to Dry Height: 2’ Spacing: 1-2’ Blooms: Aug-Oct Bloom Color: Pink/Purple Natural Habitat: Man-made or disturbed habitats, brackish or salt marshes and flats, fresh tidal marshes or flats, meadows and fields, woodlands Note: Slender false-foxglove is a hemiparasite, meaning that it can photosynthesize, but thrives best if it can also parasitize grasses and related species.

Boehmeria cylindrica Native to: All of New England Life cycle: Perennial Light: Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium-Wet to Medium Height: 3’ Spacing: 18-24” Blooms: June-August Bloom Color: Yellow Natural Habitat: River or stream floodplains, forests, swamps, wetland margins Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Deer/Rabbit Resistant Host Plant (eg. Eastern Comma, Question Mark, Red Admiral) “Smallspike False Nettle is a host plant hotspot! Fly larva of Neolasioptera boehmeriae will form galls on the Smallspike False Nettle stems.

Symphyotrichum laeve Native to: All New England Life cycle: Perennial Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium-Wet to Medium-Dry Height: 1-4’ Spread: 12-18” Spacing: 18-24” Blooms: August-October Bloom Color: Blue, purple Natural Habitat: Dry, open woods and fields; disturbed areas and roadsides Pairs Well With: Butterfly milkweed, foxglove beardtongue, sundial lupine, black-eyed coneflower, foxglove beardtongue, flax-leaved aster, and little bluestem Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Bird Favorite, Host Plant (Pearl Crescent, Silvery Checkerspot butterflies), Drought Tolerant, Urban Environment, Low Maintenance

Monarda punctata Native to: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont Life cycle: Perennial/self-sowing Biennial Light: Full/Partial Sun Soil Moisture: Medium-Dry to Dry Height: 2-3’ Spread: 12-24" Spacing: 8-12” Blooms: July-September Bloom Color: pink/purple Natural Habitat: Dry sandy or gravelly soils of beaches, pine barrens, woodland edges, and roadsides. Benefits: Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Pollinator Favorite, Bird Favorite, Urban Environment, Drought Tolerant, Edible, Low Maintenance, Host Plant (Raspberry pyrausta) Pairs Well With: Blue-eyed grass, butterfly milkweed, Scotch bellflower, sundial lupine, and New Jersey tea