Info Sheets
Spotted Joe-Pye Weed
Eutrochium maculatum Native to: All of New England
Life cycle: Perennial
Light: Full/Partial Sun
Soil Moisture: Wet to Medium-Wet
Height: 3-7’
Spread: 3-4’
Spacing: 3-4’
Blooms: Jul-Sep
Bloom Color: Pink
Natural Habitat: Man-made or disturbed habitats, marshes, meadows and fields, shores of rivers or lakes, swamps, wetland margins
Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Bird Favorite, Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Compaction Tolerant, Urban Environment, Host Plant (eg. Clymene moth, ruby tiger moth)
Note: This plant was formerly known as Eupatorium maculatum.
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Info Sheets
Steeplebush
Spiraea tomentosa Native to: All of New England
Life cycle: Perennial Shrub
Light: Full/Partial Sun
Soil Moisture: Wet to Medium-Wet
Height: 2-5’
Spacing: 1-3’
Blooms: July-September
Bloom Color: Pink
Natural Habitat: Human-disturbed or -maintained habitats, marshes, meadows and fields, shores of rivers or lakes, swamps, wetland margins
Benefits: Bird Favorite, Host Plant (eg. Columbia silkmoth), Pollinator Favorite, Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Compaction Tolerant, Urban Environment, Low Maintenance, Erosion Control/Soil Stabilization
S. tomentosa is covered in sharp, narrow, upright pink flowers in midsummer.
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Info Sheets
Sundial Lupine
Lupinus perennis Native to: All New England (extinct in the wild in many states)
Life cycle: Perennial
Light: Full/Partial Sun
Soil Moisture: Medium-Dry to Dry
Height: 1-2’
Spread: 8-12"
Spacing: 10-18”
Blooms: May-July
Bloom Color: purple
Natural Habitat: Pine barrens, woodlands, meadows, and roadsides with dry, sandy soils Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Bird Favorite, Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Host Plant (Karner Blue), Compaction Tolerant, Drought Tolerant
Pairs Well With: Spotted beebalm, butterfly milkweed, smooth blue aster, foxglove beardtongue, flax-leaved aster, and little bluestem
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Info Sheets
Swamp Milkweed
aka rose milkweed Asclepias incarnata Native to: All New England
Life cycle: Perennial
Light: Full/Partial Sun
Soil Moisture: Wet to Medium Soil
Height: 3-4’
Spread: 12-24"
Spacing: 18-36”
Blooms: June-August
Bloom Color: Pink
Natural Habitat: Moist meadows, ditches, and pond edges
Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Bird Favorite, Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Host Plant (eg. Monarch & 11 other species)
“Summer-blooming meadow and wetland wildflower with pink flower clusters and foliage important to the monarch butterfly’s larval stage.
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Info Sheets
Sweet Everlasting
aka Rabbit Tobacco Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium Native to: All of New England
Life cycle: Annual
Light: Full Sun
Soil Moisture: Medium-Dry to Dry
Height: 2’
Spacing: 12-18"
Blooms: Jul-Sep
Bloom Color: White
Natural Habitat: Human-disturbed or -maintained habitats, meadows and fields
Benefits: Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Fragrant
“Sweet Everlasting, also known as Rabbit Tobacco, is silvery green due to the appressed hairs that cover its surface. The white flowers are clustered in quarter inch buds with many overlapping bracts.
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Info Sheets
Tall Meadow-Rue
Thalictrum pubescens Native to: All of New England
Life cycle: Perennial
Light: Full/Partial Sun
Soil Moisture: Medium to Wet
Height: 18-60"
Spacing: 18-36"
Blooms: Summer
Bloom Color: White
Natural Habitat: Human-disturbed or -maintained habitats, river or stream floodplains, forests, marshes, meadows and fields, shores of rivers or lakes, swamps, wetland margins
Benefits: Attracts Butterflies, Attracts Bees, Host Plant (eg. Canadian Owlet Moth, Pink-Patched Looper Moth), Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Low Maintenance
“Best planted in sunny, moist sites, tall meadow rue can reach heights of up to ten feet, though perhaps infrequently.
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Info Sheets
Tall White Aster
Doellingeria umbellata Native to: All New England
Life cycle: Perennial
Light: Full/Partial Sun
Soil Moisture: Wet to Medium
Height: 3-7
Spread: 3-4’
Spacing: 1-3'
Blooms: July-September
Bloom Color: White/Cream
Natural Habitat: Meadows, roadsides, and waste areas with moist soils
Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Host Plant (eg. Pearly Crescent, Harris Checkerspot), Drought Tolerant, Low Maintenance
Pairs Well With: Common milkweed
“The nectar and pollen of this plant attract both long- and short-tongued bees, wasps, flies, butterflies (including the Harris’s Checkerspot butterfly), beetles, and other insects.
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Info Sheets
Virgin's Bower Clematis
Clematis virginiana Native to: All New England
Life cycle: Perennial
Light: Full/Partial Sun
Soil Moisture: Medium-Wet to Medium
Height: 3-12’Spread: 3-5’Spacing: 3-4’
Blooms: July-SeptemberBloom Color: White
Natural Habitat: Woodland edges, wetlands, roadside ditches, and moist disturbed areas
Benefits: Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Attracts Bees, Attracts Butterflies, Host Plant (eg. clematis clearwing moth & 8 other species), Urban Environment, Compaction Tolerant, Low Maintenance
Pairs Well With: Nodding onion, three-lobed coneflower, Culver’s root, flowering raspberry, and heart-leaved Alexanders
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Info Sheets
Virginia Mountain-Mint
Pycnanthemum virginianum Native to: All New England
Life cycle: Perennial
Light: Full/Partial Sun
Soil Moisture: Wet to Medium-Dry
Height: 2-3’
Spread: 1-2’
Spacing: 12-18”
Blooms: June-September
Bloom Color: white
Natural Habitat: Dry to moist meadows, ditches, and roadsides.
Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Bird Favorite, Fragrant, Low Maintenance, Edible
Pairs Well With: Foxglove beardtongue, black-eyed coneflower, wild bee-balm, broad-leaved mountain-mint, New England aster, and three-lobed coneflower
In mid-summer, small white flowers bloom atop silvery-green foliage attracting numerous pollinators – this is a top nectar plant.
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Info Sheets
Water Horehound
Lycopus americanus Native to: All of New England
Life cycle: Perennial
Light: Full/Partial Sun
Soil Moisture: Wet to Medium-Wet
Height: 2’
Spacing: 1-2’
Blooms: Jul-Sep
Bloom Color: White
Natural Habitat: Shores of rivers or lakes, swamps, wetland margins
Benefits: Pollinator Favorite, Deer/Rabbit Resistant, Host Plant (eg. Hermit Sphinx), Low Maintenance
“A plant for a variety of open wetland habitats, Water Horehound is a member of the mint family, although its fragrance is subtle and not minty.
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