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| Wildflowers and Native Plants |
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There are many different native wildflowers that you can plant in your
backyard or on your property. Put these plants in the proper environment
(shade, sun, wet or dry) and you will greatly enhance wildlife habitat.
Listed below are some common plants native to Kentucky that may be suitable for your property.
| Common Name | Botanical Name | Soil Moisture | Light |
| Alumroot | Heuchera americana | m | p,s |
| Bee Balm | Monarda didyma | m | f,p |
| Birdfoot Violet | Viola pedata | d | f,p |
| Black Cohosh | Cimicifuga racemosa | d | p,s |
| Bloodroot | Sanguinaria canadensis | m | p,s |
| Blue-Eyed Grass | Sisyrinchium angustifolium | d | f,p |
| Blue Flag Iris | Iris versicolor | w | f,p |
| Blue Sage | Salvia azurea | d | f,p |
| Blue Vervain | Verbena hastata | m,w | f |
| Blue Wild Indigo | Baptisia australis | d | f,p |
| Boneset | Eupatorium perfoliatum | m,w | f,p |
| Bottle Gentian | Gentiana andrewsii | w | f,p |
| Butterfly Milkweed | Asclepias tuberosa | d | f |
| Cardinal Flower | Lobelia cardinalis | m | f,p |
| Celandine Poppy | Stylophorum diphyllum | d | p,s |
| Common Milkweed | Asclepias syriaca | d | f,p |
| Compass Plant | Silphium laciniatum | d | f |
| Culver's Root | Veronicastrum virginicum | d | f,p |
| Cup Plant | Silphium perfoliatum | d | f |
| Dutchman's Breeches | Dicentra cucularia | m | p,s |
| Dwarf Crested Iris | Iris cristata | d | p,s |
| Early Saxifrage | Saxifraga virginiana | m,w | p,s |
| False Solomon's Seal | Smilacina racemosa | m | s |
| Fire Pink | Silene virginica | d | p,s |
| Foamflower | Tiarella cordifolia | d | p,s |
| Great Blue Lobelia | Lobelia siphilitica | m,w | f,s |
| Illinois Bundleflower | Desmanthus illinoensis | d,w | f |
| Ironweed | Vernonia altissima | d | f |
| Jack-in-the-Pulpit | Arisaema triphyllum | d | f,p,s |
| Jacob's Ladder | Polemonium reptans | d | p,s |
| Joe-Pye-Weed | Eupatorium fistulosum | m,w | f,p |
| Lanceleaf Coreopsis | Coreopsis lanceolata | d | f |
| Large-Flowered Bellwort | Uvularia grandiflora | m | s |
| Large White Trillium | Trillium grandiflorum | m | s |
| Lizard Tail | Saururus cernuus | w | p,s |
| Meadow Phlox | Phlox maculata | d,m | f,p |
| Mistflower | Eupatorium coelestinum | d,w | f,p |
| Monkey Flower | Mimulus alatus | m | p,s |
| Narrow-Leaved Sunflower | Helianthus angustifolius | m,w | f |
| New England Aster | Aster novae-angliae | d | f |
| Nodding Wild Onion | Allium cernuum | d | f,p |
| Obedient Plant | Physostegia virginiana | d,m | f |
| Partridge Pea | Cassia fasciculata | d,m | f |
| Phacelia | Phacelia bipinnatifida | d | p,s |
| Prairie Coneflower | Ratibida pinnata | d | f |
| Prairie Dock | Silphium terebinthinaceum | d | f |
| Purple Coneflower | Echinacea purpurea | d | f,p |
| Purple Prairie Clover | Petalostemum purpureum | d | f |
| Rattlesnake Master | Eryngium yuccifolium | d | f,p |
| Rosinweed | Silphium integrifolium | d | f |
| Rough-leaved Goldenrod | Solidago rugosa | d,m,w | f |
| Round-headed Bush Clover | Lespedeza capitata | d | f |
| Royal Catchfly | Silene regia | d | f,p |
| Shooting Star | Dodecatheon meadia | d | f,p |
| Showy Beardtongue | Penstemon laevigata | d | f,p |
| Showy Goldenrod | Solidago speciosa | d | f |
| Solomon's Seal | Polygonatum biflorum | d,m | p,s |
| Squirrel Corn | Dicentra candensis | m | p,s |
| Stonecrop | Sedum ternatum | d | p,s |
| Swamp Milkweed | Asclepias incarnata | m,w | f,p |
| Sweet Flag | Acorus calamus | w | f,p |
| Tall Coreopsis | Coreopsis tripteris | d | f |
| Toad Trillium | Trillium cuneatum | m | s |
| Turk's Cap Lily | Lilum superbum | m | f,p |
| Turtlehead | Chelone glabra | m,w | p,s |
| Virginia Bluebells | Mertensia virginiana | m | p,s |
| Virginia Spiderwort | Tradescantia virginiana | d | p,s |
| White Prairie Clover | Petalostemum candidum | d | f |
| Wild Bergamot | Monarda fistulosa | d,m | f,p |
| Wild Columbine | Aquilegia canadensis | d | f,p,s |
| Wild Geranium | Geranium maculatum | d | p,s |
| Wild Ginger | Asarum canadense | d | p,s |
| Wild Pink | Silene caroliniana | d | p |
| Yellow Erect Trillium | Trillium erectum | m | s |
| Yellow Lady's -Slipper | Cypripedium pubescens | m | p,s |
Legend: d - well drained soil, m - mesic soil, w - moist to wet soil, f - full sun, p - partial sun, s - shade
Don't forget to add ferns to your native garden. Ferns typically prefer well-drained soil in partial or full shade. The exception is the Cinnamon Fern, which prefers moist soil and is commonly found in wetlands. Some common Kentucky ferns include:
| Christmas Fern | Polystichum acrostichoides |
| Cinnamon Fern | Osmunda cinnamomea |
| Lady Fern | Athrium filix-femina |
| Maidenhair Fern | Adiantum pedatum |
| Royal Fern | Osmunda regalis |
| Sensitive Fern | Onoclea sensibilis |
Native warm season grasses make an excellent addition to anyone's property. They can be used to replace exotic species such as fescue, or can be used as small ornamental plantings. These grasses are bunchgrasses, growing in clumps which results in bare soil between each plant. These bare spaces are excellent spots for forbs to colonize, as well as foraging and nesting areas for grassland birds and small mammals.
| Big Bluestem | Andropogon gerardii |
| Eastern Gamagrass | Tripsacum dactyloides |
| Indiangrass | Sorghastrum nutans |
| Little Bluestem | Schizachyrium scoparium |
| Prairie Dropseed | Sporobolus heterolepis |
| Side-oats Grama | Bouteloua curtipendula |
| Switchgrass | Panicum virgatum |
Interested in what butterfly young feed on in your yard? Click here for a list of caterpillars and their host plants.
Native Wildflower Seed Companies
| Shooting Star Nursery 444 Bates Road Frankfort, KY 40601 (502) 223-1679 |
Kentucky
American Seeds, Inc. PO Box 1104 Hopkinsville, KY 42241 (888) 398-4516 |
Blazing Star Associates 2107 Edgewood Drive Woodstock, IL 60098 (815) 338-4716 |
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| Sharp Bros. Seed Co. 396 SW Davis-Ladue Clinton, MO 64735 (660) 885-7551 |
Spence Restoration Nursery 2220 E. Fuson Road Muncie, IN 47308 (317) 286-7154 |
Albright Seed Company 487 Dawson Drive Bay 5s Camarillo, CA 93012 (805) 484-0551 |
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| Native American Seed 127 North 16th Street Junction, TX 76849 (800) 728-4043 |
Earthly Goods P. O. Box 614 New Albany, IN 47150 (812) 944-2903 |
Ion Exchange 1878 Old Mission Drive Harpers Ferry, IA 52146 (800) 291-2143 |
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| Ladies of the Prairie 16287 Lakewood St. Lowell, IN 46356 (219) 696-9212 |
Habitats Native Plants Nursery PO Box 265 Silver Grove, KY 41085 (859) 442-9414 |
Books on Growing and Identifying Wildflowers
100 Easy-To-Grow Native Plants
by Lorraine Johnson - Firefly
Books, Ltd.
A Guide to the Wildflowers & Ferns of Kentucky
by Mary E. Wharton and Roger W. Barbour - The University Press of Kentucky
Common Weeds of the United States
by the Agriculture Research Service - Dover Publications,
Inc.
Gardening for the Birds
by Thomas G. Barnes - The
University Press of Kentucky
Golden Guide Wildflowers of North America by Frank D. Venning -
Western Publishing Company, Inc.
Grasses - An Identification Guide by Lauren Brown - Houghton
Mifflin Company
Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers - When and Where to Find Them by Robert
W. Hutson, William F. Hutson, and Aaron J. Sharp - Windy Pines Publishing
How to Grow Wildflowers and Wild Shrubs and Trees in Your Own Garden by
Hal Bruce - The Lyons Press
How to Know the Grasses - Pictured Key Nature Series by Richard W. Pohl -
Wm. C. Brown Company
National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers - Eastern
Region by William A. Niering and Nancy C. Olmstead - Alfred A. Knopf
Newcomb's Wildflower Guide by Lawrence Newcomb - Little, Brown and
Company
Peterson Field Guide to Trees and Shrubs by George A. Petrides - Houghton
Mifflin Company
Tallgrass Prairie Wildflowers - A Field Guide by Doug Ladd - Falcon
Publishing, Inc.
The Wildflower Book by Donald and Lillian Stokes - Little, Brown and
Company
Weeds by Alexander C. Martin - Golden Press
Weeds of Kentucky and Adjacent States by Patricia Dalton Haragan - The
University Press of Kentucky
Wildflowers - Usborne Spotter's Guides by Christopher J. Humphries -
Usborne Publishing Ltd.
Wildflowers of North America by Frank D. Venning - Golden
Press
Wildflowers of the Southern Appalachians - How to Photograph and Identify
Them by Kevin Adams
and Marty Casstevens -
John F. Blair, Publisher
Wildflower Links
| Daviess County Audubon Society |
