Earth-Friendly, Low-Maintenance Ornamentals
These plants have done well in my Arlington, MA, gardens.
Key:
P = Feeds butterflies, bees, and/or other pollinators. (If you’re lucky, you’ll get a hummingbird moth in your garden. It’s exactly what it sounds like – a moth that looks like and moves like a hummingbird!)
B = Feeds birds. If you want to help birds and other wildlife, and make your life easier, I recommend leaving perennials where they are come winter or, if you prefer the appearance, cutting them down to about 6” from ground level and leaving the mature seed heads either in the garden or in an open-air compost heap, where birds can find them when they are beginning to nest in the early spring. The bird mamas will be grateful!
Why does this matter?
The sterility of most suburban yards is one of many factors that are making life difficult for bees, birds, butterflies, etc. Gardeners can, I believe, make a difference by choosing plants that nourish life. One garden is limited in its impact, of course, but together we can create an archipelago that, for example, sustains Monarch butterflies in their annual migration from Mexico to Canada and back.
For more information on how you can help sustain biodiversity, see Douglas Tallamy’s Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants.
N = Native to North America. In some cases the grouping is broad enough that some varieties are native to North America while others are native elsewhere in the world. If you care, you should look up the specific variety you are considering. Purists might grow only wild types, but I include cultivars in my list.
Annuals …
P Alyssum. Self-seeds nicely, especially if you let the plants over-winter in place before pulling them. Smells like honey.
P Bachelors Buttons. Informal wildflower. May self-seed.
P B Calendula. Lovely old-fashioned flower in yellow and gold shades. Likes cool and shady places, happily self-seeds.
Coleus. You might want to start this one indoors, but it’s great for shady areas. The leaves are so pretty that the flowers are icing on the cake – indeed, many people cut the buds off because they consider the flowers undesirable, but I don’t bother.
P N Cosmos. Informal and friendly, and may self-seed. I’m particularly fond of the yellow/gold varieties, as well as the picotee (white with deep pink edges).
P Impatiens. Ubiquitous at garden centers, so it’s probably easier to buy plants than to start them from seed. If you aren’t going to water them, don’t give them too much sun.
P B N Marigolds. If you start them from seed, keep them covered with a towel until the seeds sprout; they like dark. May self-seed. I’m particularly fond of the Pinwheel Marigold Mix, which can form a stunning three foot hedge, and Cempoalxochitl marigolds, which are a wild-type from Mexico that grow five feet tall. These are not your garden’s center’s marigolds! Both are available from Seeds of Change.
Morning Glories. Can take a few months to start blooming. They don’t like being transplanted, so plant them where you want them. They may self-seed aggressively, so don’t plant them anywhere you won’t want them in future years. I’m particularly fond of Knolia’s Purple, which starts blooming earlier than most and has deep rich purple blooms – though some plants may revert to magenta in future generations.
P B Nasturtiums. Edible, spicy flowers and leaves, with both rambling and bush forms. Blooms less if the soil is too rich. May self-seed a bit, but not aggressively.
P N Nicotiana. Some nicotiana are very sweetly scented – look for varieties that advertise the fragrance. They may not look like much during the day – the trumpets can wilt in hot weather – but in the evening they perk up and send out a lovely scent. May self-seed.
P Snapdragons. May self-seed. Some varieties are actually short-lived perennials – they may last 3-4 years. So don’t tear them out by the roots until you are sure they are truly dead.
P B N Tithonia. Start them indoors in late April, and plant them out when the air warms up in late May. These Mexico natives will soon be covered with bright orange flowers, and will grow 4 feet or 6 feet tall, depending on variety. Butterflies love them. One September, during the Monarch migration, I counted six monarchs on one tithonia. Highly recommended for a big, bold accent.
P Verbena Bonariensis. Butterfly magnet. Purple flowers on top of a 4-5 foot almost leafless stem. Elegant. Self-seeding. Recommended.
Perennials that love sun …
P N Achillea (Yarrow). Grows well in hot dry sites with poor soil.
P + N Agastache. The bottlebrush varieties (e.g., Golden Jubilee and Korean Mint) do too well in my garden, producing thousands of seedlings if I don’t dead-head them soon enough. But they have the virtue of feeding goldfinches, who love to sit on the plant and pull the seeds out of their sockets. This is why they still exist in my garden, despite my repeated self-questionings about eradicating them. The non-bottlebrush varieties do not have this draw-back, or this advantage. They can be vulnerable to our wet winters, however, so they are best planted on a slope where they get good drainage.
P Anthemis (Golden Marguerite). Cheery and adaptable and self-seeding.
P N Asclepias (Milkweed). Feed the monarchs! If we want to keep having monarchs, we need to keep having milkweed – especially since so many farms no longer have the little edges where milkweed and monarchs used to thrive. If you can’t get seedlings from a gardening friend, milkweed is worth a trip to the nursery run by the New England Wildflower Society out in Framingham. While you are there take a walk in their lovely Garden in the Woods.
P N Asters. I’ve become a great fan of October Skies asters (I got mine from Bluestone Perennials), which are one of the last flowers to bloom and a long-lasting blue. Raydon’s Blue is very similar but somewhat larger. You will get a lot fuller growth and more blooms if you pinch back the growth tips up to four times before July 4th. Don’t pinch it after the first week in July.
P N Baptisia. Gorgeous blue lupine-like flowers on a sturdy native plant give way to attractive black seed pods in the fall.
P N Boltonia. The flowers resemble a small aster, and they are incredibly abundant. My Snowbank boltonia grows an impressive six feet tall, with sturdy stems that never fall over, and is spectacular in bloom.
P Centaurea (perennial). The perennial cousin of bachelors’ buttons, perennial centaurea has big (three inch) spiky flowers of an intense blue in early summer. Very striking. They will self-seed if you don’t dead-head them, but the plants look spindly enough that I’ve learned to take a clipper to them and cut off the top 1/3 to 1/2 of the plant after it is finished blooming. Sometimes that treatment even makes it rebloom sporadically.
P Centranthus (Keys of Heaven, Jupiter’s Beard). Blooms all summer long, if dead-headed, in rose-red or white.
Cerastium (Snow in Summer). White flowers over silver-gray leaves and a trailing, ground-cover habit.
Daylilies. Can be expensive if you buy named varieties. I suggest going to Seawright (a wonderful daylily breeder in Carlisle – well worth a visit during daylily season!) or ordering one of the collections from White Flower Farm. Or, if you like the wild-type, I’m sure you can get some from neighbors.
P B N Echinacea (Coneflower). Blooms in July/August. Originally purple but now available in a range of colors.
P B N Helianthus (Perennial Sunflower). The blooms are smaller than on an annual sunflower, but they are abundant and just as cheerful. This is a very sturdy and durable plant.
Iris. German and Siberian varieties do well here without any supplemental watering.
P N Monarda (a.k.a Bee Balm). I’m a little reluctant to recommend monarda, as the leaves are prone to powdery mildew, which I find unattractive. On the other hand, you can cut the plants down to near ground level after they are done blooming, which makes them look much healthier. It also means they don’t spread as aggressively. If you are going to plant monarda but don’t (as I don’t) believe in supplemental watering and chemical sprays, look for varieties that are mildew resistant.
P N Nepeta. Many nepeta have the same basic color scheme as lavender, but they are much better adapted to our New England climate. The honeybees love them – and we need honeybees. Highly recommended.
P Perovskia (Russian Sage). Blue flowers appear mid-summer and stand until winter. Very drought-tolerant.
P N Physostegia. Also known as “obedient plant,” because you can twist its flowering stems into various shapes and they will stay there. Quite sturdy and blooms mid-summer.
P B N Rudbeckia. These include the familiar black-eyed susans, but rudbeckia also come in darker, warmer colors. Some are tall, some have big flowers. All are tender perennials but self-seed easily. A cheerful cottage-garden plant that blooms until frost.
P N Salvia. My favorites are Carradonna and May Night.
Saponaria. Short plant with a profusion of bright pink flowers in late spring-early summer.
Sedums. Come in many varieties, colors, and heights. All durable in dry locations.
P Shasta Daisies. Will self-seed moderately if not dead-headed. Bloom late spring to summer, nicely filling in a potential gap after the tulips end.
P N Solidago (Goldenrod). No, goldenrod does not trigger allergies – it just has the bad luck of blooming at the same time as ragweed, a less conspicuous plant that does. Goldenrod is a lovely native plant that adds color at a time when many gardens need it.
P Stachys Lanata (Lambs’ Ears). Furry gray-green leaves are a tactile delight for children of all ages. The tall flower spikes are an added bonus.
P Thyme. Thyme will survive most winters in Arlington, but not the very coldest. It grows slowly the first year and much more quickly the second, so I generally recommend buying plants rather than seeds.
Perennials that welcome or tolerate shade …
Bleeding Hearts. The white and pink-and-white varieties bloom gorgeously in the spring but go dormant mid-summer, so plan to cut back their yellowing branches then. There’s also an all-pink variety that keeps blooming all summer, but I don’t find it very attractive.
Campanula. Also works well in sun, but campanula can handle partial shade just fine – and prefers it if you aren’t going to be providing supplemental water.
P Ceratostigma. Also known as plumbago. Short-growing, with intense blue flowers in late summer/early fall. Foliage is tinged with bronze in the summer and a beautiful red in the fall. Ceratostigma prefers partly shady to partly sunny conditions, and makes a lovely groundcover, though it may need a little protection from winter winds (for me, the surrounding taller plants do the job). The leaves are surprisingly late to bud out in the spring, so don’t give up and tear it out too early. I find its late start makes it a lovely companion to Thalia and Hawera daffodils.
Columbines. Lovely in all but the deepest shade.
P N Corydalis. Seriously under-used. Lacy leaves are topped with intricate flowers. Mine are yellow, but they come in other colors too. I bought one plant from Dutch Gardens and it has spread nicely all over my yard. Highly recommended.
P N Cranesbill (a.k.a perennial geraniums). Not to be confused with annual geraniums – a different plant altogether. Many varieties do well here, in anything but the deepest shade. Macrorrhizum (“big root”) is particularly sturdy and also attractive.
Daylilies. Will grow and bloom well in light to mid shade.
Heuchera. Nearly evergreen (or everpurple, everred, everorange … ) leaves with flowers in late spring/early summer.
Hosta. Who can discuss shade gardens without mentioning hosta?
N Iris Cristata. Iris cristata is a cute native that gets maybe six inches tall and is happy in light shade.
P Kalameris. An under-used plant. Not spectacular, but lots of airy white flowers on tall stems that weave well with other plants. Durable and adaptable, but prefers morning sun and afternoon shade.
P N Phlox Stolonifera. Low-growing, spring-blooming, scented, and delicately gorgeous. Recommended.
Polemonium (Jacob’s Ladder). Delicate flowers over attractive rosettes of leaves. Lovely.
Sweet Woodruff. A sweet little shade ground-cover. Deciduous.
N Tiarella (Foamflower). An under-used plant. Low-growing leaves resemble maple leaves and are topped in spring with delicate towers of white or pink flowers. Comes in spreading and non-spreading varieties. Highly recommended for a woodsy area with good soil.
Violas. Individual plants are short-lived and may not make it through the summer, but violas tend to have plenty of babies. If a plant looks scrawny and unattractive to you, feel free to tear it out by its roots (if you are happy waiting for its babies to bloom) or cut it down to 2” or so (if you want to see whether it will re-grow).
P N Violets. Purple wood violets grow wild around here and many people consider them weeds, but other people consider them attractive – or maybe attractive weeds. Violets also come in white, blue, violet, orange, and two-tone colors. Some are natives, others not.
Spring Bulbs …
P Crocuses. Both the early, small, species crocus and the slightly larger, later, jumbo crocus provide food for early-waking honeybees. If you share my concerns about the dwindling numbers of these essential pollinators, plant crocuses.
Rijnfeld’s Early Sensation Daffodils. Truly early – often early March. Short, sturdy, golden trumpets. Not classy, but always very welcome.
Fragrant Breeze Daffodils. Their name says it all.
If you want a good mix of daffodils for broad-scale planting, I recommend Fedco’s Landscape Mix.
P Kaufmanniana and Gregii Tulips. The only truly perennial tulips. Early-blooming, low-growing, not suitable for cutting, these are not what most people think of when they think “tulip,” but they are gorgeous in their own bright cheerful way. If you want long-stemmed classic tulips, the Darwin hybrids and Lily-types are most likely to come back in future years, but the reality is that most tulips will need to be replanted periodically. Personally, I enjoy the colors and proportions of Triumph tulips, and for me they usually last a few years.
Shrubs …
P N Azalea. The New England Wildflower Society sells some lovely native azaleas. More delicate in form than hybrid azaleas, these natives prefer to grow in the understory under taller trees. Anyone who has ever been to Garden in the Woods when the pink-shell azaleas and tiarella are in bloom will know they make a lovely combination.
P Buddleia. A.k.a. butterfly bush, buddleia are vigorous and healthy and bloom much of the summer. Choose carefully – they range in height from 2 to 15 feet! It is a good idea to cut them down to 12-15” in the late winter/early spring. They will re-grow and start to bloom in July.
P Caryopteris. Intense blue blooms in the late summer, when such a color boost is very welcome. Prune to about 12” tall in early spring.
P B N Elderberry. I’m particularly fond of my cut-leaf elderberry, which I got from Edible Landscaping. The white panicles in June are followed by black berries in August and September, and the stems and leaves are feathery and architecturally interesting year-round. Don’t be afraid to prune this one – it could go crazy if it were left to itself! The berries are edible if cooked (or fermented into wine), but I tend to prefer my fruit fresh, so I leave them for the birds.
P Forsythia. Forsythia are commonly planted in locations that are not large enough for them. They want room to spread out, and can look quite odd when constrained. Trying to shape it into a neat sphere is contrary to the nature of forsythia. If you want to prune your forsythia, cut it down to 1-2’ from ground level and let it re-grow.
P Lilac. A classic New England flower. If your lilacs don’t bloom, it’s probably because the soil is too acid for them. Add lime and compost.
P Rose of Sharon. A late-summer bloomer. Easy care – you can prune it or not as you prefer. Give it adequate sun and room and it will get big.
P N Roses. There are so many different types of roses that I don’t think it’s really reasonable to consider them just one plant. Many of them are fussy and disease-susceptible and require a lot of attention to look half-decent. Others are sturdy and floriferous and thrive with little or no care. There’s a lot to say about roses, but if I have to thin it down to four pieces of advice they would be: (1) Unless you want to become a rose expert, consider buying from Fedco – their selection is small but excellent, if you want roses that are healthy, cold-resistant, floriferous, and scented. (2) Around the time the ground freezes for the winter, put a shovel-full or two of compost (half-rotted is fine) on the crown of the bush, where the stems meet the ground. This isn’t necessary for the sturdiest varieties, but most roses will appreciate both the food and the cold-protection. (3) If you have a climbing rose, thin it down to a few long canes and send those canes horizontally. Horizontal canes will send up lots of little flowering branches in the spring. Vertical canes won’t flower much at all. (4) If you have a rugosa rose, cut it down to 6-12” in early spring. That will keep it from getting leggy.
P N Spicebush. Spicebush is the host plant for the gorgeous Spicebush Swallowtail Butterfly. It is an understory shrub or small tree, with small yellow flowers in the spring, red berries, and yellow fall foliage. It is not a feature plant, but works well in the background of a garden. Just don’t rake up its fallen leaves comes autumn – that’s where the butterflies are over-wintering. (Spicebush is the only plant in this list I haven’t grown myself, but it has done well in other Arlington gardens and its key role as a host plant make it seem worth mentioning.)
Vines …
P Clematis Paniculata. Also known as Sweet Autumn Clematis. This vine is covered with thousands of small white flowers with an intensely sweet scent in late August through September, followed by silky seed-heads. Much less fussy than the other clematis I’ve tried, it wants only to be pruned down to a foot from the ground each year in the early spring, just as the buds are beginning to swell and grow. And then it grows and blooms with exuberance.
P N Lonicera (Honeysuckle). Some honeysuckles are invasive – make sure you don’t get one of them! But many lovely varieties, including both natives and hybrids, are fine. I especially recommend the native lonicera sempervirens, which has red flowers and attracts hummingbirds. Not all retailers distinguish carefully between different types of honeysuckle, so make sure you get your vine from a reputable source, not your local garden center unless you have reason to trust them on this issue.
P N Pipevine. Pipevines are the host plant for the Pipevine Swallowtail Butterflies, which are rare because of a lack of pipevines. They are also lovely shade-tolerant vines with light-green heart-shaped leaves. One Victorian house nearby has a big old pipevine growing around its porch, and it’s gorgeous.
N Virginia Creeper. This vigorous native vine has gorgeous scarlet leaves come fall. Some people find it too vigorous, especially in full sun, but if you have, say, a chain-link fence that you want to cover, Virginia Creeper is an excellent candidate. Just keep it out of places you don’t want it – and don’t try to confine it to a small space!