St. Timothy Garden
Plant Guide
St. Timothy Garden Plant Descriptions
Below are descriptions and pictures of the native plants that are growing in our garden. It is a guide to help visualize what the garden will look like over time. Descriptions and photos are from Prairie Moon Nursery.
Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum)
Mountain Mint attracts many insects to its flowers, including various bees, wasps, flies, small butterflies, and beetles. The leaves are very fragrant; when crushed they have a strong minty odor. The flowers will be white to shades of light purple, some with purple spots. Pycnanthemum means “densely flowered,” an attribute that enables Mountain Mint to accommodate many pollinators at once. The long bloom time, a month or more in July and August, is another reason Mountain Mint is a great choice for those interested in feeding pollinators.
Ostrich Fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris)
Ostrich Fern, named for its similarity to ostrich feathers, is easy to grow in wet woodland locations, spreads slowly by rhizomes, and is deer-resistant. In early spring, foragers seek the edible curled fronds, called “fiddleheads” which are prepared like asparagus.
Big-Leaved Aster (Aster macrophyllus)
Big-Leaved Aster gets its common name from its large, heart-shaped foliage, which has coarse-toothed edges reaching 8″ across.. It’s often planted for these large leaves as a shaded ground cover rather than for the sometimes sparse fall flowers. The flowering stems reach one to two feet in height, topped by blossoms with 9 to 20 thin, white-violet rays surrounding a yellow center. Eurybia macrophylla is common to northern woodlands, where it often forms a dense ground cover, spreading by rhizomes.
Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
Columbine, also called Red or American Columbine, is one of the first plants to provide nectar in the spring for bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Columbine is the larval host plant of the Columbine Duskywing. The colorful flowers are red flowing into yellow. Besides being an early bloomer, Columbine will tolerate a large range of soil and sun types, so you’ll have success with it in full sun as well as shade. It can grow in pine tree areas and is deer-resistant.
Purple Giant Hyssop (Agastache scrophulariaefolia)
This vigorous plant features opposing leaves and tall, strong central stems. The flowers of Purple Giant Hyssop are a very pale purple–not purple-looking at all from a distance. The individual blossoms open over a period of several weeks. The long bloom time, in combination with being nectar-rich, makes them highly attractive to butterflies and other pollinators, including the federally-endangered Rusty Patched Bumble Bee (see photo). Birds also feed on the seeds that follow.
Turtlehead (Chelone glabra)
Turtlehead is named for its pretty white blossoms which resemble a turtle head poking out from its shell. It is an important host plant providing larval food for the lovely orange and brown Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly. Its nectar also attracts other butterflies, bumblebees, and ruby-throated hummingbirds.
Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)
Great Blue Lobelia grows large, richly-flowered spikes. The deep blue-violet flowers on these spikes attract many bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Lobelias produce a secondary compound known as “lobeline,” which deters herbivores.
Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Cardinal Flower is named for its beautiful scarlet red flowers which are an important nectar source for hummingbirds and swallowtail butterflies. Lobelias produce a secondary compound known as “lobeline,” which deters herbivores. The flowering spikes open from the bottom to the top and bloom for several weeks.
Ohio Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohioe)
The Spiderworts are native throughout the country with Ohio Spiderwort being the most widespread. This Tradescantia is very adaptable tolerating sand, clay, and other tough sites. Ohio Spiderwort can be found growing in road ditches and in medium to dry prairies and meadows. Its unusual blue-green soft foliage and tendency to bloom in the morning sun and close from mid-day heat make this an attractive addition wherever it is found.
Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium reptans)
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. Jacob’s Ladder will grow in full sun if it has adequate moisture, but it prefers woodlands (almost full shade) and woodland edges (partial shade.)
Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pedetum)
This fern has black, wiry stems and delicate, airy, green fronds that curve into a semi-circle. They can grow up to 2 feet tall and about a foot across. They spread slowly by means of a creeping rhizome and are easy to grow in the woodland garden.
Prairie Coreposis (Coreopsis plamata)
Prairie Coreopsis matures to a height of just 2′. It prefers medium to dry soil conditions and sets striking yellow flowers for 3-4 weeks, usually in June and July. Dead-head flowers to prolong bloom time. Beekeepers consider all Coreopsis species to be good honey sources. In the past, some American Indian tribes applied boiled Coreopsis seeds to painful areas of their bodies in order to relieve ailments such as rheumatism. Other common names in use include Tickseed, Stiff Tickseed, and Stiff Coreopsis.
Bebb’s Oval Sedge (Carex bebbii)
Bebb’s Oval Sedge or simply Bebb’s Sedge, prefers full sun exposure and medium-wet soil. It is commonly found in marsh and wetland areas, river and lake edges. It is a clump forming, fine textured plant with a cascading appearance so adds variety and interest of shapes and textures to a medium to wet landscape.The Common and Latin name is from an amateur botanist Robert Bebb, who was particularly interested in sedges. Robert Bebb grew up in IL but lived in Oklahoma later in life and donated his botanical collection to the University of Oklahoma, where now exists the Bebb Herbarium.
Pale Purple Cone Flower (Echinacea pallida)
Pale Purple Coneflower grows up to 3′ feet tall and has very pale purple to pink flowers. It blooms in early summer when only a few of the sun loving plants are in bloom and provides nectar for hummingbirds and butterflies, and the leaves provide food for the Ottoe-skipper larva Once the taproot is established it is extremely drought-tolerant and needs little care, but then also may be difficult to move. In the past all of the Purple Coneflowers were used as medicinal plants by the Native Americans. There is still a market for the roots, which are used to make herbal medicines and tonics.
Long Beaked Sedge (Carex sprengelii)
is native to most of the northern half of the United States. This sedge can typically be found in the wild in rocky soil, but it can thrive in average soils and tolerate some drought, but soils on the moist side are preferred. Long-Beaked Sedge is, like most sedges, resistant to deer. It does provide shelter for small mammals and food source for migrating songbirds when the seeds start to drop in autumn. As a cool season grass, Long-Beaked sedge will actively grow in the early spring and fall when the soil is cool.
Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
Monarda fistulosa, also commonly called Bee Balm or Horse-Mint, has a lovely lavender blossom and distinctively aromatic foliage. It is a familiar component of prairie and savanna communities on all but the wettest of soils. Native to most of North America, it often is cited for its historical medicinal applications among indigenous peoples. These include poultices for boils and lacerations, as well as tea infusions for headaches, indigestion and colds and flu. Wild Bergamot is a favorite of butterflies, bees and hummingbirds.
Mistflower (Eupatorium coelstinum)
Mistflower reaches up to two feet in height with downy, purplish, branching stems in moist or low savanna settings. Its opposing, large-toothed leaves are oval to triangular. Resembling a lovely blue-purple fog when found in dense stands, the disk flowers form in clusters of 35-70 at the tops of stems in late summer and autumn, attracting late-season butterflies.
