Spring brings an abundance of showy flowering plants to gardens in the Mid-Atlantic region, while Fall offers the beauty of colorful foliage, fruits, and seed heads. Summer flowering native plants have equally glorious ornamental qualities and provide your garden with continuity of bloom important to supporting local wildlife. Join Extension Master Gardener Elaine Mills as she describes the characteristics and attributes of 35 native perennials, woody plants, and grasses that bloom during the summer months. Elaine, a creative force behind the MGNV resource Tried and True Native Plant Selections for the Mid-Atlantic, will also discuss landscape uses, as well as care and maintenance tips for these native plants.
Zoom session, recorded June 4, 2021
Video of Presentation
Additional Resources
Perennials
Spring to July
- Eastern Red Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
- Scarlet Beebalm (Monarda didyma)
- Stokes Aster (Stokesia laevis)
- Eastern Prickly Pear (Opuntia humifusa)
Preparation of pads & fruit – see Benefits
June to August
- Butterfly-weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
- Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
- Indian Pink (Spigelia marilandica)
- Garden Phlox (Phlox paniculata)
Mt. Cuba Trials – Phlox for Sun - Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum)
June to September
- Threadleaf Coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata)
- Oxeye (Heliopsis helianthoides)
- Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
- Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)
July to August
- Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
- Blazing Star/Gayfeather (Liatris spicata)
- Turk’s Cap Lily (Lilium superbum)
July to September
- Short-toothed Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum muticum)
- Swamp Rose-mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos)
- Scarlet Rose-mallow (Hibiscus coccineus)
- Woodland Sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus)
July to October
Vines
See Native Vines for the Home Garden
Graminoids (Grasses, Sedges & Rushes)
- Bottlebrush Grass (Elymus hystrix)
- Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum)
- River Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium)
- Common Rush (Juncus effusus)
- Purple Lovegrass (Eragrostis spectabilis)
See Native Grasses, Sedges & Rushes for the Home Landscape
Shrubs
- Oakleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia)
- Common Yucca (Yucca filamentosa)
- New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus)
- Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
- American Beauty-berry (Callicarpa americana)
- Sweet Pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia)
- Steeplebush (Spiraea tomentosa)