Plant Your Own Pollinator Paradise
Create a wildlife oasis in your yard! The Wild Ones Keweenaw chapter is holding its first sale of the summer. We are offering a selection of native plants to get you started gardening for butterflies, birds, and pollinators.
Check out the plants below and think about what you’d like in your garden. Then visit our shop and place your order. Simple!
Love native plants? Want to take advantage of pre-sales and get a discount? Join the Wild Ones Keweenaw chapter! Sign up here!
How our sales work
Our plant sales are online, but we are not Amazon. If you have trouble checking out, email your order to [email protected].
Otherwise, here’s what to do:
- Go to our Shop and pick out your plants.
- Check out. You may select PayPal or “pay on delivery,” i.e., pay when you pick up.
- If you have trouble checking out, email your order to [email protected].
- Pick up your order, bringing cash or a check if you have not paid with PayPal. You will receive an email reminding you when and where.
WHEN: TBA
WHERE: 1284 Hickory Lane, Houghton
Questions? Email [email protected]
Love native plants? Want to take advantage of pre-sales and discounts? Join the Wild Ones Keweenaw chapter! Sign up here!
Read about these fascinating plants, then visit our shop.
Anise Hyssop Agastache foeniculum
Super easy-to-grow and very long blooming, this pollinator magnet has a lovely aspect in the garden and fits in most anywhere that has lots of sun and well-drained soil. Its survival strategy is to spread seed abundantly, so don’t be surprised if it turns up in cracks in the sidewalk. Anise hyssop earned its name honestly; its leaves have a lovely citrusy-minty-licorice scent that make a great garnish.
Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta
This beloved roadside wildflower tolerates nearly all sunny conditions. A biennial or short-lived perennial, it will return year after year if the seeds land in their happy place.
Blue Iris Iris versicolor
LIMITED QUANTITIES
Blue Iris has very showy blue-purple flowers that attract hummingbirds and are beneficial to pollinators. It thrives in wetland habitats in sunny areas that include rain gardens, water gardens, wet meadows, marshes, along shores, in ditches and in swamps, though–AMAZING–it will also do well in a tended garden. I’ve seen it thriving in Hancock sand.
Bottle Gentian Gentiana andrewsii
LIMITED QUANTITIES
This Houghton County native could have been called “rare and choice” in the old White Flower Farm catalogs. It’s deep, rich coloration and slow-growing habits make it perfect for any garden, native and conventional, so long as it has enough moisture.
Deer aren’t supposed to like bottle gentian, just like they aren’t supposed to like butterfly weed. Unfortunately, they will sometimes nip the flowers.
Butterflyweed
Asclepias tuberosa
This dandy plant grows in miserable sandy soil in full sun; once established, it is hardy as stone. Beloved by pollinators and humans alike, its blooms are regularly bedecked by monarchs. Plant butterflyweed and help keep our favorite butterfly coming back year after year.
Calico Beardtongue Penstemon calycosus
Unfortunately, no penstemons are native to the Keweenaw. But this beauty is found in Menominee County and will still appeal to our local hummingbirds and pollinators. Not a fan of dry conditions, calico beardtongue should still handle most anything else you throw at it. Word is its happy place is a slightly damp woodland edge. Why not find out for yourself?
Columbine Aquilegia canadensis
Columbine has everything going for it: it’s widely adaptable, it’s beautiful, hummingbirds love it, and it pops up in the most unexpected places. Should you grow columbine? Of course you should.
Common Milkweed
Asclepias syriaca
Will grow in nearly all soils, so long as they aren’t too wet. Plant in full to partial sun 1 foot apart. Beloved by butterflies, especially monarchs, which only lay their eggs on milkweed plants. Common milkweed is an aggressive spreader where it is happy, so give this plant some room to run and you won’t be disappointed.
Dense Blazing Star
Liatris spicata
This gorgeous midsummer bloomer deserves a place in most any garden, so long as it’s not too dry; it might appreciate a drink during those occasional midsummer droughts. Consider pairing with another showstopper, purple coneflower. Very similar in appearance to prairie blazing star, Liatris spicata has even more flowers per head with smooth-pressed floral bracts, while the floral bracts of L. pycnostachya are clearly curved outward, or recurved.
False Sunflower
Heliopsis helianthoides
Easy to grow and very pretty, false sunflower (aka early sunflower) loves sun and just about any soil or moisture condition, though it does appreciate a little extra dampness. It can form a focal point at the back of the garden and is beloved by pollinators and birds. Bonus! Beautiful sunflower-type flowers without sunflowers’ tendency to spread.
Hairy Mountain Mint
Pycnanthemum verticillatum var. pilosum
People find hairy mountain mint pretty, but pollinators consider it irresistible. It’s easy to grow, pretty, a nice size… it might be a spreader, so when you plant it, consider the neighborhood.
Joe Pye Weed
Eutrochium maculaum
Even those who don’t know much about wildflowers will recognize this denizen of damp ditches. Native to the Keweenaw (and most of the Upper Midwest and Northeast) Joe Pye weed is a favorite for its striking flowers, which attract butterflies and other insects. Yes, you can grow it in your garden, especially if you have a sunny, soggy place.
Lance-leaf Coreopsis Coreopsis lanceolata
Lance-leaf coreopsis is the hands-down workhorse of the summer garden, throwing an exuberant display of flowers when it seems like every other plant has thrown in the towel. Dead-head to keep the show going on, and on, and on. As you would expect, lance-leaf coreopsis is not fussy. It just likes lots of sun and not too much water.
Little Bluestem
Schizachyrium scoparium
One of our most attractive ornamental grasses, it sports attractive blue-green foliage that turns a striking burgundy red in fall, with stems topped by pale, silvery seed heads. Like most native grasses, it appears impervious to insects and deer.
New England Aster Aster novae-angliae
Tons of gorgeous pink to purple blooms in the fall are a late-season godsend for butterflies and other pollinators. Good luck counting how many species you can find at one time nectaring on this aster. Can get tall and leggy, so if that bugs you, pinch back in early summer or put in the back of the border. Likes sun and partial shade and almost all soils, so long as they aren’t super dry.
Ohio Spiderwort Trandescantia ohiensis
An easy-to-grow plant with interesting foliage that provides a nice contrast in the summer garden. Not as aggressive as other spiderworts, but still a spreader, so be aware. Great with penstemons and butterfly weed. It starts looked pretty ragged late in the season; consider planting with some later-blooming natives. The showy flowers open in the morning and close in the afternoon.
Pearly Everlasting
Anaphalis margaritacea
This underused plant thrives in sun and sandy soil with a bit of moisture. It’s a great filler, and the blossoms are charming. It is a host plant for caterpillars of the American lady butterfly, but it can handle being munched on once it is established. These two species have known each other for a long time.
Poke Milkweed
Asclepias exaltata
The only shade-loving milkeed, poke milkeed is rare throughout its range, so if you want to see it, what better place than your own woodland garden? Like its cousins, it’s a host plant for monarchs. Plus, as a late bloomer, it would make a nice pit stop for monarchs heading to Mexico for the winter.
Purple Coneflower
Echinacea purpurea
The gateway plant leading to a lifelong addiction to native gardening. With a handful of other natives (black-eyed Susan comes to mind), purple coneflower can lure even the most conventional gardener to consider transforming a corner of their yard into a wild paradise. It’s gorgeous, familiar, adaptable, and well-behaved. Not to mention easy to grow in average well-drained soil in full sun to partial shade.
And yes, even though purple coneflower looks like it could have leapt off the pages of a conventional seed catalog, it is definitely loved by birds and pollinators—not just us humans.
Sweet Joe Pye Weed
Eutrochium Purpureum
Unlike the familiar Joe Pye weed found in wet ditches, this species does fine in medium soil with moderate moisture, and it’s fine in the shade. Its statuesque (5-6 feet tall) flowers are not just gorgeous, they are butterfly magnets. And seed-eating birds gobble them up in the fall.
Tall Boneset Eupatorium altissimum
Lots of pollinators love flowers that form landing pads, and tall boneset does just that. This rugged individual adds a dash of white to the fall landscape and is excellent for dry to medium conditions.
Wild Bergamot
Monarda fistulosa
A showy addition to the native garden, wild bergamot has a special advantage in being on deer’s do-not-eat list. The flowers are gorgeous and a favorite of hummingbirds. The long bloom period provides a continuing source of food for many pollinators.
Fair warning: It is susceptible to mildew. Good air circulation helps, as does dividing large plants every two to three years. That said, a little mildew is a small price to pay for this treasure.
Golden Glow
Rudbeckia laciniata
OUT OF STOCK
Found in damp, partly shady places in the wild, this eye-catching plant (AKA Green-headed Coneflower, yellow coneflower) does fine in full sun with some moisture. The flowers float on the end of long, graceful stems. Golden Glow can grow to statuesque heights–six feet, for example. It’s great for the back of the border or filling in a big spot with very little effort.
Woodland Sunflower
Helianthus divaricatus
OUT OF STOCK
Most sunflowers are full-sun divas. This cheery specimen brings a welcome splash of gold to the forest edge and, like its kin, is completely unfussy. It spreads by rhizomes, so it will naturalize like crazy in the right conditions. Be forewarned. That said, there are worse problems than too many sunflowers.
Wild Petunia
Ruellia humilis
OUT OF STOCK
A low-growing denizen of prairies and oak openings, wild petunia is a lovely little border plant that starts blooming in midsummer and continues throwing flowers through fall. It does well in poor soil, thanks to its taproot, and plays well with others.
Purple Clematis
Clematis occidentalis var. occidentalis
OUT OF STOCK
We’re pleased to be able to offer this rare and unusual vine. Listed as being of special concern in Michigan, it’s mainly found on Isle Royale, though specimens have been spotted elsewhere, mainly in the Western U.P.
Purple clematis has not been well studied, but it appears to do better in disturbed sites, and what is a garden but a disturbed site? Give it a shot.