Flat Topped White Aster
One of the first asters to bloom in the summer. Fairly flat clusters of small, white flower heads can reach widths of six to ten inches. This perennial native plant is an important host plant in the life cycles of pearl crescent and silvery checkerspot butterflies.
Lobelia
Great Lobelia, the blue counterpart of the Cardinal Flower, can be found in open, moist places and blooms at the same time as Cardinal Flower. The Latin species name indicates that it was once thought that Great Lobelia was a cure for syphilis. The Native Americans of this region used Lobelia as an analgesic and as a treatment for many other common ailments. Lobelia prefers moist, organically rich soil in shady to sunny areas. Tolerates drier locations than L. cardinalis, but insists on some afternoon shade in warmer zones. May self seed if happy.
Ageratum
Ageratum are among the prettiest garden blues, growing well in sun or partial shade, from early summer to frost. Growing Ageratum is easy. They produce a profusion of fluffy flowers all season long. They are excellent plants for beginner gardeners. The blues are most popular, providing colorful accent. Flower colors also include pink and white. Ageratum are native to tropical regions of South and Central America.
Their size and color makes Ageratum good candidates for both rock gardens and flower beds. Try growing Ageratum plants in containers, too. They will be right at home on your patio or deck.
Seedbox
Mainly a wetland plant, Seedbox bears distinctive, box-like fruit, square on top and filled with many seeds, earning it its common name! The plant produces attractive yellow blossoms throughout the summer. A great plant for wet swampy areas!
Baptisia
Baptisia australis, or blue false indigo is a native American beauty. In fact, Europeans used to pay Americans to grow it, for the dye they made from the blue flowers. That's why it's called False Indigo. Indigo was expensive and Baptisia grew like a weed. Baptisia is a member of the pea family and you’ll notice a resemblance in its foliage and flowers, as well as its fondness for cooler weather. Baptisia australis is a standout because of its striking blue flowers.
Beardtongue
Yellow Birch
Yellow Birch can be a large hardwood. These pretty trees have a golden bark that flakes off rather than peels in big sheets for which Paper Birch trees are famous. Deer, rabbits, beaver and Ruffed grouse depend on it for sustenance.
Black Chokeberry
Black chokeberry is a deciduous, coldhardy shrub useful in landscape plantings, showing white flowers in the spring and colorful red foliage and heavy, dark fruit in the fall.
Plants are browsed by white-tailed deer and rabbits. It can grow to a height of 3 to 12
feet tall. The fine-toothed leaves are medium green and hairless, with raised glands along the top of the midrib. In spring, the bisexual flowers form clusters that are 2 to 2 and half inches across. The five petals are white, with pink anthers. The primary pollinators are small bees. As the seasons progress, the leaves turn a deep glossy green. In mid to late summer the fruit begins to form. As the pea-sized fruit ripens, it darkens to a purplish-black color. The fruit are pomes which will begin to drop from the plants shortly after ripening. The fruits are quite juicy, but will begin to shrivel up after ripening. The juice and seeds are deep purple in color.
Strawberry Bush
Wildlife biologists often refer to Strawberry bush as an "ice-cream plant" for deer. Deer love Strawberry bush so much that it can be non-existent in areas with hungry deer. It is absolutely beautiful and unique native plant worth including in your yard. The bright green shoots grow straight as an arrow(so also called "arrow-wood") and develop seed pods resembling strawberries that burst open in late summer.
Viburnum nudum
There are some shrubs that will light up the fall garden with both leaf color and fruit. 'Winterthur' viburnum is one of those shrubs. It begins its display in late summer, as clusters of half-inch-diameter fruit begin to blush pink and become more intense over the course of a few weeks until the whole shrub looks bedecked in bubble gum. The fruit quickly change to a deep blueberry blue as the glossy, leathery leaves become infused with maroon and red. 'Winterthur' maintains a compact, 6-foot-round, multistemmed habit that produces abundant fruit and more intense fall color than the species. In late spring, it's covered with small, off-white, slightly fragrant flowers.
Pawpaw
Forgotten fruit of North America. But it has a long history and the only "tropical" native fruit here.
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