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Spring Ephemerals
Native bees and other insects will come out on warmer days in late winter and in the earliest days of spring. Don't disappoint them. Make sure they have energy sources.
May Freebies
Your Guide to Your New Native Plants
If you picked up a free plant Saturday, you can learn more about them here. All of these plants are perennials that will return each year.
Shrubby St. John's Wort (Hypericum prolificum)
Mature size: 3-4 ft tall, 3 ft wide
Light needs: full sun to part shade
Water needs: moist to dry
Larval host plant for 21 species of butterflies and moths, including Wavy-lined Emerald
Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea)
Mature size: foliage 1 ft, flower heads 2-3 ft
Light needs: full sun to part shade
Water needs: moist to dry
Note: enthusiastic self-seeder by year 3. Cut dead flower heads off to control spread.
Larval host plant for 4 species of butterflies and moths, including Black Swallowtail
Virginia Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum)
Mature size: 3-4 ft tall, 2 ft wide
Light needs: part shade
Water needs: moist to dry
Larval host plant for 5 species of butterflies and moths, including Hermit Sphinx
Blue Wood Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium)
Mature size: 2 ft tall, 1 ft wide
Light needs: sun to shade (prefers part sun)
Water needs: average to dry
Note: Rabbit favorite; may need a cage to establish if rabbits are present.
Larval host plant for 11 species of butterflies and moths, including Aster Flowerhead Moths
Hairy Beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus)
Mature size: 8-12 inches, 1 ft wide
Light needs: full sun to part shade
Water needs: medium to dry
Note: enthusiastic self-seeder by year 3. Cut dead flower heads off to control spread
Larval host plant for 9 species of butterflies and moths, including Common Buckeye
Pearly Everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea)
Mature size: 1-2 ft, 2-3 ft wide
Light needs: full sun
Water needs: medium to dry
Larval host plant for 6 species of butterflies and moths, including American Lady
Bee Balm (Monarda fistulosa)
Mature size: 3-4 ft tall, 2 ft wide
Light needs: full sun to part shade
Water needs: medium to dry
Larval host plant for 10 species of butterflies and moths, including Pink-patched Looper Moth
Resources
Ask your garden center or nursery for straight-species, native plants. Even if your nursery only has a few natives, it would be a start. And continue to advocate for native plants - to your friends, neighbors and local garden clubs.
Cautionary Note: Even if your source says it's a "native" if it lists the plant name, followed by text in "quotes" - it has been altered from its original state. Try to only buy straight species, not nativars or cultivars.
Country Flower Farms, Middlefield, CT
This nursery has done a pretty good job at stocking native plants in the past. It's worth checking out.
NatureWorks Garden Center, Northford, CT
NatureWorks has straight-species native plants in addition to their other offerings.
Native seeds, native plants. Most of CT falls within Eco-region 59.
Urbanscapes Native Plant Nursery, New Haven, CT
A nursery managed by Menunkatuck Audubon Society. It has great prices on straight-species natives.
Orders are best done online. Offers ecotype and native straight species.
Offers seeds of native plants.
Native Plant Trust, Framingham, MA
A visit to NPT and Garden in the Woods should be on everyone's to-do, must-go list.