Native plants for Greene County yards

Start with the spot, then pick the plant

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) publishes lists of plants native to Ohio that suit landscape and restoration use. The lists are sorted by habitat: fields and prairies, upland woods, floodplains, wet woods, wet fields and wetlands. A sunny, dry front bed has a lot in common with a prairie, and a shady back corner under old trees has a lot in common with upland woods, so the habitat lists are a practical place to start.¹²

Check your hardiness zone with the USDA map’s ZIP code search. The zones come from the average coldest winter night at a location, in 10-degree steps with 5-degree half zones.³

Every plant below is on an ODNR list (or, for a few, confirmed native in Ohio by USDA PLANTS). Heights, light and bloom times come from NC State Extension’s Plant Toolbox. Its bloom times run a little earlier than ours, so treat them as a rough guide.⁴⁵

The full set of native plants can be filtered by sun, moisture, type and bloom season.

Full sun

For the sunniest beds. These come from ODNR’s fields and prairies list.¹⁵

• Butterfly milkweed Asclepias tuberosa perennial, 1–2 ft
• Purple coneflower Echinacea purpurea perennial, 3–4 ft
• Wild bergamot Monarda fistulosa perennial, 2–4 ft
• Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta perennial, 2–4 ft
• New England aster Symphyotrichum novae-angliae perennial, 3–6 ft
• Little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium grass, 2–4 ft
• Spiked blazing star Liatris spicata perennial, 3–6 ft
• Nodding onion Allium cernuum perennial, 6 in–2 ft
• Tall coreopsis Coreopsis tripteris perennial, 2–10 ft
• Indian grass Sorghastrum nutans grass, 5–7 ft

Shade

Under trees and on the north side of the house. Most of these are on ODNR’s upland woods list, and several bloom in spring.²⁵

• Christmas fern Polystichum acrostichoides fern, 1–3 ft
• Wild ginger Asarum canadense groundcover, 6 in–1 ft
• Foamflower Tiarella cordifolia perennial, 5 in–1 ft
• Wild geranium Geranium maculatum perennial, 1.2–1.5 ft
• Virginia bluebells Mertensia virginica perennial, 1.5–2 ft
• Mayapple Podophyllum peltatum perennial, 1–1.5 ft
• Pennsylvania sedge Carex pensylvanica sedge, 1–8 in
• White wood aster Eurybia divaricata perennial, 1–3 ft
• Smooth Solomon's seal Polygonatum biflorum perennial, 3–6 ft
• Spicebush Lindera benzoin shrub, 8–15 ft

Wet or soggy spots

Low spots that stay damp, the end of a downspout, or the middle of a rain garden. These are drawn from ODNR’s wetlands and floodplains lists.⁶⁷⁵

• Swamp milkweed Asclepias incarnata perennial, 3–5 ft
• Cardinal flower Lobelia cardinalis perennial, 4–5 ft
• Northern blue flag iris Iris versicolor perennial, 2–3 ft
• Common boneset Eupatorium perfoliatum perennial, 4–6 ft
• Spotted Joe-Pye weed Eutrochium maculatum perennial, 4–7 ft
• Swamp rose mallow Hibiscus moscheutos perennial, 2–6 ft
• Buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis shrub, 5–8 ft
• Red osier dogwood Cornus sericea shrub, 5–9 ft
• Winterberry Ilex verticillata shrub, 3–15 ft
• River birch Betula nigra tree, 30–70 ft

For catching roof water on purpose, see rain gardens and drainage basics.

Dry spots

Slopes, hot strips along the driveway and thin soil. NC State’s Plant Toolbox lists each of these for dry soil.⁵¹²

• Side-oats grama Bouteloua curtipendula grass, 1–3 ft
• Prairie dropseed Sporobolus heterolepis grass, 2–3 ft
• Wild columbine Aquilegia canadensis perennial, 1–3 ft
• Foxglove beardtongue Penstemon digitalis perennial, 2–4 ft
• Stiff goldenrod Solidago rigida perennial, up to about 5 ft
• Wild stonecrop Sedum ternatum groundcover, 3–6 in
• New Jersey tea Ceanothus americanus shrub, 2–3 ft
• Fragrant sumac Rhus aromatica shrub, 2–6 ft
• Eastern red cedar Juniperus virginiana tree, 30–40 ft
• Pennsylvania sedge Carex pensylvanica sedge, 1–8 in

Buy nursery-grown plants