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Plant Finder

Wildlife:

Bee Balm

Monarda didyma

Bee Balm is a tall summer-blooming perennial with brilliant red flowers and unique slightly fuzzy foliage. It should be restrained or it will take over in the garden.

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Cardinal Flower

Lobelia cardinalis

The vibrant red blooms of the cardinal flower makes it an ideal plant for the shady summer garden. It reseeds readily and is ideal for naturalizing and sharing with friends.

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Dipper gourds are sprawling plants that produce enormous quantities of fruit over the course of the season. The gourds they produce can be used to make drinking vessels, birdhouses, and other decorative items.

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Four O'clock

Mirabilis jalapa

Named for the time of day the bloom opens, four o'clocks will attract hummingbirds and nocturnal pollinators to your garden. This bushy plant reseeds readily, producing hundreds of large black seeds that resemble hand grenades.

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Foxglove

Digitalis purpurea

Wands of bell-shaped flowers ascend from a broad, woolly basal rosette. This common cottage garden flower has an important role in the manufacture of heart medicine.

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French Marigold

Tagetes patula

French marigolds are iconic garden plants with distinctly fragrant leaves. The flowers are single, semi-double, double, or crested in shades of yellow, orange, or red, and can also be bi-colored. When planted in the vegetable garden, marigolds can repel certain pests, such as white flies on tomatoes…

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French Striped Marigold

Tagetes patula

This dazzling plant blooms in masses of yellow flowers with deep burgundy stripes and is the star of the fall garden.

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Garden Phlox

Phlox paniculata

Garden phlox has long been a staple of the perennial border, providing height and bright blooms at the back of the bed. The pink flowers are fragrant and attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds.

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Hollyhock

Alcea rosea

Hollyhocks are old-fashioned cottage garden favorites for their height and cheerful flowers in a wide range of colors. Most require staking to support their heavy stems.

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Honeysuckle

Lonicera sempervirens

A woody, twining vine, honeysuckle needs some structure to support itself. It blooms nearly all summer and is attractive to hummingbirds and other pollinators. It is well-suited for arbors, pergolas, and fences.

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Lilac

Syringa vulgaris

Large fragrant bouquets of purple flowers make this shrub the queen of spring in the northern garden.

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Maltese Cross

Lychnis chalcedonica

Bright orange flowers offer a sharp contrast to the pinks and purples that proliferate in the early summer border. Maltese cross reseeds fairly easily, but can be choked out by more aggressive perennials.

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Obedient Plant

Physostegia virginiana

This tall Virginia native has spires of bright pink flowers and can be seen growing along waterways and woodland trails. It makes an excellent addition the back of the border, but be prepared for some spreading. It does not earn its name by staying in one place, but due to the ability to manipulate…

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Wildlife:

Bee Balm

Monarda didyma

Cardinal Flower

Lobelia cardinalis

Dipper Gourd

Lagenaria siceraria

Four O'clock

Mirabilis jalapa

Foxglove

Digitalis purpurea

French Marigold

Tagetes patula

French Striped Marigold

Tagetes patula

Garden Phlox

Phlox paniculata

Hollyhock

Alcea rosea

Honeysuckle

Lonicera sempervirens

Lilac

Syringa vulgaris

Maltese Cross

Lychnis chalcedonica

Obedient Plant

Physostegia virginiana

Pincushion Flower

Scabiosa atropurpurea

Scarlet Rose Mallow

Hibiscus coccineus

Snapdragon

Antirrhinum majus

Summersweet

Clethra alnifolia

Sweet William

Dianthus barbatus

Wild Bergamot

Monarda fistulosa

Wild Columbine

Aquilegia canadensis

Woodland Phlox

Phlox divaricata