Wildflowers

Wildflowers add so much beauty to our yards and gardens while providing food to our local wildlife, primarily butterflies, bees and hummingbirds.

Before planting wildflowers, get to know your site and select species best suited to the amount of sunlight, moisture and soil type. Take note of the height of the wildflowers and design accordingly, with the lowest species to the front and the tallest to the middle or back. Remember to include larval host plants, the food plants for caterpillars. Learn more about attracting pollinators and our pollinator garden packs.

When designing your wildflower space consider planting species in minimum groupings of three. Groups of flowers create a better show of blooms, aid in cross-pollination for seed production, and create nectar “targets” and are more frequently visited by pollinators.

wdt_ID	Botanical Name	Common Name	Height	Bloom Time	Colour	Light	Moisture Pref.	Soil Pref.	Wildlife Associations	Remarks
1	Achillea millefolium	Yarrow	60 cm	early to mid summer	white	Full Sun	Dry	tolerant	nectar source for pollinators	A plant once considered alien to this area has now been accepted as native to the northern hemisphere
2	Acorus americanus	Sweet Flag, Flag Root, Sweet Sedge	75 cm	early summer	yellow-green	Full Sun	Wet	Rich	mammals	Indigenous people called this plant Muskrat Root; used as a food source; crushed leaves have a spicy, sweet aroma; the volatile oil in the rhizomes is called Calamus Oil
3	Actaea pachypoda	White Baneberry, Doll's Eyes, White Cohosh	50 cm	late spring	white	Shade	Mesic	Rich	birds, mammals	White berries with black dot resemble doll's eyes on attractive red stems; all parts of the plant are poisonous
4	Actaea rubra	Red Baneberry	40 cm	late spring	white	Shade	Mesic	Rich	birds, mammals	attractive cluster of bright red berries; all parts of the plant are poisonous
5	Agastache foeniculum	Blue Giant Hyssop, Anise Hyssop	90 cm	summer	violet-blue	Full Sun/ Part Shade	Dry	tolerant	Hummingbird/butterfly	Anise flavoured leaves and roots have been used to flavour foods and teas; also used to treat fevers, colds, and coughs
6	Agastache nepetoides	Giant Yellow Hyssop	90 cm	summer	yellowish-green	Full Sun/Part Shade	Dry	tolerant	nectar source	As it will grow to over a metre in height, this hyssop is great as a background plant or centre of a butterfly garden
7	Agaratina altissima (Eupatorium rugosum)	White Snakeroot	75 cm	late summer	white	Shade / Part Shade	Mesic	rich	nectar and seed feeders	mass plant for best effect
8	Allium canadense	Wild Garlic	30 cm	late spring/eary summer	pinkish	Full Sun/Part Shade	Mesic	tolerant	nectar feeders, bulbs & leaves are eaten by wild turkeys	All parts of the plant can be used like onions, raw or cooked
9	Allium cernuum	Nodding Wild Onion	45 cm	mid summer	deep pink	Full Sun/Part Shade	Dry	tolerant	Butterfly/Moth	can be used like regular onion
11	Allium tricoccum	Wild Leek	20 cm	late spring/early summer	White	Shade / Part Shade	Mesic	Rich	unknown	Lush green leaves that appear in early spring make a great addition to salads. Flowers appear after the leaves die back
	Botanical Name	Common Name	Height	Bloom Time	Colour	Light	Moisture Pref.	Soil Pref.