New Hampshire Natives

White turtlehead produces creamy white blossoms, often brushed with pink, on sturdy upright stems. The hooded late-summer flowers add fresh color to moist woodland borders and streamside plantings. It performs best in rich soil that remains evenly moist through the growing season.

Marsh marigold brightens the early garden with glossy foliage and cheerful golden flowers. It thrives in consistently moist soil beside ponds, streams, rain gardens, and other low areas. The clumping plants bring welcome color before many other perennials begin blooming.

Late Figwort, also called Maryland Figwort, is an eastern and central North American perennial whose genus name recalls its long history in herbal use. Tall square stems carry small reddish-green, nectar-rich flowers from midsummer into fall. Native bees, wasps, butterflies, and hummingbirds visit the blooms, while birds use the plant for food and shelter. Grow it in loamy or sandy soil from full sun to shade after 60 days of cold, moist stratification, and surface sow the tiny seeds.

Water Horehound is native to nearly all of the contiguous United States and has long occupied open marshes, fens, and wet meadows. Although it belongs to the mint family, its foliage lacks the strong mint scent; small white flowers sit in the leaf axils. Those flowers can serve small pollinating insects, while the stems add cover in wetland habitat. Give it sun or partial shade and moist to wet soil.

Rice Cut Grass has a wide history across world wetlands and is native to North American floodplains and pond margins. Its sharp-edged leaves explain the common name and can form dense stands. Least Skipper larvae use the grass, adults feed in its habitat, and waterfowl eat the seed. Plant in sun or partial shade on wet, preferably silty soil.

Common Rush has been cultivated more widely than other rushes and occurs across much of the world, including North American wetlands. Bright green, nearly leafless stems make a fine-textured stand beside ponds. Wetland birds forage and shelter among the stems and seeds. Grow in full sun on medium to wet soil.

Fowl Manna Grass is one of North America's most widespread wetland grasses, occurring from shaded woodland pools to open marshes. Its airy panicles and soft foliage provide cover for small animals. Geese graze the leaves, and the moth Elachista irrorata uses it as a host plant. Grow it in sun or shade on moist to wet soil.

Wild Geranium is native to eastern North American woods and has a long history in woodland gardens. Pink-purple spring flowers feed bees and butterflies, while the crane's-bill seed mechanism flings ripe seeds away from the parent plant. Divided leaves form low, spreading patches that shelter small woodland life. Give it sun to shade and medium to moderately dry soil.

Bottle Gentian is a slow-growing North American perennial whose closed blue flowers have earned the older name Closed Bottle Gentian. Bumblebees are strong enough to push into the late-season blossoms and are its principal pollinators. The long-lived plants bring color to wet meadows when many summer flowers have faded. Grow in sun to partial shade and medium to moist soil.

Virginia Wild Rye has long filled forest edges and damp clearings in eastern North America. Its quick growth and ready reseeding make it useful as a native cover crop and for streambank stabilization. Birds use the seed-bearing stems for food and cover, and insects inhabit the grass. It tolerates sun to shade and moist ground, with tan and crimson fall color.

Riverbank Wild Rye is native to the eastern United States and has long occupied streambanks and other riparian corridors. Its roots help hold soil, making it useful in modern erosion-control plantings. Songbirds and waterfowl use the stems for cover and nesting material and feed among the seeds. Give this cool-season grass partial shade and medium to wet soil.

Bottlebrush Grass was once classified as Hystrix patula, a historical name that points to its bristly, brush-shaped seed heads. This native of eastern North American woods grows during cool spring and fall weather. Northern Pearly-eye caterpillars use it as a host, and birds forage among its stems and seeds. Grow in partial shade to shade on medium to moderately dry soil.

Blunt Spike Rush is a small North American wetland native with a different life history from many rushes: it is an annual that reseeds. Upright stems and compact seed heads offer cover for frogs and perches for dragonflies. Aquatic beetles, leafhoppers, and shore flies also use its wet habitat. Sow in full sun on mud or consistently wet soil.

Flat-topped Aster was formerly known as Aster umbellatus, a reminder of its changing botanical classification. Native to North American wet meadows and moist prairies, it flowers earlier than many asters with broad clusters of pale rays. Bees, wasps, flies, beetles, and butterflies visit the blooms; turkey and swamp sparrows also use the plant. Give it sun to partial shade and moist soil, with room for rhizomes.

Wood Reed Grass is native from eastern Canada through the eastern and central United States, where it grows in damp woods and thickets. Its tall, wavy seed panicles turn tan late in summer, adding movement to shaded plantings. Seed heads and dense stems give birds forage and cover, while deer usually leave mature stands alone. Grow it in partial to full shade and moist, fertile soil.

Brown Fox Sedge takes its name from the fox-tail appearance of its midsummer seed heads. This abundant North American native grows across wet meadows and other moist open habitats. Fruiting clumps provide bird forage and cover for small wetland animals. It adapts to sun or partial shade and soils ranging from wet to moderately dry.

Hairy-fruited Lake Sedge has a long natural role in North American marshes and lake-edge sedge beds. Underground rhizomes create extensive stands that shelter wetland insects and waterbirds. Because this cool-season sedge spreads strongly, it fits restoration-scale plantings better than small beds. Give it full sun and wet ground.

Awl-fruited Oval Sedge, also called Blunt Broom Sedge, is a native of North American wet lowlands. Its pale green blades and July seed spikes give it a lighter look than many other sedges. Moth, skipper, and butterfly larvae use sedge foliage, and waterfowl and songbirds eat the seeds. Plant in sun or partial shade in moist to wet soil.

Common Tussock Sedge is a North American wetland perennial whose raised clumps have shaped sedge meadows over generations. It offers larval food to Black Dash and Mulberry Wing skippers, Eyed Brown and Appalachian Brown butterflies, and the Bog Lithacondia moth. Birds also forage within the dense wetland stands. Grow in sun to partial shade on consistently wet ground.

Awl-fruited Sedge has several long-used names, including Prickly Sedge and Fox Sedge, reflecting its pointed seed heads. It is native to North American riverbanks, floodplain forests, and marshes and establishes quickly in disturbed wetlands. Caterpillars feed on the foliage; woodcocks, ducks, and swamp sparrows eat the seeds. Plant in sun or shade with reliably moist to wet soil.

Lance-fruited Oval Sedge has also been called Broom Sedge, a name linked to its broom-like fruiting form. It belongs to sunny North American marshes, floodplains, and wet sandy ground. Moths and skipper caterpillars use the foliage, while waterfowl, songbirds, turtles, and small mammals eat the seeds. This clumping, cool-season perennial suits wetland gardens and restoration sites.

Eastern Star Sedge was formerly called Straight-Styled Wood Sedge, a name referring to the shape of its female flower styles. This eastern North American woodland sedge forms fine green clumps with star-like fruiting heads that arch as they ripen. The foliage provides low cover for woodland insects and other small wildlife. Give it partial to full shade and soil that stays evenly moist.

Broad-leaved Woolly Sedge is native to North American wet meadows and mineral-rich wetlands, where calcareous soil is common. Its broad, softly textured leaves and June seed spikes distinguish it from finer sedges. Native sedge foliage can host insects, while its seeds contribute to wetland bird forage. Plant it in sun or partial shade with consistently moist to wet, often alkaline soil.

Spreading Oval Sedge, also known as Greater Straw Sedge, belongs to North American moist fields, thickets, and open forests. This cool-season perennial flowers in early summer and tolerates sun through shade. Its seed-bearing clumps add cover and forage for small insects and seed-eating birds. Grow it in medium to medium-wet soil where a flexible woodland-edge sedge is needed.

Common Lake Sedge is a historic component of North American lake margins and marshes, spreading through underground rhizomes. Its tall stands provide wetland cover, and its leaves host Broad-Winged Skipper and brown butterfly caterpillars. Waterfowl and songbirds eat its seeds, while some wetland mammals browse the roots. Reserve this vigorous sedge for large, wet restoration sites.

Porcupine Sedge is a native of North American fens, marshes, sedge meadows, and wet prairies, also known as Bottlebrush Sedge. Its bristly seed heads give the common names their character. Wetland insects use its foliage and waterfowl forage for sedge seeds among the stems. Grow it in full sun and wet soil that may flood for short periods.

Pale Sedge has long been part of North American wet meadows and limestone-rich wetlands; its other name, Limestone Meadow Sedge, describes that habitat. It grows in cool weather and carries pale spring to early-summer flower spikes above narrow leaves. Like other sedges, its growth supports small wetland insects and seed-foraging birds. Choose moist to wet, often alkaline soil in sun or shade.

Fringed Sedge is a North American streamside and pond-edge perennial whose large glossy clumps have long anchored wetland soils. Its drooping seed spikes mature from pale green to tan. Caterpillars of the Eyed Brown butterfly and several skippers use sedges like this, and wetland birds forage among the foliage. Grow in wet clay or other consistently moist ground in sun to shade.

Plains Oval Sedge, historically also called Shortbeak Sedge, occurs across North American open ground, from dry disturbed sites to seasonally flooded margins. Golden-brown oval seed spikes stand above a compact mound in fall. Like other native sedges, it contributes seed and cover to birds and habitat for small insects. Its wide moisture tolerance makes it useful in sunny or partly shaded restoration plantings.

Blue Joint Grass is a widespread North American wetland grass with a long natural role in streamside and meadow plant communities. Pink-green summer seed heads rise above rhizomes that help hold damp soil in place. Its dense growth offers cover for wetland insects and birds, and it can spread quickly across restoration sites. Give it full sun to partial shade and moist to wet ground.

Hairy Wood Chess, also known as Hairy Woodland Brome, is a cool-season native grass of North American woodlands; it was once grouped with other Bromus species. Its dark leaves and tall clumps give structure to lightly shaded, moderately moist sites. Wild Turkeys, Ruffed Grouse, and small mammals eat its seeds, while deer and rabbits browse young growth. Plant it where a woodland edge needs a taller native grass.