Native plants

Native Plants of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's woodlands, meadows, and stream banks shaped a flora that handles cold winters, humid summers, and clay or rocky soils with ease. Planting natives means less watering once established, fewer inputs, and far more life in the garden — from monarchs and native bees to songbirds. The picks below are hardy, regionally adapted perennials and shrubs that bloom across the seasons and feed wildlife from spring through fall. Choose those suited to your light and soil, and you build habitat that largely takes care of itself.

Native picks for Pennsylvania

1. Wild Bergamot

   Perennial

   Its lavender, tousled summer blooms are a powerhouse nectar source, drawing native bees, butterflies, hawk moths, and hummingbirds, while thriving in sun on dry to average soils with little fuss.

2. Butterfly Weed

   Perennial

   A milkweed with brilliant orange flower clusters that serve as a host plant for monarch caterpillars and a nectar magnet for bees and butterflies, thriving in lean, well-drained sunny ground.

3. New England Aster

   Perennial

   Tall purple daisies bloom in fall when nectar grows scarce, fueling migrating monarchs and late-season bees, making it one of the most valuable plants for sustaining pollinators into autumn.

4. Eastern Red Columbine

   Perennial

   Nodding red-and-yellow spring flowers are timed to feed returning ruby-throated hummingbirds and early native bees, and it thrives in dappled shade and rocky slopes where other plants struggle.

5. Black-eyed Susan

   Perennial

   Golden daisies bloom for months, offering steady nectar to bees and butterflies, while the seed heads feed goldfinches and other songbirds through winter on a tough, adaptable plant.

6. Buttonbush

   Shrub

   A wetland-loving shrub whose spherical white flower heads draw butterflies, native bees, and hummingbirds in summer, while its seeds feed waterfowl and shorebirds along ponds and stream edges.

7. Cardinal Flower

   Perennial

   Spikes of intense scarlet blooms rise from moist soil in late summer, perfectly shaped for ruby-throated hummingbirds, which are among its few effective pollinators, alongside large butterflies.