These sun-loving natives are also garden perennials
Next up in my series celebrating April as Native Plant Month are those that thrive in sunny landscapes.
One of my favorites is yarrow, a tough, drought-tolerant perennial that does especially well in full sun and well-drained soil. Once established, yarrow is very low maintenance and even thrives in poor, sandy or rocky soils.
Yarrow produces clusters of tiny flowers that form broad, flat-topped heads which are perfect landing pads for butterflies, bees, moths and other pollinators. The native variety has delicate, frilly white flowers on tall, multi-branching stems, but there are also cultivated varieties in pink, yellow, red and orange.
Their finely divided, feathery foliage gives the plant a soft, lacy appearance in the garden.
Yarrow spreads slowly by rhizomes and can also self-seed, so I like to keep an eye on it. I divide the clumps every few years to manage growth and encourage more blooms.
Another of my favorite native perennials is Stoke’s aster, which adds long-lasting color to sunny beds and borders. It grows low to the ground, forming a tidy mound of dark green, lance-shaped leaves.
The large, daisy-like flowers measure 2 to 4 inches across and bloom from late spring to well into summer. The lavender-blue petals are deeply fringed and surround a striking purple center.
Stoke’s aster thrives in full sun but can tolerate a bit of afternoon shade, especially in hot climates like ours here in the South. It prefers moist, well-drained soil but is surprisingly tolerant of short periods of drought once established.
I’ve found Stoke’s aster to be a butterfly magnet, and it is a great choice for adding texture and color to pollinator gardens. It requires little pruning -- a light deadheading will encourage continued blooming.
The next sun-loving native plant to consider is Turk’s cap, a shrub that performs beautifully in our Southern climate. It tolerates a range of conditions and can handle full sun to partial shade. The best flower production occurs in spots that get at least 6 hours of sun a day.
Turk’s cap has large, velvety green leaves that are 4 to 6 inches across and remind me of baseball mitts. These leaves give the plant a lush, tropical look, especially when paired with the plant’s striking, scarlet-red blooms.
The flowers have a distinct, twisted shape that never fully opens, giving them the look of a tiny turban, hence the name. These blooms appear from late spring through first frost and are irresistible to hummingbirds, butterflies and bees.
Turk’s cap tolerates heat, humidity, drought and even poor soil. It can grow from 3 to 6 feet tall and wide, depending on conditions.
If you are looking to include some native plants to the sunny areas of your landscape, consider these selections that provide beauty and texture. You really can’t go wrong using these choices to create a colorful, wildlife-friendly garden.
For more information on growing native plants in Mississippi, visit .
