A woods edge garden creates vistas from a deck or porch all season long, and repays the planting and watering of its shrubs during their first few seasons with years of nearly maintenance-free enjoyment. Native perennials mingle happily at their feet to enhance vistas with masses of color.

Back to Native Plant Palettes

Click on the Latin name for photos and links to further information.

Flowers

Amsonia tabernaemontana Blue star willow
Campanulastrum americanum American bellflower
Eutrochium (Eupatorium) purpureum Sweet joe-pye weed
Iris cristata Dwarf crested iris
Lobelia siphilitica Blue lobelia
Smilacina racemosa (Maianthemum racemosum) Solomon’s plume
Mertensia virginica Virginia bluebell
Monarda fistulosa Wild bergamot
Oenothera fruticosa Sundrops
Oligoneuron rigidum Stiff goldenrod
Penstemon digitalis Penstemon
Phlox divaricata Wild sweet william
Phlox paniculata Garden phlox
Solidago flexicaulis Zigzag goldenrod
Solidago nemoralis Gray goldenrod
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium Aromatic aster
Tradescantia ohiensis Spiderwort
Viola pedata Bird’s foot violet

Grasses

Chasmanthium latifolium Northern sea oats

Shrubs

Cornus drummondii Roughleaf dogwood
Hamamelis virginiana Witchhazel
Hydrangea arborescens Smooth hydrangea
Ilex verticillata Winterberry holly
Photinia melanocarpa Black chokeberry
Physocarpus opulifolius Ninebark
Rhus aromatica Fragrant sumac
Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis(Sambucus canadensis) Elderberry
Viburnum dentatum Arrowwood viburnum
Viburnum lentago Nannyberry
Viburnum opulus var. americanum (Viburnum trilobum) American cranberrybush

Trees

Amelanchier laevis Serviceberry
Cercis canadensis Redbud
Cornus alternifolia Pagoda dogwood

Vines

Aristolochia tomentosa Woolly dutchman’s pipe
Bignonia capreolata Crossvine