Meadow & Forest District

The name Helianthus comes from the Greek words helios, meaning "sun" and anthos, meaning "flower."  They are known to turn their flower heads towards the sun throughout the day.  As with other members of the aster family, sunflowers attract a host of pollinators in the late summer garden.  In our Garden they are standing tall, blooming throughout September.

The Meadow Garden is filled with plants that benefit wildlife.  Cup-plant is a native perennial that grows to 8 feet tall.  Its perfoliate leaves, which clasp around the stem forming a cup, collect water for birds and insects.  Cup-plant provides nectar and pollen for a variety of bees, while birds, especially goldfinches, eat its seeds. 

Lobelia cardinalis, commonly known as cardinal flower, is a striking perennial native to North America, celebrated for its vivid scarlet-red blooms that attract hummingbirds and butterflies. Typically found in moist environments like stream banks and wetlands, this plant thrives in full sun to partial shade and can grow up to four feet tall. Its bright flowers bloom from mid to late summer, providing a vibrant splash of color when many other plants begin to fade. Despite its beauty, all parts of the plant are toxic if ingested, a natural defense that helps deter herbivores, like deer. Not only does it enhance garden biodiversity but it also plays an important ecological role in supporting native pollinators.

Joe-Pye-weed is a native plant, related to asters, that attracts butterflies and is profuse in our late summer Meadow.  It was used medicinally by Native Americans for the treatment of fevers, and was named for the Mohican leader, Joseph Shauquethqueat, who was also known as Joe Pye. 

This tall, native wildflower is distinguished by its open flower clusters of a rich violet color, and coarse, linear leaves. Vernonia can grow to six feet tall in height and can be found growing along roadsides, in flood plains, moist meadows, marshes, old fields, thickets, and along stream banks. New York ironweed prefers full sun to part shade with slightly acidic, fertile, consistently moist soil. The flowers are held above the foliage from late summer to early fall and attract butterflies such as skippers.

Mistflower is a vigorous grower, native to the eastern and central United States, which grows from rhizomes reaching a height of three feet.  It is found naturally growing in moist soils located in bogs, ravines, banks of streams and lakes, in low woods, floodplains, along roads, and in ditches. The best conditions for this plant are full sun with moist soils; however, it can tolerate some occasional drought. Blue-violet disc flowers are arranged in dense racemes. This plant attracts scores of butterflies and also makes good long-lasting cut flowers.