Pink

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

2 feet

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

July, August, September

This annual plant is 1–2½' tall, branching occasionally. It has a tendency to sprawl in the absence of supportive vegetation. The dark green stems are grooved and hairless. The opposite leaves are 1-3 inches long, dark green, and linear. They have smooth margins and a prominent midvein. The leaves are usually hairless, although new growth may be slightly pubescent. Secondary leaves may develop from the axils of the primary leaves along the central stem, but they are smaller in size than the latter. Some of the upper stems develop racemes of flowers. These flowers are up to 1 inch long and across, and vary in color from lavender to purple.

Slenderleaf False Foxglove
Agalinis tenuifolia

Type:

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

Dry, Medium

1 to 2 feet

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

Nodding Onion
Allium cernuum

Type:

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

1 to 2 feet

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

Wild Onion
Allium stellatum

Type:

Light Exposure:

Mixed Sun and Shade, Sun

Soil Moisture:

2 feet

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

July, August, September

Wild Ginger
Asarum canadense

Type:

Shade, Mixed Sun and Shade

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

Dry, Medium

6 to 12 inches

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

May, June

Marsh Milkweed
Asclepias incarnata

Type:

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

3 to 4 feet

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

June, July, August

Common Milkweed
Asclepias syriaca

Type:

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

3 to 4 feet

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

July

Sometimes considered weedy, this is a monarch butterfly favorite as both a host and nectar plant. Large flower heads are quite showy. Spreads by seed and underground roots.

Oklahoma Grasspink
Calopogon oklahomensis

Type:

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

1 foot

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

Oklahoma Grass-pink was recognized as a new species only recently, in 1994. Initially its range was considered restricted to south central US, but subsequent herbarium investigations expanded that range into the Upper Midwest, including Minnesota. According to Welby Smith's book 'Native Orchids of Minnesota', the most recent MN specimen dates back to 1884, and while verification via specimens 130 years or older leaves some room for doubt, it is more than less accepted as native to the state but likely long extinct. While the enigma of extinction diminishes the likelihood of new modern discoveries, such events do occur with some frequency for numbers of species and would certainly be an exciting discovery for a lucky field botanist and a great pleasure for the rest of us. Very similar to Tuberous Grass-pink (Calopogon tuberosa) with which it was once lumped, it can be identified in the field.

Broadleaved Spring Beauty
Claytonia caroliniana

Type:

Light Exposure:

Mixed Sun and Shade

Soil Moisture:

3 to 8 inches

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

Small pale pink flowers adorn this low growing woodland ephemeral. Can naturalize over the years to create a carpet of blooms.

Spring Beauty
Claytonia virginica

Type:

Shade, Mixed Sun and Shade

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

3 to 8 inches

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

Showy Tick-Trefoil
Desmodium canadense

Type:

Light Exposure:

Mixed Sun and Shade, Sun

Soil Moisture:

4 to 5 feet

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

Fire Weed
Epilobium angustifolium

Type:

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

Medium, Dry

4 to 6 feet

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

Joe-Pye Weed
Eupatorium maculatum

Type:

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

5 to 6 feet

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

Queen of the Prairie
Filipendula rubra

Type:

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

5 feet

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

August

Prairie Smoke
Geum triflorum

Type:

Shade, Mixed Sun and Shade

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

1 foot

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

May, June

Water Minerslettuce
Montia chamissoi

Type:

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

3 to 6 inches

Bloom Color:

Pink, White

Bloom Months:

June, July, August

Montia chamissoi is a perennial herb in the Purslane (Portulacaceae) family. It is a native North American plant found in western North America, from Alaska to the southwestern and central United States as well as in British Colombia, where it favors favors wet meadows, boggy areas, and along streams. Flowering in June and August, Montia chamissoi has creeping or floating stems, sometimes with slender stolons bearing small bulblets.

Slender Penstemon
Penstemon gracilis

Type:

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

1 to 2 feet

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

Showy Penstemon
Penstemon grandiflorus

Type:

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

1 to 2 feet

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

Prairie Phlox
Phlox pilosa

Type:

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

2 feet

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

Obedient Plant
Physostegia virginiana

Type:

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

3 to 4 feet

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

Rattlesnake Root
Prenanthes alba

Type:

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

1 to 5 feet

Bloom Color:

Pink, White

Bloom Months:

White Rattlesnake-root is one of the few flowering plants seen in the woods towards the end of summer. It can also be found in smaller forms, typically with smaller, less variable leaves, in rock outcrops and on the rocky shore of Lake Superior. The flower shape is similar to other Prenanthes species, but P. alba is distinguished by its branching clusters of dangling white to pinkish flowers with hairless, purplish bracts, smooth stem and (typically) variable leaf shapes. In some references, P. alba is known by synonym Nabalus albus.

American Plum
Prunus americana

Type:

Tree or Shrub

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

20 feet

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

Wildlife: American plum is highly important as wildlife cover and food. The thorny, suckering growth, when protected, forms a thicket valuable for bird nesting, loafing, and roosting, and animal loafing and bedding. Twigs and foliage provide a highly preferred browse for whitetail and mule deer. Recreation and Beautification: The thorny growth and suckering characteristics should be considered before planting this species near a recreation area. It can be used for screening and natural barriers. The fruit is used widely for making jams and jellies. Ethnobotanic: American plum was and still is used as a source of food and medicine by Native Americans in the Midwest and West.

Early Wild Rose
Rosa blanda

Type:

Tree or Shrub

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

5 feet

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

Early Wild Rose is rhizomatous; it spreads aggressively and therefore may not be suitable for small landscape plantings.

Royal Catchfly
Silene regia

Type:

Light Exposure:

Mixed Sun and Shade

Soil Moisture:

3 to 4 feet

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

Steeplebush
Spiraea tomentosa

Type:

Tree or Shrub

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

4 feet

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

Rue Anemone
Thalictrum thalictroides

Type:

Light Exposure:

Shade

Soil Moisture:

Dry, Medium

6 inches

Bloom Color:

Bloom Months:

Rabbitfoot Clover
Trifolium arvense

Type:

Light Exposure:

Soil Moisture:

4 to 16 inches

Bloom Color:

Pink, White

Bloom Months:

June, July, August, September