Native Alternatives:
CANADIAN ANEMONE. Family: Buttercup (Ranunculaceae). Genus: Anemone (A. canadensis). Height: 8–36 inches. Ornamental Attributes: Beautiful, long-lasting, yellow-centered white or lavender-tinted flowers May to August. Foliage persists to frost. Conceals empty spaces left by ephemerals. Long-lived plants create showy colonies that are low-maintenance groundcover. Cultivation: Sun/light shade. Moist or average garden soil; AMERICAN WOOD ANEMONE (A. quinquefolia); CAROLINA ANEMONE (A. caroliniana). Height: 4–6 inches. Ornamental Attributes: “Produces flowers of exceptional beauty.”10 April, May. Cultivation: Sun/light shade. Dry soil. Note: Endangered or extirpated in parts of the Midwest; LONG-HEADED THIMBLEWEED, p. 102. Nature Note: Anemone flowers have abundant pollen that attracts small bees and beneficial flies. Mammalian herbivores rarely eat the foliage.
Canadian anemone (Anemone canadensis)
Carolina anemone (Anemone caroliniana Walter)
Nonnative:
AVENS, HERB BENNET. Family: Rose (Rosaceae). Genus: Geum (G. urbanum). There are other species and hybrids. Origin: Southern Europe. Height: 1 foot. Ornamental Attributes: Yellow spring flowers. Feathery seed heads. Compound foliage. Cultivation: Sun. Welldrained moist soil. Nature Note: The hooked achenes cling to fur, feathers, and clothing, helping distribute the plants far and wide. Invasiveness Note: Naturalized or invasive in parts of the Midwest.
Avens (Geum urbanum)
Native Alternatives:
YELLOW AVENS. Family: Rose (Rosaceae). Genus: Geum (G. aleppicum var. strictum). Height: 1–2 feet. Ornamental Attributes: Yellow spring flowers. Feathery seed heads. Compound foliage. Cultivation: Sun/light shade. Medium or moist soil. Does not tolerate wet soil.
There are many native Geum species, including WATER AVENS, PURPLE AVENS, INDIAN CHOCOLATE (G. rivale); WHITE AVENS (G. canadense); ROUGH AVENS (G. laciniatum). Nature Note: Geum species are pollinated by nectar- or pollen-seeking bees and beneficial wasps, flies, and beetles. Mammalian herbivores avoid the plants; BOWMAN’S ROOT. Genus: Gillenia (G. trifoliata). Note: Threatened in parts of the Midwest; and AMERICAN IPECAC (G. stipulata). The two latter plants create long-lasting groundcovers with airy-looking, attractive seed heads and foliage that remains green through fall.
Yellow avens (Geum aleppicum)
More Native Alternatives:
AMERICAN PASQUEFLOWER, p. 28; CELANDINE POPPY, p. 21; PRAIRIE SMOKE, p. 28.
White avens (Geum canadense)
Nonnative:
BARRENWORT. Family: Barberry (Berberidaceae). Genus: Epimedium (Epimedium spp.). Origin: China, Japan, Europe. Height: 1 foot. Ornamental Attributes: Racemes of small cup-shaped yellow, pink, white, red flowers in spring sometimes get lost in heart-shaped bronze-tinted leaves. Cultivation: Partial shade. Moist rich well-drained soil. Shelter. Mulch.
Barrenwort (Epimedium × versicolor)
Native Alternatives:
YELLOW SEDGE, COMMON OAK SEDGE, PENNSYLVANIA SEDGE, PENN SEDGE, OAK SEDGE. Family: Sedge (Cyperaceae). Genus: Carex (C. pensylvanica, C. marginata, C. stolonifera). Height: 6–12 inches. Ornamental Attributes: Tufts of fine, narrow semievergreen bright green leaves. Yellow-tipped thimble-like flowers. Slowly spreading groundcover. Used for no-mow lawn. Cultivation: Native to deciduous woods. Sun (for moist sites). Part shade (for dry sites). Welldrained soil with average moisture or dry and sandy soil. Nature Note: Native sedges host many butterfly species, including eyed brown (Satyrodes eurydice), dion skipper (Euphyes dion), and eastern dun skipper (Euphyes ruricola), found in fens and swamps. Gardens near wetlands can attract these skippers, and many other skippers and butterflies, with nectar-rich flowers like swamp milkweed and buttonbush. Sedges host grasshoppers such as the striped sedge grasshopper (Stethophyma lineata) and Otte’s sedge grasshopper (Stethophyma celata), various leafhoppers, leaf beetles, and spittlebug nymphs. Sedge seeds attract many kinds of birds.
Yellow sedge (Carex pensylvanica)
Dion skipper (Euphyes dion)
More Native Alternatives:
ALUMROOT, p. 82; BISHOP’S CAP, p. 15; HEARTLEAF FOAMFLOWER, p. 15; WILD BLUE PHLOX, p. 38; CANADIAN WILD GINGER, p. 76.
Eastern dun skipper (Euphyes vestris)
Nonnative:
BASKET OF GOLD, GOLD ALYSSUM. Family: Mustard (Brassicaceae). Genus: Aurinia (A. saxatilis). Origin: Eastern Europe. Height: 12–18 inches. Ornamental Attributes: Yellow flowers. Gray-green foliage. Cultivation: Sun. Well-drained soil. Spreads rapidly by self-seeding. Requires deadheading. Invasiveness Note: Naturalized or invasive in parts of the Midwest.
Basket of gold (Aurinia saxatilis)
