Also known as Desert Broom, this perennial, flowering shrub with green stems and highly reduced leaves grows 6 to 12 feet in size. Highly drought tolerant, it grows best in full sun and dry, gravelly soil, though it can withstand heavy clay soils. This plant is a larval host and nectar source for butterflies in late summer, and is used by over 60 species of insects.
Also known as Chamiso and Wing-scale, this many-branched, semi-evergreen shrub typically grows up to 2 to 3 feet tall but can reach up to 8 feet in partial shade and dry, well-drained soils. The young stems and leaves are covered with minute, white scales that helps protect the plant against water loss. The name "Saltbush" refers to the alkaline soil habitats in which the plant grows.
Lady Fern, or Subarctic Lady Fern, is a perennial, deciduous fern that features lacy-cut, erect, light green fronds that grow in a dense circular clump 2 to 3 feet tall. Lady Fern is easily grown in rich, moist, well-drained soil and in partial to full shade.
Also known as Green Antelopehorn, this herbaceous, deciduous perennial grows 20 to 30 inches tall on mostly upright stems. It produces tiny green flowers with purple hoods from May to June, and the stems and leaves exude a milky sap when cut or bruised. This plant grows in full sun and moist soil, but requires little water, and is cold and heat tolerant.
This small perennial blooms later in the year than most milkweeds and often into September. It grows 1 to 3 feet tall in full sun to partial shade, and in dry, sandy, clayey, or rocky soils. This plant produces small clusters of greenish-white flowers that attract many pollinators, including bees and Monarch butterflies, though it is toxic to livestock.
Other common names for this nectar-rich perennial include Orange Milkweed and Pleurisy Root. It typically grows in clumps up to 1 to 3 feet tall, and features clusters of bright orange to yellow-orange flowers. Though toxic to humans if eaten in large amounts, its blooms are attractive to both butterflies and hummingbirds, and like all milkweeds, it serves as a host plant for butterfly species including the Monarch. Drought tolerant, this plant grows in full sun and in dry to moist, well-drained, sandy soils.
Common Milkweed is a rough, weedy perennial that typically grows 3 to 4 feet tall on stout, upright stems. The plant’s most noticeable features are its spherical umbels of fragrant, pink to purple flowers that bloom from June to August. It is drought tolerant, growing in full sun and in a variety of moist soils, including sandy, rocky, clayey, or well-drained loamy soils. Note that the milky sap from this milkweed is poisonous if ingested in large quantities.
This herbaceous perennial is also known as Rush Milkweed and Ajamete. Mature plants of this species have an unusual appearance with many leafless stems rising from a single root crown. Whitish-green flowers bloom in terminal clusters from April to December. It grows 2 to 4 feet tall and 4 feet wide in full sun and in dry, rocky, sandy soils, tolerating shade as long as it remains in desert conditions. This plant attracts insects such as bees and butterflies, though it is somewhat toxic to animals including humans.
Showy Milkweed is a stout, hairy perennial with large, blue-green leaves and showy, spherical clusters of pinkish flowers that bloom from May to September. It grows up to 3 feet tall in full sun and moist soils, and attracts hummingbirds and insect pollinators, serving as a larval host for Monarch Butterflies. This milkweed is one of the least poisonous to humans, but be sure when identifying them, as some milkweeds are highly toxic if eaten.
This perennial wildflower grows 1 to 2 feet tall, consisting of a group of erect, light green, flowering stems. It produces a cluster of 20 to 50 conspicuous, pinkish white flowers that bloom from May to September. This plant's flowers attract butterflies and bees, and its leaves and stems contain a milky latex. It grows in full sun and partial shade, in moist and wet soil.
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