5 Native Plants for Your Garden this Summer

Planting native species on your property can benefit your environment and the whole ecosystem. Native plants are self-sustaining and healthy pollinators. However, in coastal areas like the North Shore, the rugged weather conditions can limit which plants can survive in this environment. Here are five native plants to include in your garden landscape this summer. 

Pink Tickseed (Coreopsis rosea)

This low-maintenance, fine-textured perennial comes in beautiful shades of pink and blooms from June through September. The flowers can self-seed and form bushy ground cover to decorate or border your garden. Butterflies will travel to the flowers for pollination while birds will flock to the plant to eat the seeds. 

The plant is perfect for coastal areas because it can survive dry, shallow, and rocky soil. Make sure when planting pink tickseed that it is in a location with direct sunlight and that it receives medium moisture.   

Sweet Bay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana)

The Sweet Bay Magnolia has creamy white flowers that are considered to be the most fragrant of all magnolias. They can be grown as graceful, slender trees or multi-stemmed shrubs. You’ll be able to enjoy these flowers throughout the summer months, as they bloom in June. This is the only kind of magnolia native to Massachusetts. This native plant can tolerate both saturated or flooded soils and drought conditions, which is perfect for coastal Massachusetts conditions. It also thrives in either full sun or partial shade. 

Arrowwood Viburnum (Viburnum dentatum)

This dense, multi-stemmed shrub has leaves that change color from dark green to yellow and red. Its white-shaded flowered clusters bloom between May and early June. You’ll also find fruit growing on the plant that’s a blue color and perfect food for birds. The plant is easy to grow in coastal areas because of its tolerance to sun or partial shade and dry or wet soil. 

Eastern Showy Aster (Eurybia spectabilis)

This native perennial herb has lance-shaped leaves and violet-purple flowers. While these often bloom in the late summer months from August to October, they do well in dry, sandy, and grassland habitats. 

These plants grow rapidly and spread throughout the vegetation. Showy aster can tolerate offshore winds and salt spray, so it is usually seen near the shore in pine barrens. It requires a location that is part sunlight, part shade, and dry and moist soil. Enjoy these pretty pollinators in the later summer months and toward the beginning of fall.

Eastern Ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius)

These dense mound-shaped shrubs grow to about three to ten feet tall. They include white and pinkish-petaled flowers that are clustered together from May to June. This plant is hardy, tolerant to drought, and can adapt to different kinds of soils and conditions. It grows at a rapid pace, which will fill your garden with beautiful shades of white and pink. Try using the eastern ninebark for the border of your garden. 

Adding native plants to your garden will both benefit the environment and beautify your property!