by Connie Oswald Stofko
Native plants and flowers are strongly recommended for your rain garden because these plants have the greatest chance of growth and survival in Western New York. Using native plants also means low maintenance– you won’t need to water.
Last week, we discussed building a rain garden and how rain gardens help keep our water clean. We showed you the rain garden at the Crane Branch Library in Buffalo, and we promised more information on plants for a rain garden.
Here are the plants chosen for the Crane Branch Library rain garden by Dave Majewski, owner of Premium Services Inc., who designed, engineered, coordinated and built that rain garden:
- Joe Pye Weed or Eupatorium. The variety is “chocolate” (although it looks more purple than brown).
- Red flame willow.
- Serviceberry. If you want to attract birds, this tree is a good choice because it attracts cedar waxwings.
- Switchgrass or Panicum virgatum.
- Grey dogwood.
- Heliopsis, a dainty yellow flower also known as false sunflower.
Other native plants recommended for rain gardens by Buffalo Niagara Riverkeepers include:
Full Sun
- Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnate)
- Little Blue Stem (Andropogon Scoparius)
- Side Oats Grama (Bouteloua curtipendula)
- Partridge Pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata)
- Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii)
- Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
- Wild Senna (Senna hebecarpa)
- Wild Blue Lupine (Lupinus perennis)
- Beard Tongue (Penstemon digitalis)
- Smooth Blue Aster (aster laevis)
Switchgrass
Partial Shade
- Blue lobelia (Lobelia syphilitica)
- Silky Wild Rye (Elymus villosus)
- Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans)
- Wild Blue False Indigo (Baptisia australis)
Trees and Shrubs
- Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis)
- Silky dogwood (Cornus amomum)
- Winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata)
- American elderberry (Sambucus Canadensis)
- Arrowwood (Viburnum dentatum)
Thank you!
Try FGI Landscaping. They do sustainable landscapes. If they can’t help, try Chevalier. If neither of them can do it, Chevalier can probably point you to someone who does. I hope that helps.
Do you have any landscapers you recommend to install a rain garden? Everyone I talked to just wants to dig drainage pipes.
Kelli, Lockwood’s Greenhouses in Hamburg has a wide variety of native plants. Also check out the guide put out by Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper. See it here.
I’m wondering if you could recommend a location we could purchase rain garden-specific plants. I have been having trouble obtaining any of them, beyond purple coneflower.