Wonderful Meadow Plants
Bird Watcher's Digest's feature column, "Bird Gardening," premiered in our May/June 1999 issue. Our panel of bird-gardening experts from each ecoregion of North America deliver useful advice, tips, and ideas that work in your garden or backyard, including which plants work best in each ecoregion.
A list of plants mentioned in each article (with Latin names in parentheses) is posted here for your reference. See the July/August 1999 issue of BWD for the complete text of the gardening column, "Wonderful Meadows."
Continental East
Goldenrod (Solidago
spp.)
Aster (Chrysanthemum spp.)
Wild strawberry (Fragraria chiloensis [West]
); (Fragraria virginiana [East] )
Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
Bee balm (Monarda didyma)
Ironweed (Veronica spp.)
Joe Pye weed (Eupatorium fistulosum)
Common milkweed (Asclepias spp.)
Purple milkweed (Asclepias purpurea)
Pasture thistle (Cirsium discolor)
Field thistle (Cirsium discolor)
Pacific Northwest
Rhododendron (Rhododendron
spp.)
Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium)
Salal (Gaultheria shalon)
Kinnikinick (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)
Bog rosemary (Andromeda polifolia)
Evergreen huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum)
Mock orange (Philadelphus lewisii)
Ninebark (Physocarpus capitatus [West] );
(Physocarpus malaceus [East] )
Nootka rose (Rosa nootka)
Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus)
Wild strawberry (Fragraria chiloensis [West]
); (Fragraria virginiana [East] )
Columbine (Aquilegia canadensi)
Penstemon (Penstemon spp.)
Bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis)
Desert Southwest
Firewheel or Indian blanket (Gaillardia pulchella)
Humid South
Sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana)
Wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera)
Blueberry (Vaccinium spp.)
Huckleberry (Vaccinium spp.)
Blazing-star (Liatris spicata)
Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)
Coreopsis (Coreopsis spp.)
Goldenrod (Solidago spp.)
Point broom sedge (Carex scoparia)
Canadian Northeast
'Goldsturm' (Rudbeckia
fulgida)
Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus)
New England aster (Aster novae-angliae)
Joe Pye weed (Eupatorium fistulosum)
Gayfeather (Liatris spp.)
Butterfly weed (Ascelpias tuberosa)
Prairie trillium (Trillium recurvatum)
Canada lily (Lilium canadensis)
Turk's cap lily (Lilium superbum)
Mountain West
Rocky Moutain bee plant
(Cleome serrulata)
Shasta daisy (Chrysanthemum x superbum)
Gayfeather (Liatris spp.)
Dwarf eared coreopsis (Coreopsis auriculata)
Native coneflower (Rudbeckia spp.)
Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea 'Bright star')
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
Purple prairie clover (Petalostemum purpureum)
Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Goldenrod (Solidago spp.)
Gaillardia (Gaillardia spp.)
Penstemon (Penstemon spp.)
Lead plant (Amorpha canescens)
Smooth aster (Aster spp.)
Lupine (Lupinus spp.)
Larkspur (Consolida ambigua)
Side oats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula)
Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans)
Little bluestem (Andropogon scoparius)
Green needle grass (Stipa spartea)
Prairie Junegrass (Koeleria cristata)
Reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea)
Tall wheat grass (Agropyron trachycalum)
Western wheat grass (Agropyron smithii)
California/Pacific Coast
California poppy
(Eschscholzia californica)
Yarrow (Achillea spp.)
Western columbine (Aquilegia formosa)
Purple needle grass (Stipa pulchra)
California milkweed (Asclepias californica)
Cosmos (Asteraceae [compositae] )
Calliopsis (Coreopsis tinctoria)
Sunflower (Helianthus annuus)
Pincushion flower (Scabiosa [many varieties])
Midwest/Great Plains
Prairie smoke (Geum triflorum)
Pasque flower (Anemone patens)
Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Downy sunflower (Helianthus mollis)
Round-head bush clover (Lespedeza capitata)
Sky blue aster (Aster azureus)
Blazing star (Liatris spicata)
Little bluestem (Andropogon scoparius)
Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolopis)
Prairie Junegrass (Koeleria cristata)
Penstemon (Penstemon spp.)
White false indigo (Baptisia australis)
Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea 'Bright star')
Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
Sweet black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia subtomentosa)
New England aster (Aster novae-angliae)
Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii)
Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans)
Compass plant (Silphium laciniatum)
Prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum)
Rosinweed (Grindelia spp.)
Cup plant (Silphium perfoliatum)
New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus)
