Let it Rain! Planting a rain garden is an effective way to take up water in areas where it tends to accumulate. This large rain garden starter kit will provide you with a collection of 24 plants that have long, thirsty roots which will help you to manage those low, wet areas in your landscape.
This kit will also provide beautiful flowers in a range of colors that will offer good nectar and pollen for pollinators from July-September. They are all fine in full sun to partially shady conditions.
For more information about rain gardens, see: Rain Gardens (City of Ann Arbor)
Design and Planting Tips:
- Allow at least 1 sq ft for each plant in your garden plot, ex: 5' x 5', or
- Prepare your garden site (follow the link for details as well as information about plant spacing)
- A location with full sun to partial shade
- All plants selected have deep roots and will grow in damp conditions
- Group plants of the same species together
- Consider the height of each plant. Position taller plants at the back and shorter plants at the front
Kit Contents:
12 varieties, with 2 of each (24 total plants), all listed below with details. An image of each plant can be found to the left, pictured in the order listed:
2- Rose Milkweed
2- Tall Thimbleweed
2- Ironweed
2- Culver's Root
2- Cup Plant
2- Purple Coneflower
2- Joe Pye (Pink)
2- Southern Blue Flag Iris
2- Cardinal Flower
2- Monkey Flower
2- Turtlehead
2- Prairie Dropseed
Rose Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
Sun Exposure: Full, Partial
Soil Moisture: Wet, Medium-Wet, Medium
Height: 4'
Bloom Time: June, July, August
Bloom Color: Pink
Resistance: Deer
Attracts: butterflies, bees, hummingbirds
Pollinator Benefits: Larval Host for Monarch and Queen butterflies; excellent nectar source for other pollinators; Xerces Society identifies as Special Value to Native Bees and Bumble Bees
Tall Thimbleweed (Anemone virginiana)
Sun Exposure: Full, Part Shade
Soil Moisture: Dry, Moist
Height: 2-3'
Bloom Time: May-July
Bloom Color: White
Resistance: Drought; Deer
Attracts: Bees, butterflies
Ironweed (Vernonia missurica)
Sun Exposure: Sun
Soil Moisture: Medium to Wet
Height: 3'to 5'
Bloom Time: July - August
Bloom Color: Magenta purple
Tolerates: Deer, wet soil
Attracts: Butterflies, bees
Pollinator benefit: Good nectar source for all pollinators; Xerces Soc: Special Value to native bees
Culver's Root (Veronicastrum virginicum)
Native Perennial
Sun Exposure: Full, Partial
Soil Moisture: Moist, Medium, Medium-Dry
Height: 2-5ft
Bloom Time: June-July
Bloom Color: White
Attracts: Butterflies, bees; birds in fall and winter
Pollinator benefits: Good for native bees; nectar plant in mid-summer
Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum)Sun Exposure: Full, Partial
Native Perennial
Sun Exposure: Full
Soil Moisture: Dry, Moist, Wet
Soil Type: Wet to mesic soils. Will tolerate clay soil.
Height: 3'-6'
Bloom Time: July-September
Bloom Color: Yellow
Resistance: Drought
Attracts: Butterflies, Bees, Hummingbirds, other birds for seeds and water
Pollinator Benefits: good for all bee types; provides nesting material for native bees; good nectar plant
Purple Coneflower–(Echinacea purpurea)
Sun Exposure: Full, Partial
Soil Moisture: Medium-Wet, Medium, Medium-Dry
Height: 4'
Bloom Time: July, August, September
Bloom Color: Purple
Tolerate: Deer, drought, heat, humidity and poor soil
Attracts: Butterflies, birds, bees
Pollinator benefit: Host plant for the Ottoe Skipper butterfly; great nectar source for bees and butterflies
Joe Pye (Eutrochium maculatum)
Sun Exposure: Full
Soil: Clay, Sand, Loam
Soil Moisture: Wet, Medium-Wet
Height: 4'–6'
Bloom Time: July–September
Bloom Color: Pink
Host: Great Tiger Moth, Three-Lined Flower Moth
Attracts: Butterflies, bees, birds
Pollinator benefit: Great for native bees; generous nectar for all nectaring insects; Late nectar source for migrating Monarchs
Southern Blue Flag (Iris virginica)
Native Perennial
Sun Exposure: Sun
Soil Moisture: Wet
Soil type: Moist, rich soil
Height: 2'
Bloom Time: May-June
Bloom Color: White, pink, blue
Resistance: Deer
Attracts: Birds, hummingbirds, butterflies, native bees
Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
Sun Exposure: Full, Partial
Soil Moisture: Wet, Medium-wet
Soil Type: Moist to wet, humus-rich soil. Medium Loam, Clay Loam, Limestone-based, Sandy, Sandy Loam, Clay
Height: 4'
Bloom Time: July, August, September
Bloom Color: Red
Resistant: Deer, rabbit
Pollinator Benefit: hummingbirds, butterflies, bees
Monkey Flower (Mimulus ringens)
Light: Sun
Soil Moisture: Moist , Wet
Soil Description: Loam
Bloom Color: Red, Pink, Blue, Purple
Bloom Time: Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep
Attracts: Butterflies
Pollinator Benefit: Larval host for Baltimore Checkerspot
Turtlehead (Chelone glabra)
Sun Exposure: Full, Part Shade, Shade
Soil Moisture: Moist, Wet
Height: 1-4'
Bloom Time: July, August, September
Bloom Color: White, pink
Attracts: Butterflies, Hummingbirds
Pollinator Benefit: Larval Host for Baltimore Checkerboard Butterfly
Prairie Dropseed (Sporobulus herolepis)
Perennial Native Grass
Sun Exposure: Full Sun
Soil Moisture: Dry
Soil Type: Dry soil
Height: 2'
Bloom Time: June-August
Bloom Color: Pink, yellow, green, brown
Resistance: Drought, Deer, Black Walnut
Attracts: Native bees, birds
Pollinator benefit: Provides nesting materials/structure for native bees; Larval Host plant for 3 different species