31 Native Plants That Bloom in Late Summer

My favorite flower gardens are those that showcase the many benefits of native plants. Native species are colorful, diverse, and hardy. Birds, butterflies, bees, and other beneficial insects rely on native plants for food and shelter so native plant gardens are alive with activity. Native plants are also remarkably easy to grow, requiring very little effort to maintain healthy populations. 

You can easily design a garden of entirely native plant species, including ground covers, grasses, ferns, flowers, shrubs, and trees. Selecting plants that peak during each season will help you achieve year-round color and texture. When you have flowers blooming continually, you will enjoy constant color, and your garden will attract birds, butterflies, and pollinators throughout the entire growing season. 

Aromatic Aster

	common name Bee Balm
	botanical name Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
	sun requirements Full sun
	height HEIGHT 1 – 3 feet
	hardiness zones 3 – 8

The aromatic aster gets its name from the scented leaves and stems, which have a pungent, piney smell when crushed. Aromatic aster blooms from late summer until frost. During peak bloom, these big, bushy plants are covered with a huge number of one-inch wide, showy purple flowers with dark yellow-orange disks. This is an excellent pollinator plant, and pollinators will especially appreciate these flowers after the rest of your summer garden has passed its prime. 

Aromatic asters are quite hardy and easy to grow. Once you have an established plant, it will start spreading by seed and vigorous rhizomes, so allow these asters plenty of space to fill out. A mature plant will become very robust and put on a spectacular autumn flower display. All you need is a spacious, sunny location with well-drained soil.

Bee Balm

	common name Bee Balm
	botanical name Monarda didyma
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 2 – 4 feet
	hardiness zones 4 – 9

Bee balm is a bright red perennial wildflower native to moist grasslands of eastern North America. This colorful wildflower is a show-stopper, blooming continuously from mid-summer into fall. Hummingbirds adore this plant, and you’ll have no shortage of pollinators waiting for their turn to sip nectar from the scarlet red tubular flowers.

Grow bee balm in a central, high-visibility spot in your wildflower garden. You won’t need to worry about deer nibbling on this plant, as they don’t like the minty-scented leaves. Place your bee balm in a sunny location with moist, well-drained soil. These plants spread to form dense colonies and benefit from annual thinning to allow sufficient airflow between individual stems. 

Black-eyed Susan

	common name Black-eyed Susan
	botanical name Rudbeckia spp.
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 1 – 7 feet
	hardiness zones 3 – 9

Black-eyed Susans are hardy, adaptable perennial wildflowers native to central and eastern North America. There are a few different native species, including R. hirta and R. fulgida, that look similar and have similar growing requirements. These plants are easy to grow from seed and quickly form appealing colonies. While short-lived, they will readily self-seed to maintain their presence in your landscape. 

Black-eyed Susan flowers begin blooming in late spring and will continue to produce flowers throughout the summer. Leave the spent flower heads to attract seed-foraging birds such as goldfinches. The bright yellow petals may remind you of miniature sunflowers while they attract a multitude of pollinators. 

Blanket Flower

	common name Blanket Flower
	botanical name Gaillardia pulchella
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 1 – 2 feet
	hardiness zones 5 – 9

Also known as Indian blanket or Gaillardia, blanket flower is an annual or short-lived perennial wildflower native to the southern United States and Mexico. This cheerful plant adds a colorful, mounding mass to your native plant garden, container garden, or butterfly garden. Since it stays fairly low and compact, blanket flower is a good choice for borders and edges. 

Gaillardia blooms throughout the summer and into fall. The flowers are brightly colored with dark red-orange centers and bright yellow around the outer edge. Grow these plants in sandy, well-drained soil in full sun or light shade. Butterflies love these plants, and you can cut some of the abundant flowers for your next floral arrangement.

Blue Grama Grass

	common name Blue Grama Grass
	botanical name Bouteloua gracilis
	sun requirements Full sun
	height .5 – 2 feet
	hardiness zones 3 – 10

Don’t forget about native grasses when planning your landscape. Grasses add long-season color and structural diversity and blend in very well to complement all of your flowers and shrubs. Blue grama grass is an easy-to-grow ornamental grass native to central and western North America, from Canada south to Mexico. 

Grow blue grama grass along a native plant border, in a xeriscape, or as part of a naturalized meadow planting. This grass is both attractive and low-maintenance. Grasses aren’t generally known for their flowers, but blue grama grass does have showy, angled, comb-like flower heads that add interest to the garden in mid to late summer. The seedheads are long-standing and offer foraging opportunities to hungry birds during the fall and winter months.

Blue Mistflower

	common name Blue Mistflower
	botanical name Conoclinium coelestinum
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 1.5 – 3 feet
	hardiness zones 5 – 10

The blue mistflower is an herbaceous perennial native to the eastern United States. This showy wildflower grows well in full sun or partial shade and prefers rich, moist soil. It is easily grown from seed and rapidly spreads, so you’ll need to pull any unwanted new growth to prevent it from becoming weedy in your garden. 

This vigorous plant is a late summer bloomer, waiting patiently to unveil its showy clusters of pale lavender-colored flowers. The flowers have a soft and fuzzy appearance and attract butterflies. These plants would be a good addition to your rain garden or wetland edge, ideally in a location where they have some space to spread alongside some other wet-loving wildflowers.

Blue Sage

	common name Blue Sage
	botanical name Salvia azurea
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 3 – 5 feet
	hardiness zones 5 – 9

If you’re looking for a native perennial for your prairie garden, blue sage would be a great choice. These plants grow in prairies and grasslands throughout the central and eastern United States. They prefer full sun or light shade with moist, well-drained soil. Easily grown from seed, blue sage will re-seed itself in ideal conditions and may spread to form small colonies without becoming weedy.

Blue sage has tall spikes of pale blue flowers with prominent lower lips. The flowers attract hummingbirds, bees, and other pollinators, making them a wise addition to your pollinator garden or hummingbird garden. The flowers bloom from mid-summer into early fall. 

Cardinal Flower

	common name Cardinal Flower
	botanical name Lobelia cardinalis
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 4 – 5 feet
	hardiness zones 3 – 9

Here’s an eye-catching late-season wildflower for your moist garden plot. The cardinal flower blooms from late summer into fall with vivid spikes of scarlet-red tubular flowers. This plant is a true hummingbird magnet and also attracts butterflies and other pollinators.

The cardinal flower is an ideal perennial for your rain garden, wetland edge, or other moist plot with full sun or partial shade. These plants will perform best in organically rich soil with constant soil moisture. They should not be allowed to dry out. Cardinal flower plants are native to moist meadows and periodically flooded lowlands of the eastern United States.

Chocolate Flower

	common name Chocolate Flower
	botanical name Berlandiera lyrata
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 1 – 2 feet
	hardiness zones 4 – 10

The chocolate flower is a perennial wildflower native to the southwestern United States and Mexico. This perky perennial is well-adapted to sunny grasslands and would be a fine addition to your xeriscape or rock garden. It grows best in full sun with gritty, well-drained soil. 

In warmer climates, this plant has an amazingly long blooming period and can flower repeatedly during the entire year. In cooler climates, it blooms primarily in late summer and early fall, adding a spark of color to your late-season garden. The flowers have a sweet scent and attract an abundance of butterflies, while birds come to feast on the dried seed heads. 

Climbing Aster

	common name Climbing Aster
	botanical name Ampelaster carolinianus
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 5 – 10 feet
	hardiness zones 6 – 9

The climbing aster has a different growing habit from most other asters. This rangy herbaceous perennial can grow up to 10 feet long, but it grows long horizontal stems, allowing it to climb effectively along fences, walls, and trellises, using these other structures as supports as it sprawls along.

Asters are excellent plants for late-season blooms, and climbing aster is no exception. This plant blooms reliably from late summer into fall. Its abundance of pale pink or lavender flowers is favored by pollinators. In late fall and winter, hungry birds will happily forage on the dried seedheads. Climbing asters grow fast and vigorously, so you can expect to do some regular pruning to keep your plant tidy looking or allow it free reign in a naturalized wildflower meadow. 

Eastern Rose Mallow

	common name Eastern Rose Mallow
	botanical name Hibiscus moscheutos
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 2 – 6 feet
	hardiness zones 4 – 9

The eastern rose mallow is a large, shrubby perennial that loves moist soil. This showy native grows into a robust six-foot-tall plant and looks more like a shrub than your average wildflower. It is found naturally in floodplains and wetland edges of eastern North America and makes a good addition to your rain garden or pond border. 

These plants grow fast and have a long blooming period. While each of the large plate-like flowers lasts only a few days, a healthy plant will produce flowers for several weeks, generally starting in late summer. Pollinators and beneficial insects of all types use flowers, and several species of butterflies use mallows as larval host plants. 

Golden Aster

	common name Golden Aster
	botanical name Chrysopsis mariana
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 1 – 2.5 feet
	hardiness zones 4 – 9

Golden aster is a late-summer to fall-blooming wildflower native to fields and sunny grasslands of the eastern United States. In the home landscape, use this short-lived perennial in a pocket prairie or meadow garden. Blend these plants with an assortment of colorful wildflowers to create an ideal pollinator garden or wildlife-friendly landscape. 

Golden aster plants stay less than two feet tall and form loose clumps. These plants readily reseed themselves and may require regular thinning to maintain a smaller population size. Allowing them to spread into larger populations, however, creates a showy mass planting of sunny yellow flowers that is sure to be popular with the local butterflies and bees.

Great Blue Lobelia

	common name Great Blue Lobelia
	botanical name Lobelia siphilitica
	sun requirements Full sun to full shade
	height 3 – 4 feet
	hardiness zones 4 – 9

The great blue lobelia is a showy perennial native to eastern North America. This wildflower grows up to four feet tall and loves a location with some afternoon shade and moist to wet soil. In its native habitat, you’ll see it growing along woodland streams and pond edges. In the home garden, use it in your rain garden or any low spot with rich, consistently moist soil. 

Your hummingbird and butterfly garden needs plants that bloom throughout the growing season to provide a continuous supply of nectar. The great blue lobelia provides tall flowering spikes of purple flowers that start blooming in mid-summer and continue into the fall. After a few years, a single plant will develop several main stems, and you’ll have a very attractive cluster of dramatic flowers.

Ironweed

	common name Ironweed
	botanical name Vernonia noveboracensis
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 5 – 8 feet
	hardiness zones 5 – 9

Ironweed, also known as New York ironweed, is an herbaceous perennial native to the eastern and southeastern United States. Ironweed prefers moist to wet soils with full sun, although it will also perform well in light shade and in average soil with occasional deep watering. 

Growing rather tall, Ironweed will spread into vigorous colonies. This is an excellent plant for a naturalized rain garden or wetland edge with plenty of space for larger plants. If you have the space, ironwood is very worthy of consideration. This bold plant blooms from late summer into fall. Its clusters of fluffy purple flowers are plentiful and are a clear pollinator favorite.

Joe Pye Weed

	common name Joe Pye Weed
	botanical name Eutrochium fistulosum
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 4 – 8 feet
	hardiness zones 4 – 8

Are you looking for a tall plant to stand out above all the rest? Joe pye weed would be a great option. This eight-foot-tall giant perennial wildflower loves wet soils and full sun or partial shade. Use it in a naturalized wetland area, spacious rain garden, or pollinator garden. 

Joe pye weed is native to moist habitats of eastern North America. It’s a pollinator magnet, and during its full blooming phase from mid-summer until fall, a steady stream of butterflies, bees, and other beneficial insects will visit these spectacular plants. Joe pye weed tends to grow fast and large, spreading by seed and rhizomes, so you may want to thin your plants every spring to keep their population in check. 

Little Bluestem

	common name Little Bluestem
	botanical name Schizachyrium scoparium
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 2 – 4 feet
	hardiness zones 3 – 9

Little bluestem is an ornamental grass native to sunny prairies and meadows of eastern North America. It grows best in average-quality, well-drained soil with dry to medium moisture. Once established, this clump-forming grass develops deep roots and excellent drought resistance, making it a good addition to your xeriscape, pocket prairie, or rock garden. 

Little bluestem forms nicely rounded clumps two to four feet tall and equally as wide. Its thin blades are a pale blue-green color throughout the growing season, turning golden brown in the fall and often remaining upright throughout the winter for long-season interest. These plants bloom in late summer or early fall, displaying a fluffy reddish inflorescence to add some different color and texture to your landscape. 

Narrow Leaf Sunflower

	common name Narrow Leaf Sunflower
	botanical name Helianthus angustifolius
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 5 – 8 feet
	hardiness zones 5 – 9

The narrow-leaf sunflower, also known as the swamp sunflower, is native to moist, sunny habitats of the southeastern United States. This plant loves plenty of soil moisture and would do well at a wetland edge or in a low spot in your yard. While it tolerates partial shade, your sunflower will produce the most abundant flowers and bushiest growth in full sun.

Narrow-leaf sunflowers are an ideal choice for butterflies, bees, pollinator insects, and birds. These plants bloom in late summer, and their abundant yellow flowers help contribute to a wildlife-friendly habitat, particularly after your early and mid-summer flowers finish their flowering seasons. These plants are easy to start from seed and will spread by rhizomes to form large colonies.

New England Aster

	common name New England Aster
	botanical name Symphyotrichum novae-anglae
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 3 – 7 feet
	hardiness zones 4 – 8

The New England aster is one of the showiest plants you’ll find for late-season blooms. From spring through summer, this perennial aster plant will grow into a robust, bushy, shrub-like form. Then suddenly, in late summer, it bursts into bloom with a vibrant mass of bright pinkish-purple flowers. Bees and butterflies relish the abundance of fresh nectar as your asters provide plenty of eye-catching curb appeal. 

These plants are very easy to grow. Give them plenty of space because they will spread. Establish New England asters in your perennial garden, cottage garden, or cutting garden. Prune them low at the end of each year, and they will fill in with a vigorous flush of fresh growth the following spring.

Obedient Plant

	common name Obedient Plant
	botanical name Physostegia virginiana
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 3 – 4 feet
	hardiness zones 2 – 9

Obedient plants are easy to grow in moist soil with plenty of bright sunlight. This vigorous member of the mint family grows easily from seed and spreads readily by reseeding and rhizomes. If you end up with a patch of more obedient plants than you wanted, simply pull out any unwanted seedlings and divide your clusters every couple of years to maintain a tidy appearance. 

Obedient plants have whorled spikes of white or pink flowers that open from the bottom up. The small tubular flowers attract hummingbirds and pollinators and make appealing cut flowers for your tabletop flower arrangements. These perky plants start flowering in mid-summer and continue blooming until fall. Deer don’t bother these plants, so you can grow them just about anywhere! 

Oxeye Sunflower

	common name Oxeye Sunflower
	botanical name Heliopsis helianthoides
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 3 – 5 feet
	hardiness zones 3 – 9

The oxeye sunflower is a native sunflower from central and eastern North America that grows in grasslands, glades, and woodland edges. This easy-to-grow perennial sprouts readily from seed, although seeds collected from one of its many popular cultivars may not grow true to the parent plant. 

These medium-sized sunflowers can reach up to about five feet tall and look great in a pocket prairie or meadow garden. Allow your plant to spread for a few years to form a small grouping for maximum effect. When the flowers bloom from mid-summer into fall, you will enjoy many flowers per plant for a stunning effect. Fresh flowers attract many pollinators, while the mature seedheads will appeal to foraging songbirds.

Pink Muhly Grass

	common name Pink Muhly Grass
	botanical name Muhlenbergia capillaris
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 2 – 3 feet
	hardiness zones 5 – 9

Pink muhly grass is a spectacular ornamental grass native to the central and eastern United States. If you were to grow a single ornamental grass in your landscape, this would be a good choice, although you’ll find that it’s so showy that you’ll want to grow several of these for maximum effect. Pink muhly grass grows best in full sun with well-drained soil. It’s well-adapted to drought and would make a good addition to your prairie garden or xeriscape landscape. 

Pink muhly grass grows a lovely, densely rounded mound of long, thin blades. Fresh blades emerge each spring, filling in throughout the summer until fully flushed in the fall. Starting in late summer and continuing into fall, these plants send up numerous flowering stems, each topped with a soft haze of pale pink flowers. When viewed in full sun, your pink muhly grass plants will appear almost glowing! 

Purple Coneflower

	common name Purple Coneflower
	botanical name Echinacea purpurea
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 3 – 5 feet
	hardiness zones 3 – 8

Purple coneflower is one of the most versatile wildflowers you will find. These wonderful perennials are native to grasslands and glades of the central and eastern United States. In the home landscape, incorporate coneflowers into your cutting garden, native plant garden, or wildlife garden. If you have enough space for a pocket prairie or meadow planting, grow coneflowers to attract many pollinators and songbirds!

The purple coneflower starts blooming in early to mid-summer. These plants may flower continually until fall, or they may pause briefly after their first bloom before sending out more flowers for a later-season appearance. The flowers are large and bold with prominent central disks and long pale purple petals. Coneflowers are simple to start from seed and will self-seed in ideal conditions. The best growth occurs in full sun, although these plants also perform well in light shade.

Purple Turtlehead

	common name Purple Turtlehead
	botanical name Chelone obliqua var. obliqua
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2 – 3 feet
	hardiness zones 5 – 9

This interesting plant produces a squat spike of showy purple flowers from late summer into early fall. Its distinctive dark pink to purple flowers have a thickened tubular shape with a partially closed hood, giving them some resemblance to the head of a turtle. Native bees and hummingbirds will find these flowers quite appealing.

Purple turtlehead is native to moist woodlands of the southeastern United States. They often grow along stream sides or shady pond edges where they enjoy rich, moist soil and dappled sunlight. If you have a patch of consistently moist soil in your woodland garden, consider adding a purple turtlehead to boost your shade-loving native plant population. 

Rose Verbena

	common name Rose Verbena
	botanical name Verbena canadensis
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 0.5 – 1.5 feet
	hardiness zones 6 – 10

Rose verbena is a low-growing herbaceous perennial native to the Southeast. It grows in dry, sandy soils with full sun or light shade. Use this attractive plant as a ground cover in your rock garden, container garden, or as a decorative perennial border. 

If you live in a cooler climate, you can still grow rose verbena as an annual. These plants are easy to start from seed and will self-seed in ideal conditions. The long-blooming flowers attract pollinators and contribute to your pollinator-friendly landscape. Keep the flowers deadheaded to extend the blooming period while also helping keep your plants neat and compact.

Rough Blazing Star

	common name Rough Blazing Star
	botanical name Liatris aspera
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 3 – 5 feet
	hardiness zones 3 – 8

The rough blazing star is one of many species of blazing star native to North America. These spectacular plants bloom anywhere from early summer until mid-fall, depending on the species and your local climate. Grow blazing stars in a sunny location with well-drained soil. 

Use rough blazing star plants for your meadow garden, rock garden, or perennial garden. It’s an ideal plant for a pollinator-friendly landscape because butterflies and bees love the long-blooming flowers. Each flower is a mass of thin purple petals, giving it a fuzzy pom-pom appearance. The flowers form tall spikes of color that are sure to command plenty of attention in your landscape.

Showy Goldenrod

	common name Showy Goldenrod
	botanical name Solidago speciosa
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 2 – 7 feet
	hardiness zones 3 – 8

Aptly named for its abundant sprays of golden yellow flowers, showy goldenrod is a late-season perennial wildflower native to eastern North America. Most goldenrods, this one included, are very vigorous and spread quickly. Either use these plants in a larger area where they can freely spread or be prepared to do some regular thinning to keep populations in check.

Showy goldenrod is easy to grow and tolerates a variety of soil conditions, although it will perform best in a sunny location. The golden flowers are good for cutting and, if left in the garden, attract many pollinators and other beneficial insects.

Spanish Dagger

	common name Spanish Dagger
	botanical name Yucca gloriosa
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 6 – 16 feet
	hardiness zones 7 – 11

A native yucca, Spanish dagger is from the coastal region of the southeastern United States. These plants prefer a warm climate with full sun with sandy, well-drained soil. In ideal conditions, Spanish dagger can grow quite large, developing a thick, trunk-like stem with several branches. These plants make a dramatic addition to your rock garden or xeriscape. 

Spanish dagger typically blooms in summer. The huge spikes of fragrant, creamy white flowers are extremely showy and attract butterflies, nocturnal moths, and other pollinators. The evergreen leaves are tough, elongated, and sword-like, with sharply pointed tips.

Swamp Milkweed

	common name Swamp Milkweed
	botanical name Asclepias incarnata
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 3 – 5 feet
	hardiness zones 3 – 9

The swamp milkweed is a moisture-loving variety of milkweed native to central and eastern North America. These perennial wildflowers love a sunny location with rich, moist, acidic soil. Do you have a rain garden or have a pond or stream nearby? This plant would be a great choice for reliable late-summer flowers in your landscape.

Native milkweeds are the host plants for monarch butterfly caterpillars. These plants do double duty in the pollinator garden because not only are they a food source for butterfly larvae, but their flowers are also wildlife popular with butterflies and many other beneficial insects. Swamp milkweeds have beautiful pale purple flower clusters that bloom anytime from late summer until mid-fall.

Virgin’s Bower

	common name Virgin’s Bower
	botanical name Clematis virginiana
	sun requirements Full sun to full shade
	height 15 – 20 feet
	hardiness zones 6 – 8

The native virgin’s bower, also known as woodbine, is found in moist fields and forest edges throughout the eastern United States and Canada. Don’t confuse this native vine with the invasive sweet autumn clematis (C. terniflora) from Asia. Both are beautiful and vigorous growers, but the invasive species will form a thick blanket that smothers vegetation growing beneath them, and once established, they are very difficult to eradicate.  

Virgin’s bower is a fast-growing twining vine that will climb up a nearby trellis, fence, or neighboring shrubbery. In late summer and early fall, it produces dense masses of small, fragrant, star-shaped white flowers that attract butterflies and other pollinators. Prune these vines low each year after flowering to encourage them to maintain bushier growth with less sprawl.

Wild Bergamot

	common name Wild Bergamot
	botanical name Monarda fistulosa
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2 – 4 feet
	hardiness zones 3 – 9

Wild bergamot is a showy member of the mint family native to prairies, fields, and grassy margins of central North America. This perennial wildflower thrives in full sun and well-drained soil. It’s easy to grow and not too picky about conditions, so it can be used in a wide variety of settings. Like many mints, wild bergamot spreads by self-seeding and rhizomes, so you’ll want to thin your mints to keep them from becoming overcrowded. 

Wild bergamot blooms throughout the summer and into early fall. The tubular pale purple flowers are arranged around a central flowerhead, at full bloom, they look loosely fluffy. These flowers are a favorite for hummingbirds and bees. Butterflies also visit, as well as other pollinator insects. Deer and rabbits won’t bother these plants so you can grow them just about anywhere. 

Zigzag Goldenrod

	common name Zigzag Goldenrod
	botanical name Solidago flexicaulis
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2 – 4 feet
	hardiness zones 4 – 9

The zigzag goldenrod is a woodland wildflower native to central and eastern North America. This adaptable plant prefers a partially shaded habitat with rich, moist soil. Use it in your cottage garden, butterfly garden, or for an area with dappled sunlight in your woodland garden planting. 

Zigzag goldenrod blooms from mid-summer to mid-fall. Its long sprays of tiny yellow flowers provide some late-season color wherever you plant them. The stems of these plants form a slight zigzag pattern with alternating leaves at each bend. Pollinators love these plants, especially butterflies and native bees.