25 Native Plant Seeds Ideal for Winter Sowing

Many people believe that gardening primarily happens during the summer months. While we may be most aware of the flowers that bloom during the summertime, some gardening activities and plants keep us busy during each season, including the winter.

Winter can be a time for planning, cleaning up gardening beds, pruning, ordering seeds, and even sowing seeds. It isn’t too late, or too early, to sow many native plant seeds during the coldest months of winter. Plants can regulate when they germinate, and they will wait for the soil to warm to the right temperature before being triggered to start growing. 

Direct sowing native plants in your garden is simple and economical. If you are willing to start plants from seeds, you will be able to find a tremendous diversity of species to try, including many unusual native species that may be difficult to find in garden centers. Native plants can benefit your landscape in many ways:

You can grow your plants and seeds in just about any garden. Your native plants can grow in a tiny raised bed garden or throughout the entire landscape. You can grow a themed garden, such as a butterfly garden or a xeriscape.

Choose plants that will thrive in your local plant hardiness zone and environmental conditions, such as available sunlight and soil moisture levels. Then be creative and adventurous and have fun with your garden!

Keep reading to learn more about 25 wonderful native garden plants you can sow in the winter.

Our Preferred Winter-Hardy Native Plant Seeds

Anise Hyssop

	botanical name Agastache foeniculum
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2 – 4 feet
	hardiness zones 4 – 8

Anise hyssop is a pretty herbaceous perennial wildflower native to northern North America. It prefers cooler climates and grows best in full sun or light afternoon shade. Direct sow your anise hyssop seeds in the fall, winter, or early spring in moist, well-drained soil.

Anise hyssop is a mint family member with square stems and fragrant, anise-scented foliage. It blooms mid to late summer with compact spikes of pale lavender flowers. These flowers are a pollinator favorite and will attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and native bees. Anise hyssop is a good candidate for an herb garden, container garden, or pollinator-friendly landscape.

Aromatic Aster

	botanical name Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 1 – 3 feet
	hardiness zones 3 – 8

Aromatic aster is a large, bushy perennial wildflower native to the central and eastern United States. Grow it in moist, well-drained soil. Give your aromatic aster plenty of room to spread because this plant will sprawl and multiply rapidly by vigorous rhizomes. 

Aromatic aster is a fabulous fall-blooming plant that is a pollinator magnet. The late-season blooms will densely cover your plants with purple blossoms, attracting butterflies and bees.

Leave the foliage standing even after your plants die back for the winter, and seed-eating birds will come to forage on the seedheads. Aromatic aster also makes excellent cut flowers.

Beardtongue

	botanical name Penstemon digitalis
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 3 – 5 feet
	hardiness zones 3 – 8

Beardtongue, also known as foxglove beardtongue, is a spring-blooming herbaceous perennial native to the eastern and southeastern United States. It grows best in full sun or light shade with dry to medium-moisture, well-drained soil. 

Beardtongue has beautiful white flowers that bloom in mid to late spring. The tubular flowers are a valuable early-season wildflower that attracts hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies. They also make good cut flowers. Use beardtongue in a pollinator garden, cottage garden, or rain garden. 

Black-eyed Susan

	botanical name Rudbeckia hirta
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 2 – 3 feet
	hardiness zones 3 – 8

Black-eyed Susan is a familiar wildflower native to the central and eastern United States. These plants are commonly grown as annuals or short-lived perennials. They typically live just a few years before dying back, but you may never notice because they readily reseed themselves in the garden and constantly produce fresh new plants each year. 

Black-eyed Susan blooms in the spring and summer. The perky yellow flowers have dark brown centers and attract numerous pollinators. Leave the seedheads standing to feed hungry summer birds, especially goldfinches.

Black-eyed Susans make good flowers for cutting. These fast-growing plants are some of the easiest wildflowers to start from seed. Sow the seeds anytime during the fall, winter, or spring, and you will likely have flowering plants by the following summer.

Blanket Flower

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

Blanket flowers are vigorous annual or perennial plants native throughout much of the southern United States and Mexico. It grows in a variety of conditions but prefers loose, sandy soil with excellent drainage. Blanket flowers are a great choice for container gardening, a rock garden, or a xeriscape garden. 

Blanket flowers bloom in the spring, summer, and fall. The flowers are quite showy and long-lasting, with bicolored yellow and reddish-orange petals and large, prominent central disks. The flowers attract butterflies and bees and make good flowers for cutting. Blanket flowers can be easily grown as an annual plant in any climate or as a perennial in warmer climates.

Blue Grama Grass

	botanical name Bouteloua gracilis
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 0.75 – 2 feet
	hardiness zones 3 – 10

Blue grama grass is a hardy and versatile ornamental grass native to the southern and western United States and Mexico. Blue grama grass grows best in full sun with dry to medium-moisture soil. It’s a good option for a xeriscape, naturalized area, or pocket prairie.

Blue grama grass stays fairly compact. Masses of densely packed thin blades radiate outwards into a densely tufted mound of vegetation. This grass blooms in early to mid-summer with showy, horizontal spikelets. As the seedheads mature, they attract foraging birds, making this a very wildlife-friendly variety of grass. 

Blue Flax

	botanical name Linum lewisii
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 1 – 3 feet
	hardiness zones 3 – 9

Blue flax, also known as Lewis flax or prairie flax, is a perennial wildflower native to western North America. It grows best in full sun with loose, sandy, well-drained soil and is an excellent plant for a rock garden or xeriscape. This flower is very easy to grow from seed and is adaptable to many conditions. 

Blue flax has slender, leaf-lined stems that are somewhat sprawling. Plants can produce flowering stems up to three feet tall in ideal conditions. The flowers bloom in the spring and summer and are pale purplish-blue with five petals. Blue flax flowers add a delicate floral touch to your landscape and attract pollinators.

Blue Sage

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

Blue sage is an herbaceous perennial wildflower native to the southeastern United States. Grow it easily from seed in a location with full sun or light shade. It does well in dry to medium-moisture soil and tolerates occasional drought. It will bloom best and for longer periods with regular soil moisture. 

Blue sage blooms from mid-summer into fall. The flowers are very showy and pale blue, developing along tall flowering spikes. There are several different varieties of blue sage native to specific regions. They vary in flower color and shape, but all can be grown in the home garden. They make good pollinator-friendly plants, attracting butterflies and bees.

Butterfly Milkweed

	botanical name Asclepias tuberosa
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 1 – 2.5 feet
	hardiness zones 3 – 9

Butterfly milkweed is a very showy perennial wildflower native to the eastern and southeastern United States. This is an excellent plant for a butterfly or pollinator garden, pocket prairie, or mixed wildflower garden. It thrives in full sun with dry to medium-moisture, well-drained soil.

Also known as butterfly weed, butterfly milkweed blooms in the summertime. It develops a dense cluster of yellow-orange flowers atop upright, leaf-lined stems.

Butterflies and other insect pollinators love the flowers, and milkweeds are the larval host plants for monarch butterfly caterpillars. After flowering, milkweed produces elongated pods full of fluffy, wind-scattered seeds. 

California Bluebells

	botanical name Phacelia campanularia
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 0.5 – 2 feet
	hardiness zones 5 – 10

California bluebells, also known as desert bells, is an annual wildflower native to California and Arizona. This beautiful flower is easy to grow from seed, and if you live in a warmer climate, winter is the ideal time to sow them so they pop up early in the spring, ready to create a mound of beautiful vegetation and flowers. This plant grows best in warm, arid climates with very well-drained soil. 

California bluebells have beautiful, vibrant blue flowers. Clusters of flowers bloom atop a mound of attractive silvery-green leaves. The flowers have a slight fragrance and attract many pollinators, including butterflies and native bees. After blooming, allow your plants to set seeds, and they will readily reseed themselves in your garden for an annual show of color. 

California Poppy

	botanical name Eschscholzia californica
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 1 – 1.5 feet
	hardiness zones 6 – 10

California poppy is a showy perennial wildflower native to the western United States. It typically grows on grassy hillsides along the west coast but can be easily grown in a garden setting. California poppy loves full sun with dry, well-drained soil. These plants are easily grown as annuals or perennials and will freely reseed themselves in ideal conditions.

If you have a butterfly garden, pollinator patch, xeriscape, or container garden, the California poppy is an excellent addition to your project. The flowers bloom in the spring and early summer with plenty of bright yellow-orange cup-like blossoms. The vibrant color of these flowers will be a short-lived but much-appreciated feature in your garden.

Culver’s Root

	botanical name Veronicastrum virginicum
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 4 – 7 feet
	hardiness zones 3 – 8

Culver’s root is an herbaceous perennial native to northeastern North America. It grows best in full sun but also tolerates light shade. It appreciates a site with medium to wet, well-drained soil. Plants can be started from seed, but they are somewhat slow-growing and will take a few years to establish fully. But once they are established, Culver’s root plants are a reliable and hardy addition to your landscape.

Culver’s root can grow to be a fairly large and robust plant. The whorled leaves are attractive throughout the growing season and complement other nearby vegetation well.

In the summer, Culver’s root blooms with several upright finger-like spikes of tiny white flowers. The flowers attract butterflies and other pollinators, making this a good plant for your pollinator garden. 

Garden Phlox

	botanical name Phlox paniculata
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2 – 4 feet
	hardiness zones 4 – 8

Garden phlox is a very showy perennial wildflower native to the eastern United States. It does well in full sun but also in partial shade, making it an excellent choice for a woodland garden with dappled light.

Phlox performs best in rich, moist, well-drained soil. These plants tend to develop powdery mildew when grown in hot, humid climates, although they perform very well in cool and moderate climates with lower humidity.

Garden phlox is a lovely wildflower addition to your cottage garden or native plant garden. This is the perfect choice if you also want to support butterflies and bees. Clusters of showy pink, purple, or white flowers bloom in mid to late summer and have a pleasant, light fragrance.

Giant Coneflower

	botanical name Rudbeckia maxima
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 5 – 7 feet
	hardiness zones 4 – 9

The giant coneflower, true to its name, can indeed grow quite tall, reaching a maximum height of around seven feet. This plant grows naturally in open grasslands in the central and southern United States. It enjoys full sun or dappled shade with rich, moist, well-drained soil. 

Giant coneflower blooms in the summertime. It has long-stemmed, showy yellow flowers with large, prominent central seed-bearing cones.

The flowers attract butterflies and bees, and the dried seedheads will attract foraging songbirds, especially goldfinches. This is an excellent perennial wildflower for a cottage garden, prairie landscape, naturalized area, or wildlife-friendly garden.

Globe Gilia

	botanical name Gilia capitata
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 1 – 2 feet
	hardiness zones 7 – 10

Globe Gilia is an annual wildflower native to western North America. It is versatile and easy to grow from seed in varied landscape settings. It grows best in full sun with dry to medium-moisture, well-drained soil. 

Globe Gilia, or blue Gilia, grows a loose, rounded mass of thin-leaved, silvery-green vegetation. Rounded, globe-like masses of pale purple flowers bloom in the springtime before dying back in the mid-summer heat. While blooming, the flowers attract butterflies and native bees. Globe Gilia will readily self-seed itself for recurring annual growth. 

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 throughout eastern North America. It grows in various grasslands, including prairies, meadows, and along roadsides and powerline rights of way. Little bluestem thrives in full sun with dry to medium-moisture, well-drained soil and is tolerant of occasional drought.

Grow little bluestem in a naturalized area, hillside, pocket prairie, or xeriscape landscape. This warm-season bunchgrass will grow into a dense clump of thin-leaved silvery green blades. In late summer and into autumn, purplish-brown colored flowers create a bronze haze across the tops of these plants. They are especially dramatic when several plants are grouped.

Purple Coneflower

	botanical name Echinacea purpurea
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2 – 5 feet
	hardiness zones 3 – 8

Are you looking for a spectacular herbaceous perennial wildflower to attract plenty of attention from humans, pollinators, and birds? Grow a purple coneflower. These plants are easily started from seed and are native to central and eastern North America. Purple coneflowers grow best in full sun or light shade with dry to medium-moisture, well-drained soil. 

Purple coneflower is a reliable and hardy landscaping plant. It blooms throughout the summer and may have a second re-bloom in the fall. The flowers are large and very showy, with purplish-pink petals and a prominent reddish-orange central disk. These flowers are very popular with butterflies and other pollinators, and birds love to pick apart the dried seedheads.

Red Columbine

	botanical name Aquilegia canadensis
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2 – 3 feet
	hardiness zones 3 – 8

Red columbine is a spring-blooming perennial wildflower native to eastern North America. This columbine is very easy to start from seeds directly sown in the garden over the winter. In its first year of growth, red columbine doesn’t bloom, but you will see its attractive, somewhat fern-like foliage. During its second year of growth, red columbine blooms with its unique nodding red and yellow flowers that hummingbirds love! 

If allowed to set seeds, red columbine will easily reseed itself in your garden and can naturalize and spread without becoming weedy or invasive. Columbine grows very well in both full sun and partial shade and is a great addition to a woodland shade garden or a hummingbird garden. Give it medium-moisture, well-drained soil. Plants grown in warm, sunny, and humid environments may die back by mid-summer, but as long as the roots are kept moist, they will regrow the following spring.

Rocky Mountain Blue Columbine

	botanical name Aquilegia coerulea
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 1 – 2 feet
	hardiness zones 3 – 8

Rocky Mountain blue columbine, also known as the Colorado blue columbine, is a very showy wildflower native to the Rocky Mountains region. This columbine grows well in both full sun or partial shade and in dry to medium-moisture, well-drained soil.

If you’re looking for a stunning addition to your hummingbird garden or rock garden, check out this blue columbine. The large nodding flowers combine purple-blue and white with an unusual and dramatic flower shape. The foliage creates an attractive mound and may stay evergreen in mild climates. 

Rocky Mountain Penstemon

	botanical name Penstemon strictus
	sun requirements Partial shade
	height 2 – 3 feet
	hardiness zones 4 – 9

The Rocky Mountain penstemon is a beautiful perennial wildflower native to the southwestern United States. It grows best in partial shade with sandy or gravelly, well-drained soil. If starting this plant from seed, it’s best to directly sow them in the fall or winter so they can be naturally cold-stratified and ready to germinate the following spring. 

Rocky Mountain penstemon forms an attractive clump of dense, evergreen vegetation. During the spring, it develops several tall, upright flowering stems loosely lined with showy, dark purple, trumpet-like flowers. Hummingbirds and bees love these flowers, and this would be a great plant for your pollinator garden, rock garden, or native desert wildflower garden.

Scarlet Bee Balm

	botanical name Monarda didyma
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 3 – 4 feet
	hardiness zones 4 – 9

Scarlet bee balm is a very showy perennial wildflower native to eastern North America. This is an ideal plant for your hummingbird garden and attracts plenty of other insect pollinators. Scarlet bee balm blooms in the summer with spikes of vibrant red, tubular flowers that will last through the summer and into fall. The leaves have a distinctive, somewhat pungent, minty scent.

Grow scarlet bee balm in full sun, although it will also perform well in light shade. Give it rich, moist, well-drained soil. These plants will spread by self-seeding and also by rhizomes. You will want to thin your scarlet bee balm every few years to maintain robust growth and help reduce powdery mildew that is more prevalent in overcrowded situations.

Swamp Milkweed

	botanical name Asclepias incarnata
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 3 – 5 feet tall
	hardiness zones 3 – 9

Swamp milkweed, or marsh milkweed, is a showy milkweed native to central and eastern North America. As its name implies, this milkweed prefers areas with moist to wet soil. You can grow it in a rain garden, a periodically flooded area, along a wetland edge, or anywhere with consistently moist soil. 

Swamp milkweed blooms in late summer and early fall. The flowers are very showy, pinkish purple, and grow in clusters atop tall, erect, leafy stems. Milkweed flowers attract numerous pollinators and seem especially popular with butterflies. Milkweeds are also the larval host plant of the Monarch butterfly caterpillar, making this a perfect choice for a butterfly garden in a moist location. 

Swamp Sunflower

	botanical name Helianthus angustifolius
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 5 – 8 feet
	hardiness zones 5 – 9

Swamp sunflower is a towering perennial wildflower native to the central and eastern United States. This grassland plant thrives in full sun, although it will tolerate a bit of dappled afternoon shade. Give it a location with moist to occasionally wet, well-drained soil. This would be a great plant for a rain garden, butterfly garden, bird garden, or large, sunny, naturalized area.

Swamp sunflower is a large plant. It will need plenty of space and want to be the center of attention wherever you plant it. This native sunflower can grow up to eight feet tall and produce numerous bright yellow flowers in mid to late summer. The flowers are great for cutting, but don’t cut them all because the birds and pollinators will also want them.

Whorled Milkweed

	botanical name Asclepias verticillata
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 1 – 2.5 feet
	hardiness zones 4 – 9

If you like milkweeds but want one that stays very small and compact, the whorled milkweed is a good choice for your garden. This plant is native to eastern North America and grows in sunny grasslands. Grow it in your butterfly garden or among other native perennials, where it will attract plenty of butterflies and other pollinators. 

This milkweed has very narrow, thin leaves that grow closely together along compact, upright stems. It blooms in mid-summer with clusters of small white to greenish-white flowers. After flowering, milkweeds produce thin green pods with ornamental appeal. The pods dry and crack open in the fall, revealing fluffy white tufts of wind-blown seeds. These plants will naturally reseed in the garden but are easy to control and won’t become weedy.

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 member of the mint family native to central and eastern North America. The leaves have a distinctive minty fragrance and aren’t bothered by browsing herbivores. Wild bergamot has a long blooming period and will flower from summer into fall. The flowers grow in rounded clusters of narrow, pale-purple tubular blossoms that are very attractive to hummingbirds and bees.

Grow your wild bergamot in full sun or light, dappled shade. Plants grown in full sun tend to be more compact and have better blooms than those grown in shade. Wild bergamot appreciates dry to medium-moisture, well-drained soil. Like many mints, this plant spreads readily by self-seeding and by rhizomes. You will want to thin it every few years to maintain vigorous growth.

Frequently Asked Questions