Best Garden Flowers for Iowa

It’s not irregular we at The Prairie Farm get the question, what flowers should I plant in my garden. Our answer is always, “Natives.” But which natives?

That is a great question. Here is a list of the best/our favorite natives to grow in the Midwest.

The first question you want to ask is whether you want to focus on pollinators (bees, butterflies, etc.) or on beauty and color. Obviously, there is a lot of overlap, but it’s not the exact same list.

For bees and butterflies some of the following would be perfect:

-       Common Milkweed

o   Any kind of milkweed is good milkweed especially for butterflies.

-       Butterfly Milkweed

o   This is just the prettiest of the milkweeds.

-       Asters (Skyblue, White, Heath, New England)

o   The different kind of asters are very desirable for our little pollinator friends, and they come in several colors.

-       Coneflowers (Gray-headed, Pale Purple)

o   Coneflowers add pollen between the early bloomers and the summer bloomers. They help keep a source of pollen available at all times.

-       Black-Eyed Susan

o   They are resilient beautiful and ready to be pollinated. They have a long bloom period and are easy to grow.

-       Stiff Goldenrod

o   These are taller, but not as pretty. They are a late bloomers, bringing sustenance to the pollinators into the fall.

-       Foxglove Beardtongue

o   This is one of the earliest bloomers. Also, since it is a cone shape, it is incredibly entertaining to see bees try to climb in to get their nectar

To add significant color to your garden these are our favorites:

-       Blazing Stars (particularly Prairie)

o   Large purple cat tails… need we say more

-       Black-Eyed Susan

o   Beautiful yellow mini suns in your yard. They also have a long bloom season, bringing color to more of the summer.

-       New England Aster

o   These bushy, purple- covered plants are highly attractive to butterflies and bees and bloom a beautiful, royal purple late into the fall.

-       Butterfly Milkweed

o   Not only are these some of the best plants for butterflies, they are some of the only bright orange flowers in the Midwest landscape. You do not want to miss having these in your landscape.

-       Purple Coneflower

o   These coneflowers have a rich pedal to them, which gives off a radiant flower vibe.

-       Ohio Spiderwort

o   These are a Prairie Farm favorite. They bloom every morning for more than a month, and by noon they have closed back up. It makes the blooming moments more beautiful to know they are fleeting.

-       Maximillian sunflower

o   Tall and yellow, these flowers are like a beacon in your landscape. Great for accenting certain areas.

There are many more than these, but we thought this would be a great place to start.

Looking for a mix of these flowers and more? Check out our Prairie Shop.