Wetlands and Streambank Stabilization
Colonizing native plants, shrubs and trees are effective soft armor solutions for wetland mitigation projects and for stabilizing streambanks and lakeshores.
Annuals (8)
Butterfly Attracting (81)
Creative Containers (52)
Drought-Defiant (87)
Midwest Native (84)
Salt-Tolerant Plants (26)
Shade-tolerant (54)
Trees & Shrubs (74)
Acorus calamus
Common Name: Common Sweet Flag
Common Sweet Flag is a spreading aquatic perennial that features sword-shaped leaf blades....
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Amorpha fruticosa
Common Name: Shrub Indigo
Shrub Indigo is a woody shrub with deep lavender fragrant flower spikes. Has naturalized throughout the Midwest. Can be aggressive....
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Asclepias incarnata
Common Name: Marsh Milkweed
Marsh, or Swamp, Milkweed offers sweetly scented clusters of rose-pink flowers bloom in summer. All kinds of pollinators find the nectar irresistible and monarch larvae feed on the foliage. Grows naturally in swamps, along streams and ponds and in we...
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Aster laevis
Common Name: Smooth Aster
Smooth Aster is an attractive and long-lived native with attractive, smooth blue-green foliage. Abundant flowers appear late in the fall, when few other plants dare risk the danger of frost. Tolerates a broad variety of soil types and moisture levels...
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Aster novae-angliae
Common Name: New England Aster
New England Aster is a dependable perennial which grows up to six feet tall and produces hundreds of large, bright purple flowers with yellow centers in September and October. The flowers are a favorite nectar source for migrating monarch butterflies...
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Bidens cernua
Common Name: Nodding Bur Marigold
Nodding Bur Marigold has bright yellow flowers and characteristic, clinging seeds are hallmarks of this wetland standard. Good companion to New England Aster and Prairie Cord Grass....
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Carex stricta
Common Name: Tussock Sedge
It's hard to beat Tussock Sedge for its rich green, fine-bladed foliage. The leaves of Tussock Sedge form dense mounds or "tussocks." Useful for water gardens, swales, around the edge of ponds or streams or in moist soil as a ground cover....
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Carpinus caroliniana
Common Name: American Hornbeam
American Hornbeam is a handsome, small- to medium-sized tree with multiple stems that forms wide, horizontal canopy. Dark green leaves can be yellow, orange, red or purple in fall. Beautiful thin, blue-gray bark....
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Cephalanthus occidentalis
Common Name: Buttonbush
Hundreds of ball-shaped, creamy white flowers dangle from Buttonbush in August. Butterflies and insects find the nectar irresistable....
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Chasmanthium latifolium
Common Name: Northern Sea Oats
Upright clumps of Northern Sea Oats' green leaves turn copper in fall and brown in winter. Attractive flat seed heads are good in fresh or dried arrangements. Prefers light shade and damp soil. Northern Sea Oats can self-sow prolifically. Good ground...
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Chelone glabra
Common Name: Turtlehead
Turtlehead has erect, leafy stems with clusters of white snapdragon-like blossoms. Naturally occurs along streambanks, swampy areas and moist woods....
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Chelone obliqua
Common Name: Rose Turtlehead
Dense spikes of rose-red flowers bloom on Rose Turtlehead in late summer and early fall. Butterflies and other pollinators are attracted to the nectar. The deep green, glossy foliage is handsome all season long. Rose Turtlehead grows best in full sun...
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Cornus racemosa
Common Name: Gray Dogwood
Gray Dogwood has clusters of small white spring flowers that are followed by small white berries on short red stalks. The green foliage turns burgundy in fall. Like all dogwoods, this is a good source of food, cover and nesting sites for many birds. ...
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Eleocaris palustris
Common Name: Creeping Spike Rush
Creeping Spike Rush is a native that forms dense tufts of smooth, upright, unbranched stems, to two feet in height. Flowers from June through August. Seedheads are brown, scaly and conical and provide food for waterfowl. Distinguished from other rush...
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Equisetum hyemale
Common Name: Horsetail
Horsetail offers vigorously spreading clumps of cylindrical, gray-green to bright green stems with cream-colored bands accented by black fringe. Stems turn bronze in winter; flowers are cone-like spikes at the stem tips. Adapts to full sun or part s...
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Glyceria striata
Common Name: Fowl Manna Grass
Fowl Manna Grass is tolerant of any soil. It can grow in part shade or sun. Fowl Manna Grass requires wet soil and can grow in standing water. Plants of this genus are often planted in and around water gardens because they have attractive open flower...
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Hibiscus lasiocarpus
Common Name: Rose Mallow
Rose Mallow plants take shrub-like form and offer showy blooms in mid-summer for many weeks. The white or pink flowers have red centers and are four to five inches across....
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Hibiscus moscheutos
Common Name: Crimson-eyed Rose Mallow
Crimson-eyed Rose Mallow is multi-stemmed, shrub-like herbaceous perennial which dies back in winter and re-sprouts in spring. The leaves are velvety beneath and smooth on top. The flowers are about six inches across, with white or pink petals and cr...
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Ilex verticillata ''Winter Red''
Common Name: Winter Red Winterberry Holly
Winterberry is a slow-growing, deciduous, suckering shrub with an upright rounded habit. Among winterberry cultivars, both 'Winter Red' and 'Berry Nice' are noted for heavy fruiting, bright red fruit color, clean mildew resistant foliage and good ret...
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Iris virginica shrevii
Common Name: Southern Blue Flag
Southern Blue Flag has narrow, bright green leaves and fragrant, blue violet flowers with falls crested in yellow and white. A perfect choice for rain gardens and along pond edges....
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Itea virginica
Common Name: Virginia Sweetspire
Virginia Sweetspire is a native shrub with broad habit and slender upright branches that eventually arch over. Blooms in May or June with fragrant clusters of drooping creamy white flowers. In fall, the dark green leaves turn scarlet and remain showy...
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Juncus effusus
Common Name: Soft Rush
Soft Rush is a common wetland species with unique, side stem inflorescence. Soft Rush will bloom from May through September. The plants will naturalize forming large clumps when left undisturbed....
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Liatris pycnostachya
Common Name: Prairie Blazing Star
In July and August, the unbranched stalks of Prairie Blazing Star bear dense spikes of fuschia flowers on strong stems creating dramatic landscape statement. Prairie Blazing Star's nectar-rich flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds....
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Lindera benzoin
Common Name: Spicebush
Spicebush is a broad, rounded multi-stemmed native shrub covered with fragrant, yellow-green flowers in March and April. In fall, the aromatic light green leaves of Spicebush turn a deep yellow-gold. Birds feed on the small, brilliant red fruits prod...
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Lobelia cardinalis
Common Name: Cardinal Flower
Dozens of brilliant red flowers on Cardinal Flower's strong, upright stems in late summer. Hummingbirds enjoy Cardinal Flower's nectar....
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Lobelia siphilitica
Common Name: Blue Lobelia
Blue Lobelia has stout spikes of two-lipped flowers bloom in fall. In optimum growing conditions, Blue Lobelia may self-seed forming attractive colonies....
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Nyssa sylvatica ''Red Rage' or 'Wildfire''
Common Name: Red Rage or Wildfire Black Gum
Attractive glossy, dark green leaves of Red Rage or Wildfire Black Gum turn a fluorescent yellow to orange to scarlet red to purple in fall. These cultivars of the native Black Gum are wonderfully spectacular! The bark has almost alligator-like patte...
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Panicum virgatum
Common Name: Switch Grass
Switch Grass is a clump-forming, warm season native grass. Switch Grass plants provide cover for wildlife; birds feed on the seeds. Spreads both by rhizomes and seed....
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Phlox paniculata
Common Name: Garden Phlox
Garden Phlox offers large, fragrant magenta flower clusters that attract butterflies and hummingbirds....
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Platanus occidentalis
Common Name: Sycamore
Sycamore develops a massive trunk with an open, wide-spreading crown. Sycamore has leaves that can grow to nine inches in width. In winter, the tree's characteristic large patches of creamy white inner bark are prominent making it a winter landscape...
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Pontederia cordata
Common Name: Pickerel Plant
The blue-violet flower spikes of Pickerel Plant stand out at the edge of a pond or in a small pool from June through October. Large stands of this hardy water plant make a very showy statement. Pickerel Plant has glossy green, lance-shaped leaves tha...
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Prunus virginiana
Common Name: Common Chokecherry
Common Chokecherry is a small suckering tree or large shrub forms large upright clumps. Attractive white spring flower clusters are followed by red fruits that ripen to purple. Common Chokecherry has an unusual tolerance for shade and can be grown in...
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Quercus bicolor
Common Name: Swamp White Oak
Swamp White Oak is a large and imposing tree forms coarse outline with a broad crown. Leaves turn varied shades in fall from yellow-bronze to red-purple. The broad, shallow-lobed leaves of Swamp White Oak are dark green and usually gray-green underne...
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Rhus aromatica ''Gro-Low''
Common Name: Gro-Low Sumac
Gro-Low Sumac is the dense, low-growing version of the native Aromatic Sumac. Gro-Low Sumac is a rambling shrub which spreads by roots. Trifoliate, medium green fragrant leaves turn attractive shades of orange and red in autumn. Leaves and twigs are ...
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Rhus aromatica
Common Name: Fragrant Sumac
Fragrant Sumac offers yellow-green spring flowers followed by clusters of fuzzy red fall fruits on female plants. The fruit may persist into winter and is an important food source for mammals and birds. In the fall, Fragrant Sumac leaves turn a brigh...
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Rhus glabra
Common Name: Smooth Sumac
Smooth Sumac has compact clusters of dark red, velvety fall berries and brilliant red fall foliage to make a striking focal point. Smooth Sumac plants spread to form large, dense thickets. The fruit is eaten by a wide variety of birds and the leaves ...
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Rudbeckia subtomentosa
Common Name: Sweet Coneflower
Sweet Coneflower is a native superstar! In late summer, Sweet Coneflower puts on a dazzling display of typical golden yellow flowers with dark brown dome-shaped centers. The foliage of this long-lived resilient plant is medium green and forms a tidy ...
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Sagittaria latifolia
Common Name: Arrowhead
Arrowhead leaves can vary considerably in appearance. Flowers are borne in whorls on leafless stems, each bearing three small, white petals. Arrowhead's round tubers provide an important food source for small mammals....
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Sambucus canadensis
Common Name: Elderberry
Elderberry is a dramatic, thicket-forming shrub with bright green leaves. Showy clusters of fragrant white spring flowers followed by clusters of dark purple fall fruits....
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Saururus cernuus
Common Name: Lizard's Tail
Lizard's Tail has long, creamy-white flowers that rest over heat-shaped leaves above six to eight inch long spikes. Grayish nutlets, similar to a lizard's tail, cover the spike when the flowers go to seed. All parts of the Lizard's Tail smell like ci...
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Scirpus acutus
Common Name: Hardstem Bulrush
Hardstem and Softstem Bulrushes are tall, stout, perennial plants. Both have round, olive green stems, drooping brown flower clusters near the stem tips, and a few inconspicuous leaves at the stem bases. Common in marshes and along shorelines in wat...
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Scirpus americanus
Common Name: Olney's Bulrush
Olney's Bulrush is a robust sedge with triangular pale green stems....
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Scirpus validus
Common Name: Soft-stemmed Bulrush
Soft-stemmed Bulrush's rounded, triangular-shaped, smooth stems are up to one inch wide at the base, gradually tapering upward. There are no leaf blades, just sheaths, with inflorescence at stem tip....
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Spartina pectinata
Common Name: Prairie Cord Grass
Long, graceful blades are sharply serrated and can easily cut skin. Forms a sod with its heavy, multi-branched root system which can reach a depth of ten feet. Spreads by seed and creeping rhizomes to form dense, monotypic patches. Offers both food a...
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Taxodium distichum
Common Name: Bald Cypress
Bald Cypress is a deciduous conifer, with medium-fine, needle-like leave that are soft green in summer but turn rusty brown in winter before they drop. The bark of Bald Cypress is brown and fibrous. Great choice for compacted, urban sites as are othe...
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Taxodium distichum ''Cascade Falls' or 'Shawnee Brave''
Common Name: Cascade Falls or Shawnee Brave Bald Cypress
Cascade Falls or Shawnee Brave Bald Cypress are two excellent cultivars of the native tree. Each cultivar is more pyramidal in habit than the native tree with very delicate, feathery foliage. These hybrid varieties have denser foliage and a narrower ...
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Viburnum lentago
Common Name: Nannyberry
Nannyberry is an important food plant for winter wildlife. Fruits are deep-blue with a whitish coating. Nannyberry fruits ripen in late fall and turn glossy when the coating wears off. The leaves, oval with a pointed tip, emerge a soft yellow-green t...
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Viburnum trilobum
Common Name: Highbush Cranberry
Large attractive native shrub that is often found in the wild in bogs. They are showy in spring for their large clusters of small white flowers. In late summer, the fruit turn bright red and remain on throughout the winter or until harvested by birds...
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