THE BEST NATIVE PLANTS FOR INDIANAPOLIS IN 2020
The best way to achieve a beautiful and nearly maintenance-free and yard is to garden with plants native to our region. We're lucky to have a wide variety of native plants to choose from in Indianapolis. When we think of native plants, we often think of the wild natural landscapes. While you can certainly embrace the wild and natural look in your yard, native plants can also fit just as well into a perfectly manicured landscape.
Embracing native plants doesn't just make our yards better; it's also good for the world around us. Having a variety of native plants helps support our local natural ecosystems, from pollinators to birds and critters, and even the local populations of native plants. A larger population of native plants helps to support strong natural bio-diversity, which helps our local environment to become more resilient in the future.
With so many options to choose from, we thought we'd narrow it down to one favorite for each category: Evergreen & Deciduous Trees, Shrubs, Ferns, Vines, Grasses, and Flowers. These are what believe to be the best Indianapolis native plants for 2020.
EVERGREEN TREE: CANADIAN HEMLOCK
Canadian Hemlock is a beautiful classic conifer with soft needles. It grows in a balanced cone shape and is a great choice for hedges or on its own. Its needles emerge light green in spring and shift to a rich dark green through the season, and they release a pleasant fresh aroma when crushed. The foliage of Canadian Hemlock is fine and delicate, it offers a regal juxtaposition with other trees and shrubs. This tree may grow up to 60’ tall and 30’ wide at full maturity. This tree does need evenly moist soil but won’t tolerate standing water. It will do best in a sheltered location away from the street with several hours of sun every day.
DECIDUOUS TREE: PAGODA DOGWOOD
Pagoda Dogwood is a delight in every season. It has emerald green leaves, pretty white blossoms in spring, followed by blueberries and rich purple foliage in the fall. In the winter, its branches show off their graceful horizontal arches. This Dogwood doesn't require much, if any, pruning and grows to a height of 20' with a canopy spread of 25'. Its canopy is full and lush, with the lower branches usually only 2' from the ground. It needs good drainage and has a strong preference for acidic soils. Plant your Pagoda in a sheltered spot away in the backyard.
SHRUB: BUTTONBUSH
Buttonbush is an eye-catching conversation starter. Hundreds of tiny and fragrant white tubular flowers packed into a ball make the blooms of this shrub both beautiful and unique. This shrub does particularly well in damp or wet locations and is popular with pollinators. Buttonbush should be pruned in early spring, once the intense cold has passed. At maturity, it may reach up to 4' tall and 4' wide. These exciting shrubs do best in a spot with full sun to part shade.
FERN: OSTRICH FERN
This hardy native, Ostrich Fern, features tall lacy fronds in beautiful light green. It does tend to spread and fill a space rather quickly and may require some maintenance to keep it confined. This fern will thrive in full sun or full shade and wet or dry environments. It's very resilient to urban pollution and will even thrive on inner-city properties. It does prefer rich soils, and as its quite leggy, can be underplanted with ground-cover perennials. It will reach a height of about 2' with a spread of about 3'.
VINE: TRUMPET VINE
The beautiful and vigorous trumpet vine can grow over 10' in one year! Its bold scarlet trumpet-shaped flowers are nothing short of striking. Trumpet vine does require fairly vigorous pruning due to its speedy growth, but fortunately, you can prune it at any time of year. Trumpet vine is popular with all sorts of birds, including hummingbirds. It does need a structure to climb, so it should be planted near a trellis. Trumpet Vine is happy with full sun or partial shade and is resilient in wet or dry locations. This is an excellent choice for xeriscaping; it's not particular about soil, and its highly tolerant of urban pollution and salt.
GRASS: PRAIRIE DROPSEED
Prairie dropseed has delicate orange seedheads held over mounds of thin green leaves. It turns a beautiful golden orange in the fall. This native grass is graceful and elegant. The seedheads may reach up to 3' tall, and the spread of the leaves may be up to 3' wide. This plant is very adaptable to almost any conditions, sun to shade, damp to dry, in virtually any soil.
FLOWER: CELANDINE POPPY
This native poppy features masses of vibrant yellow blooms from mid-spring onward. It prefers a mostly shady location with rich, damp soil, and is an excellent performer around ponds or streams. It has attractive bluish-green leaves with silvery undersides. Celandine Poppy can grow up to 18" tall, with a spread up to 12".
We carry all of these fantastic native Indiana plants and more at our garden center. Come by for a visit today and explore all the options available to make your yard effortlessly beautiful.