Cardinal Flower
Lobelia cardinalis
Built for the wet center of a rain garden and the boom-and-bust of storm runoff, spreading 1–2 ft, where it blooms Jul through Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 2–4 ft
- Blooms Jul–Sep
Alabama · Zones 7–9
Native Rain Garden Plants in Alabama
Moisture-loving natives for rain gardens, pond edges, downspout basins, and the low spots that stay soggy after a storm. Alabama sits in a landscape of Gulf Coastal Plain & Cumberland Plateau, and the natives that thrive here are the ones built for its hot, humid subtropical character. The list below — led by Cardinal Flower and Cup Plant — is filtered to species genuinely native to Alabama and the wider flora of the Southeast and hardy through zones 7–9. A rain garden catches roof and driveway runoff and lets it soak in instead of rushing to the storm drain, and these natives are built for that boom-and-bust of flood then dry. Put the most water-tolerant species in the wet center and the merely moisture-loving ones up on the sloped edges. Once established they handle both the standing water and the dry weeks between storms.
The plants
25 native species for Alabama
Each one native to your region and hardy in zones 7–9 · see this collection in other states.
Cup Plant
Silphium perfoliatum
For the wet center of a rain garden and damp low spots, yellow flowers, where it blooms Jul through Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 5–8 ft
- Blooms Jul–Sep
Dense Blazing Star
Liatris spicata
Happy in the wet center of a rain garden and ground that stays soggy after a storm, hardy in zones 3–9, where it flowers in Jul and Aug.
- Full sun
- Average–wet
- 2–4 ft
- Blooms Jul–Aug
Winterberry
Ilex verticillata
For the wet center of a rain garden and damp low spots, white, red berries flowers, where it flowers in Jun and Jul.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 5–10 ft
- Blooms Jun–Jul
Scarlet Beebalm
Monarda didyma
Happy in the wet center of a rain garden and ground that stays soggy after a storm, reaching 2.5–4 ft, where it flowers in Jul and Aug.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 2.5–4 ft
- Blooms Jul–Aug
Buttonbush
Cephalanthus occidentalis
Takes the wet center of a rain garden through flood and dry spell alike, spreading 4–8 ft, where it blooms Jun through Aug.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 5–10 ft
- Blooms Jun–Aug
New England Aster
Symphyotrichum novae-angliae
Takes the wet center of a rain garden through flood and dry spell alike, reaching 3–5 ft, where it flowers in Sep and Oct.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 3–5 ft
- Blooms Sep–Oct
Arrowwood Viburnum
Viburnum dentatum
Built for the wet center of a rain garden and the boom-and-bust of storm runoff, good through zone 8, where it flowers in May and Jun.
- Sun to shade
- Average–wet
- 6–10 ft
- Blooms May–Jun
Swamp Milkweed
Asclepias incarnata
Built for the wet center of a rain garden and the boom-and-bust of storm runoff, happy in clay and loam soil, where it flowers in Jul and Aug.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 3–4 ft
- Blooms Jul–Aug
Spotted Joe-Pye Weed
Eutrochium maculatum
Happy in the wet center of a rain garden and ground that stays soggy after a storm, good through zone 8, where it blooms Jul through Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 4–7 ft
- Blooms Jul–Sep
Obedient Plant
Physostegia virginiana
Built for the wet center of a rain garden and the boom-and-bust of storm runoff, reaching 2–4 ft, where it flowers in Aug and Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 2–4 ft
- Blooms Aug–Sep
Serviceberry
Amelanchier canadensis
For the wet center of a rain garden and damp low spots, white spring lace flowers, where it flowers in Apr and May.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 15–25 ft
- Blooms Apr–May
Great Blue Lobelia
Lobelia siphilitica
For the wet center of a rain garden and damp low spots, 2–3 ft tall, where it flowers in Aug and Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 2–3 ft
- Blooms Aug–Sep
Culver's Root
Veronicastrum virginicum
For the wet center of a rain garden and damp low spots, 1.5–2 ft wide, where it blooms Jun through Aug.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 3–5 ft
- Blooms Jun–Aug
Golden Alexanders
Zizia aurea
Built for the wet center of a rain garden and the boom-and-bust of storm runoff, chartreuse-gold flowers, where it blooms Apr through Jun.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 1.5–2.5 ft
- Blooms Apr–Jun
Virginia Bluebells
Mertensia virginica
Takes the wet center of a rain garden through flood and dry spell alike, for loam ground, where it blooms Mar through May.
- Part shade
- Average–wet
- 1–2 ft
- Blooms Mar–May
Blue Vervain
Verbena hastata
For the wet center of a rain garden and damp low spots, happy in clay and loam soil, where it blooms Jul through Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 3–5 ft
- Blooms Jul–Sep
Spicebush
Lindera benzoin
Takes the wet center of a rain garden through flood and dry spell alike, 6–12 ft tall, where it flowers in Mar and Apr.
- Part shade
- Average–wet
- 6–12 ft
- Blooms Mar–Apr
Inkberry Holly
Ilex glabra
Built for the wet center of a rain garden and the boom-and-bust of storm runoff, reaching 4–8 ft, where it flowers in May and Jun.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 4–8 ft
- Blooms May–Jun
Common Boneset
Eupatorium perfoliatum
Built for the wet center of a rain garden and the boom-and-bust of storm runoff, happy in clay and loam soil, where it flowers in Aug and Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 3–5 ft
- Blooms Aug–Sep
Ninebark
Physocarpus opulifolius
Happy in the wet center of a rain garden and ground that stays soggy after a storm, white to pink flowers, where it flowers in May and Jun.
- Full–part sun
- Dry to wet
- 5–10 ft
- Blooms May–Jun
American Elderberry
Sambucus canadensis
Built for the wet center of a rain garden and the boom-and-bust of storm runoff, hardy in zones 3–9, where it flowers in Jun and Jul.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 6–12 ft
- Blooms Jun–Jul
Cinnamon Fern
Osmundastrum cinnamomeum
Built for the wet center of a rain garden and the boom-and-bust of storm runoff, good through zone 9.
- Part shade
- Average–wet
- 2–4 ft
- Foliage
Switchgrass
Panicum virgatum
For the wet center of a rain garden and damp low spots, 3–6 ft tall.
- Full–part sun
- Dry to wet
- 3–6 ft
- Fall color
1 more also qualify: Big Bluestem.
Sourcing
Where to find these in Alabama
Seeds & live plants on Amazon
Seed packets, plugs, and starter plants for many of these species ship to your door.
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