Spotted Joe-Pye Weed
Eutrochium maculatum
Built for the wet center of a rain garden and the boom-and-bust of storm runoff, mauve-pink flowers, where it blooms Jul through Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 4–7 ft
- Blooms Jul–Sep
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North Dakota · Zones 3–4
Native Rain Garden Plants in North Dakota
Moisture-loving natives for rain gardens, pond edges, downspout basins, and the low spots that stay soggy after a storm. North Dakota sits in a landscape of Northern mixedgrass prairie & Drift Prairie, and the natives that thrive here are the ones built for its cold, semi-arid character. The list below — led by Spotted Joe-Pye Weed and Culver's Root — is filtered to species genuinely native to North Dakota and the wider flora of the Great Plains and hardy through zones 3–4. 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
17 native species for North Dakota
Each one native to your region and hardy in zones 3–4 · see this collection in other states.
Culver's Root
Veronicastrum virginicum
Takes the wet center of a rain garden through flood and dry spell alike, 3–5 ft tall, where it blooms Jun through Aug.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 3–5 ft
- Blooms Jun–Aug
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
Golden Alexanders
Zizia aurea
Happy in the wet center of a rain garden and ground that stays soggy after a storm, hardy in zones 3–8, where it blooms Apr through Jun.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 1.5–2.5 ft
- Blooms Apr–Jun
Dense Blazing Star
Liatris spicata
Built for the wet center of a rain garden and the boom-and-bust of storm runoff, good through zone 9, where it flowers in Jul and Aug.
- Full sun
- Average–wet
- 2–4 ft
- Blooms Jul–Aug
Serviceberry
Amelanchier canadensis
Happy in the wet center of a rain garden and ground that stays soggy after a storm, white spring lace flowers, where it flowers in Apr and May.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 15–25 ft
- Blooms Apr–May
New England Aster
Symphyotrichum novae-angliae
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 Sep and Oct.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 3–5 ft
- Blooms Sep–Oct
Obedient Plant
Physostegia virginiana
Takes the wet center of a rain garden through flood and dry spell alike, pink flowers, where it flowers in Aug and Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 2–4 ft
- Blooms Aug–Sep
Swamp Milkweed
Asclepias incarnata
Happy in the wet center of a rain garden and ground that stays soggy after a storm, rose pink flowers, where it flowers in Jul and Aug.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 3–4 ft
- Blooms Jul–Aug
Great Blue Lobelia
Lobelia siphilitica
Takes the wet center of a rain garden through flood and dry spell alike, 12–18 in wide, where it flowers in Aug and Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 2–3 ft
- Blooms Aug–Sep
Red-Twig Dogwood
Cornus sericea
Happy in the wet center of a rain garden and ground that stays soggy after a storm, happy in clay and loam soil, where it flowers in May and Jun.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 6–9 ft
- Blooms May–Jun
Ninebark
Physocarpus opulifolius
Built for the wet center of a rain garden and the boom-and-bust of storm runoff, happy in clay, rocky, and loam soil, where it flowers in May and Jun.
- Full–part sun
- Dry to wet
- 5–10 ft
- Blooms May–Jun
Common Boneset
Eupatorium perfoliatum
Happy in the wet center of a rain garden and ground that stays soggy after a storm, for clay and loam ground, where it flowers in Aug and Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 3–5 ft
- Blooms Aug–Sep
American Elderberry
Sambucus canadensis
Takes the wet center of a rain garden through flood and dry spell alike, reaching 6–12 ft, where it flowers in Jun and Jul.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 6–12 ft
- Blooms Jun–Jul
Blue Vervain
Verbena hastata
Takes the wet center of a rain garden through flood and dry spell alike, 3–5 ft tall, where it blooms Jul through Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 3–5 ft
- Blooms Jul–Sep
Switchgrass
Panicum virgatum
Happy in the wet center of a rain garden and ground that stays soggy after a storm, for sand, clay, and loam ground.
- Full–part sun
- Dry to wet
- 3–6 ft
- Fall color
Big Bluestem
Andropogon gerardii
Built for the wet center of a rain garden and the boom-and-bust of storm runoff, 4–7 ft tall.
- Full sun
- Dry to wet
- 4–7 ft
- Fall color
Sourcing
Where to find these in North Dakota
Seeds & live plants on Amazon
Seed packets, plugs, and starter plants for many of these species ship to your door.
Browse on AmazonSome links here are affiliate links — we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. The surest source of locally-adapted stock is a native-plant nursery or a native plant society sale in your area.