Serviceberry
Amelanchier canadensis
Built for the wet center of a rain garden and the boom-and-bust of storm runoff, for clay and loam ground, where it flowers in Apr and May.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 15–25 ft
- Blooms Apr–May
Oklahoma · Zones 6–8
Native Rain Garden Plants in Oklahoma
Moisture-loving natives for rain gardens, pond edges, downspout basins, and the low spots that stay soggy after a storm. Oklahoma sits in a landscape of Cross Timbers & mixedgrass prairie, and the natives that thrive here are the ones built for its continental, hot summers character. The list below — led by Serviceberry and Golden Alexanders — is filtered to species genuinely native to Oklahoma and the wider flora of the Great Plains and hardy through zones 6–8. 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
26 native species for Oklahoma
Each one native to your region and hardy in zones 6–8 · see this collection in other states.
Golden Alexanders
Zizia aurea
Takes the wet center of a rain garden through flood and dry spell alike, 1.5–2.5 ft tall, where it blooms Apr through Jun.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 1.5–2.5 ft
- Blooms Apr–Jun
Buttonbush
Cephalanthus occidentalis
For the wet center of a rain garden and damp low spots, for clay and loam ground, where it blooms Jun through Aug.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 5–10 ft
- Blooms Jun–Aug
Obedient Plant
Physostegia virginiana
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
- 2–4 ft
- Blooms Aug–Sep
Great Blue Lobelia
Lobelia siphilitica
Takes the wet center of a rain garden through flood and dry spell alike, hardy in zones 4–9, where it flowers in Aug and Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 2–3 ft
- Blooms Aug–Sep
Cup Plant
Silphium perfoliatum
For the wet center of a rain garden and damp low spots, reaching 5–8 ft, where it blooms Jul through Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 5–8 ft
- Blooms Jul–Sep
Arrowwood Viburnum
Viburnum dentatum
For the wet center of a rain garden and damp low spots, for clay and loam ground, where it flowers in May and Jun.
- Sun to shade
- Average–wet
- 6–10 ft
- Blooms May–Jun
Winterberry
Ilex verticillata
Takes the wet center of a rain garden through flood and dry spell alike, reaching 5–10 ft, where it flowers in Jun and Jul.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 5–10 ft
- Blooms Jun–Jul
Culver's Root
Veronicastrum virginicum
Built for the wet center of a rain garden and the boom-and-bust of storm runoff, 1.5–2 ft wide, where it blooms Jun through Aug.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 3–5 ft
- Blooms Jun–Aug
Swamp Milkweed
Asclepias incarnata
Takes the wet center of a rain garden through flood and dry spell alike, rose pink flowers, 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, 2–4 ft wide, where it blooms Jul through Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 4–7 ft
- Blooms Jul–Sep
New England Aster
Symphyotrichum novae-angliae
Takes the wet center of a rain garden through flood and dry spell alike, cold-hardy to zone 3, where it flowers in Sep and Oct.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 3–5 ft
- Blooms Sep–Oct
Scarlet Beebalm
Monarda didyma
For the wet center of a rain garden and damp low spots, reaching 2.5–4 ft, where it flowers in Jul and Aug.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 2.5–4 ft
- Blooms Jul–Aug
Cardinal Flower
Lobelia cardinalis
For the wet center of a rain garden and damp low spots, 2–4 ft tall, where it blooms Jul through Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 2–4 ft
- Blooms Jul–Sep
Dense Blazing Star
Liatris spicata
Takes the wet center of a rain garden through flood and dry spell alike, good through zone 9, where it flowers in Jul and Aug.
- Full sun
- Average–wet
- 2–4 ft
- Blooms Jul–Aug
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
Inkberry Holly
Ilex glabra
Built for the wet center of a rain garden and the boom-and-bust of storm runoff, happy in sand, clay, and loam soil, where it flowers in May and Jun.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 4–8 ft
- Blooms May–Jun
Red-Twig Dogwood
Cornus sericea
Takes the wet center of a rain garden through flood and dry spell alike, white, white berries flowers, where it flowers in May and Jun.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 6–9 ft
- Blooms May–Jun
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
For the wet center of a rain garden and damp low spots, creamy umbels flowers, where it flowers in Jun and Jul.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 6–12 ft
- Blooms Jun–Jul
Common Boneset
Eupatorium perfoliatum
Takes the wet center of a rain garden through flood and dry spell alike, for clay and loam ground, where it flowers in Aug and Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 3–5 ft
- Blooms Aug–Sep
Spicebush
Lindera benzoin
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 Mar and Apr.
- Part shade
- Average–wet
- 6–12 ft
- Blooms Mar–Apr
Blue Vervain
Verbena hastata
Built for the wet center of a rain garden and the boom-and-bust of storm runoff, violet-blue flowers, where it blooms Jul through Sep.
- Full–part sun
- Average–wet
- 3–5 ft
- Blooms Jul–Sep
Big Bluestem
Andropogon gerardii
Happy in the wet center of a rain garden and ground that stays soggy after a storm, 2–3 ft wide.
- Full sun
- Dry to wet
- 4–7 ft
- Fall color
2 more also qualify: Cinnamon Fern, Switchgrass.
Sourcing
Where to find these in Oklahoma
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.