Greek Yarrow is a slow-growing, tidy, dense evergreen ground cover. This beauty is a reliable heavy-bloomer bearing bright white clusters of tiny flowers for many weeks in late spring. Attracts bees and butterflies.
Western White Yarrow is a tough native wildflower with fragrant, lacy foliage and dense umbels of tiny white flowers in summer. Can spread aggressively by seed. Great attractor of beneficial insects. Tolerates variety of soil conditions. Pollinators: Butterflies and native bees. Firewise. More information here.
Woolly Yarrow is a low growing evergreen ground cover forming loose clumps of charming, fuzzy grey-green leaves.Clusters of cheerful yellow blossoms pop up in late spring. Attracts bees and butterflies.
A natural hybrid from Bulgaria, this unusual and charming miniature yarrow produces clumps of small white flowers over carpets of attractive silvery leaves. Expanding gradually by root, this plant can form loose colonies.
Persian Stonecress forms handsome tight mounds of unusual deep blue-green foliage which is completely evergreen. The plant is covered with cheerful pink blossoms in late spring to early summer.Can seed out fairly aggressively.
Multiple spikes of purple flowers in summer provide an excellent resource for pollinators. Bushy, vigorous, great foundation plant.
Threadleaf Giant Hyssop has numerous spikes of uniquely-colored orange-purple tubular flowers over fragrant, finely divided leaves. It blooms in the heat of mid-summer and persists into fall. Outstanding hummingbird plant and nectar source for bees. More info here.
True to its name, Nodding Onion produces lovely drooping clusters of pale white or purple flowers in mid-summer. Supports butterflies and native bees. Deer resistant. Foliage is evergreen. Firewise.
Lilac balls of color over charming, swirling clumps of gray-green leaves. Deer resistant.
This edible onion is also a stunning landscape plant. Late flowers feed pollinators. Spreads gradually to make clumps. Firewise. .
Mountain Alyssum is one of the earliest of the spring bloomers. Bright right yellow flowers over attractive, low gray-green mats of small oval leaves. Nice for rock gardens, front of borders. Pollinators: bees and butterflies. Can seed out.
A cheerful early-blooming groundcover. Great between stepping stones.
Littleleaf or Rosy Pussytoes is a very low growing, tight groundcoverwith pinkish “pussytoe” blossoms in late spring. Spreads nicely around garden rocks and thrives in dry sunny areas with poor, well-drained soil. Retains grey-green leaves all winter.
Rocky Mountain Columbine: Glorious light to deep blue and white flowers. An excellent border perennial, grand for cutting, in bloom for several weeks and will grow in sun or light shade. Pollinators: bumblebees, hawk moths. Tolerates clay. Firewise. More info here.
An all-white variation on our native Rocky Mtn. columbine. Lovely in shadier areas.
Lovely red and yellow bell-like flowers hang like tiny lanterns. Attracts hummingbirds and long-tongued insects. Best in part shade. Firewise. More information here.
Golden-spurred Columbine, a native of the canyons of the Southwest produces fragrant cheerful yellow flowers with long outward-curving spurs In late spring. The fragrant blooms rise on slender stems above beautiful blue-green, fernlike foliage. Tolerates clay. Firewise. More information here.
Amazingly tight, hard mats of silver-green triangular foliage are sprinkled with tiny white flowers in late spring. A fine and rarely available alpine from Spain. Exquisite rock garden plant, evergreen.
King’s Sandwort: Long, evergreen, grass-like leaves support a delicate spray of tiny white flowers in spring. Ideal for a rock garden or edging a pathway.
Mountain Sandwort is a classy little alpine or rock garden plant. It forms a low evergreen cushion of dark green leaves, bearing loads of large white flowers during the spring and early summer. Great for edging paths, between flagstones, in walls or rock gardens. Evergreen.
Thrift has pink globe flowers over mounds of grassy leaves. Deadhead for prolonged bloom. Evergreen foliage. Firewise.
Taller and longer-blooming than its cousin, Thrift, this “False Thrift” is a colorful focal point in any garden. Evergreen foliage.
Fringed Sage is a low growing sagebrush relative forming mats of frilly grey-green leaves, giving rise in summer to foot-high fringed seed-stalks. Trim off seed-stalks to maintain as an ornamental ground cover with good color year- round. Firewise. More information here.
Narrow Leaf Milkweed, native to Southern Idaho, is smaller and more drought-tolerant than the better-known Showy Milkweed. Mauve-pink flowers emerge in mid-summer. With extra water, bloom time is extended. Host plant for Monarch butterflies.
Showy Milkweed was once common, but modern agricultural techniques have largely eradicated this crucial pollinator plant. Milkweed provides larval food for the dwindling Monarch butterfly. It is tall and beautiful, but spreads through the garden by root–so choose the planting site with care!
Butterfly Milkweed has thick umbels of bright orange flowers over narrow leaves. Central U.S. native supporting Monarch Butterfly larvae. More info here.
Alpine Aster is an early-blooming aster with unusually large and showy purple/blue flowers. Neat and tidy in the garden after its glorious springtime show.
Despite its common name, the flowers of Sky Blue Aster are more lavender than blue. But this Aster puts on a brilliant show in fall, each plant covered with hundreds of beautiful blooms. Growing well in almost any soil, from dry sand to moist loam, it attracts butterflies and bees. Firewise.
Snow Flurry is a fall-blooming Aster that creates low-growing dense ground cover carpeted with tiny white flowers in September and October. A good strong grower and a totally new look and use for Asters! Makes an excellent container plant. Cut back in spring. Attracts native bees, honeybees and butterflies. Firewise.
Aromatic Aster is an exceptionally vigorous spreading groundcover. In late fall it bursts into bloom with myriad pink flowers, which provide nectar and pollen for a variety of bees and butterflies. Firewise.
A dense mound of foliage spreading gradually by root and exploding with purple blossoms in fall. Attracts bees and butterflies.
Chocolate Flower: Cheerful wispy yellow daisies keep coming all summer and actually smell like chocolate! Attracts butterflies, honey bees and beneficial insects.
False Aster is a vigorous perennial that comes back from its roots every year to produce a cloud of white blossoms in late fall. Hundreds of white, aster-like flowers provide late season food for bees. Does not spread readily by seed.
Winecups or Purple Poppy Mallow has striking wine colored blooms on prostrate stems which wind along the ground in and around other plants. Tough and long blooming, it prefers well-drained soil. Pollinators: native bees.
Hartweg’s Sundrops produces masses of cheerful, clear yellow blossoms throughout the heat of the summer and into fall. The yellow blooms age into burnt orange creating a two-tone effect. Easy-and reliable. Needs well-drained soil. Attracts: butterflies and bees.
Cheerful and long-blooming, this mounding perennial lightens up the summer garden.
Carpathian Harebells is a more compact version of our native harebells, with larger flowers and a later bloom time. Charming! Firewise.
Harebells is a lovely little wildflower is a native to most of the U.S., including Idaho. Its nodding blue flowers are held on wiry stems above attractive basal foliage. Great for borders, rock gardens. Pollinators: native bees. Firewise.
Fast growing upright deciduous shrubby perennial with silvery foliage and lush fall display of delicate blue flowers. Bees love it! Firewise.