Plants for the Midwest US

In the northern plains and Great Lake states of the Midwest, spring is a long time coming. Cold winds and rains can be a challenge, and when summer does settle in it can be hot and dry. Further South, your gardens will encounter a little bit of everything: gentle springs to strong thunderstorms, heat waves to cold fronts. It takes a wide variety of plants to cover all the bases in this region. Browse our top picks of annuals, perennials and shrubs for the Heartland of America here!

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Proven Winners Plants

Rich, steadfast golden colored foliage ALL year! Pinpoint Gold Chamaecyparis will be a shining star in your landscape. Its tall, narrow habit can fit into any sized landscape as a stand-alone specimen planting or as part of a foundation grouping or privacy screen. This statement-making false cypress requires no pruning to maintain its narrow habit. Add this salt tolerant evergreen shrub for winter color in the landscape in zones 5-7.

Seeing beautiful blue berries in your fall garden has never been easier. Glitter & Glows viburnum combines 'All That Glitters' and 'All That Glows' viburnums into a single pot so you don't have to source a pollinator. Super glossy foliage gives them a handsome presence in the landscape. Early summer brings hundreds of white flower clusters, which are followed by shiny blue fruit in fall. Being smaller than most viburnums increases their versatility. Native to North America and deer-resistant.

If you prefer luscious, rich colored flowers, you will be happy to see Dark Lavender Chiffon grow in your landscape as a hedge, specimen, or in a border planting. This Rose of Sharon's long lasting blooms attracts pollinators all summer, yet remains unbothered by deer. Reaching up to 12', this flowering shrub makes a good screening plant. Heat, drought and salt tolerant, this plant is perfect for Midwest gardens, where it can withstand harsh summers and salty runoff from winter road treatments.

Zones 6-7

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An improved, more refined Limelight with darker, healthier-looking foliage, stronger stems, and a more compact growth habit. Limelight Prime hydrangea's blooms emerge a vivid lime green and maintain that color longer, often until they transition into a bubblegum pink. The blooms eventually finish a rich, punch pink. Limelight Prime blooms much earlier than the original, for a longer display in the landscape. This is especially valuable in colder climates. Tolerates clay and salty soil.

Super-early blooming, rock-solid reliability but with big, full mophead blooms. Quick Fire Fab panicle hydrangea is certainly a step up from the original! Its blooms age to blush then bright pink, then red, from the bottom up as summer progresses. Enjoy 3+ months of flowers and color in your landscape or garden. Sturdy stems keep blooms upright, and showy year round even in snowy zone 3. With its full size and vigorous growth, this shrub make a commanding specimen. Tolerates clay and salty soil.

Zones 4-5

Colorful, Fragrant Coneflower to Attract Butterflies

Not only is Summersong Firefinch coneflower a beautiful addition to any small space garden with its incredibly colored fragrant flowers ranging from reddish-orange to pinkish-red, but its long-lasting fragrant flowers will attract butterflies and hummingbirds to your Midwest garden. PLUS this North American native is deer resistant. Its a win-win...win!

white flowers with green leaves in the foreground and on the top right is an image of purple hydrangea

Potted Plants Outdoor

Plants Outdoor

Hydrangea Paniculata

Hydrangea Not Blooming

Mid Summer

Fluffy White Hydrangea for Clay Soil

Hold onto your hat when you meet Puffer Fish panicle hydrangea! Large, white flowers cover the plant in mid-summer. As the blooms age, they turn lime green and, for a bit of surprise, a fresh sprig of white flowers emerges from the tip of the panicle. This flowering shrub will bloom regardless of climate, soil (even clay!), pH or pruning through early fall. Hardy in USDA zone 3-8, matures at 3-5’ tall/wide.

Hydrangea Macrophylla

Turn Blue

Big Leaves

Reblooming Blue Hydrangea for Any Garden

Let’s Dance Sky View reblooming hydrangea has the loveliest blooms that are so easy to turn blue, which is what we recommend, since it’s so spectacular this way! Just 2-3’ tall and 2-4’ wide, its compact size makes it good for both container gardens and landscapes alike. This cold hard hydrangea is able to not only conserve its old wood buds in the face of weather challenges, but continue creating new flowers, too. So whether you're in chilly Michigan or sunny Florida, you'll enjoy the view!

a butterfly flying over pink flowers with the words, color code the fuchsia is bright echiza

Showy Coneflower for Color in Midwest Gardens

Color Coded 'The Fuchsia is Bright' coneflower has 4½” fuchsia pink flowers. Overlapping, horizontally held petals make an exceptionally showy display. The dark cone and stems of the plant contrast against the bright petals, accentuating the flowers' vibrance. Bees and butterflies will flock to this echinacea's fragrant flower in summer months, and, if left intact, the flowers will attract birds through winter. Hardy in zones 4-8, this perennial will perform exceptionally in the midwest US.

Yellow Flower Power for Midwest Garden

Color Coded 'One in a Melon' coneflower has melon-colored flowers and matching melon cones. At 5-5½” wide these are among the largest flowers in the collection. Petals are held horizontally and overlap for maximum display. Bees and butterflies will flock to this echinacea's fragrant flower in summer months, and, if left intact, the flowers will attract birds through winter. Enjoy this gorgeous native perennial year round! Hardy in zones 4-8 and heat loving, perfect for your Midwest US garden!

pink and white flowers in the middle of a garden

Earlier Blooming Limelight Hydrangea For Northern Plains

some very pretty green trees in the grass

Chartreuse Plants

False Cypress

Chamaecyparis Lawsoniana

Deer Resistant Shrubs

Edging Plants

Privacy Plants

Deer Resistant Plants

Low Maintenance Landscaping

Golden False Cypress with Tall, Narrow Habit

Rich, steadfast golden colored foliage ALL year! Pinpoint Gold Chamaecyparis will be a shining star in your landscape. Its tall, narrow habit can fit into any sized landscape as a stand-alone specimen planting or as part of a foundation grouping or privacy screen. This statement-making false cypress requires no pruning to maintain its narrow habit. Add this salt tolerant evergreen shrub for winter color in the landscape in zones 5-7.

two pictures with different plants and flowers in the same photo, one has blue berries on it

Blue Berries for Midwest Autumns

Native Viburnum with Fall Berries for the Midwest

pink flowers with the words, quick fire farm danielle hydrangea and zone 3 - 8

Quick Fire Hydrangea

Prairie Garden

Sturdy Hydrangea for Snowy Climates

Super-early blooming, rock-solid reliability but with big, full mophead blooms. Quick Fire Fab panicle hydrangea is certainly a step up from the original! Its blooms age to blush then bright pink, then red, from the bottom up as summer progresses. Enjoy 3+ months of flowers and color in your landscape or garden. Sturdy stems keep blooms upright, and showy year round even in snowy zone 3. With its full size and vigorous growth, this shrub make a commanding specimen. Tolerates clay and salty soil.

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Petite Hydrangea for the Northern Plains

The tiniest, tidiest panicle hydrangea yet, Fire Light Tidbit reaches just 2-3' tall and wide. Don't let its size fool you; this shrub packs tons of beauty onto its small frame. Lush white mophead flowers appear in early-mid summer and quickly take on hues of dragon fruit pink. These pink blooms will last right on up to the first frost, adding fall interest. It often puts on a nice display of orange-red autumn foliage, too! Try in landscapes, flower gardens, even containers. Hardy to zone 3.

pink and white flowers in the middle of a garden with text overlay that reads dark lavender chiffon hibiscus

Shrubs For Landscaping

Tall Rose of Sharon for Midwest Landscapes

two different pictures of flowers and plants with the words legend of the small's fothergulia

Legend Of The Fall Bottlebrush

Czechmark Trilogy Weigela

Grevillea Moonlight

Virginia Spiderwort

Natural Ecosystem

Hylotelephium Spectabile

White Plants

Dwarf Bottlebrush for Midwest Gardens

A native shrub with 3 seasons of interest that fits into any landscape! Legend of the Small Fothergilla blooms in spring, its fragrant white flowers providing pollinators an early source of nectar. Its bluish-green summer foliage erupts into fantastic fall color delivering all the fall interest of a full sized Bottlebrush, at half the size. Plant in your Midwest garden where it looks especially nice grouped under trees or as a low hedge. This plant is also a great choice for wildlife gardens.

a calico cat walking past a potted plant with white flowers on it's side

Cascading White Hydrangea for Midwest Gardens

Like something out of a fairytale...the first cascade hydrangea in North America! Fairytrail Bride has a unique horizontal growing habit that opens up new opportunities for your garden. Long, trailing stems draped in white lace, with a bouquet of florets at every leaf node, yield a dramatic display. Try this beauty in hanging baskets and cascading containers, or spilling over rocks and walls. Its loose, carefree habit also lends itself well to mass plantings and in pollinator-friendly gardens.

pink flowers are blooming in the garden with green grass and trees behind them, along with text that reads parapuu roug hibiscus

Attracting Butterflies

Rose Of Sharon

Attract Butterflies

Tall, Graceful Rose of Sharon for Midwest Gardens

Although there aren't any red Rose of Sharons, Paraplu Rouge gets as close as ever. These are the darkest reddish-pink blooms we've ever seen on a rose of Sharon! The large flowers bloom summer thru fall, attracting butterflies and hummingbirds to your garden. Its tall, graceful habit moves in the breeze and lends well to a living privacy screen. Plant in full sun for maximum blooming and best color, however it can grow and flower reasonably well in partially shaded spots, too. Deer resistant.