There are plenty of native Ohio flowers that like full sun. Many of these plants grow naturally in prairies, which are historically more common on the western side of the site. Others might be found in meadows or on forest edges.
Full sun plants need at least six hours of direct sunlight a day to thrive, so plant them where the light isn’t mottled or filtered. Many plants that need full sun can also grow in part sun (4 to 6 hours of direct sunlight), but make sure to do your research because some plants will only tolerate full sun.
Species of Flowers That Like Full Sun
A lot of full sun Ohio native plants are commercially available. At the time of publishing this post, Prairie Nursery sold 89 species that fit this category. Here are some popular ones.
Milkweed
- Red milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
- Sullivant’s milkweed (Asclepias sullivantii)
- Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)
- Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
- Butterflyweed for clay (Asclepias tuberosa var. clay)
- Whorled milkweed (Asclepias verticillata)
Coneflowers & Susans
- Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
- Yellow coneflower (Ratibida pinnata)
- Orange coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida)
- Black eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
- Brown eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba)
Blazing Star
- Rough blazing star (Liatris aspera)
- Prairie blazing star (Liatris pycnostachya)
- Dense blazing star (Liatris spicata)
- Scaly blazing star (Liatris squarrosa)
Bee Balm
- Red bee balm (Monarda didyma)
- Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa)
- Dotted mint (Monarda punctata)
Benefits of Flowers That Like Full Sun
Butterflies, bees, wasps, and other pollinators congregate on full sun plants, so there’s almost always some kind of activity to watch when the flowers are in bloom. During one observation, I saw ten different types of insects on one small stand of goldenrod. This may not seem like a lot of variety until you consider that the plants were surrounded by lawn in a suburban neighborhood.
If you plant bottle gentian, you’ll get to watch bumblebees pry open the flowers and pop their heads and little bums out when they’re done collecting their food.
Milkweed plants (Asclepias sp.) host monarchs, and the butterflies visit them to lay eggs on the leaves and drink nectar from the flowers. The caterpillars are easy to spot, and it’s fun to watch the life cycle as a caterpillar forms the chrysalis and later emerges from it.