Light Archives - Plant Ohio Natives https://plantohionatives.com/category/light/ Design, garden, and enjoy Wed, 16 Nov 2022 02:46:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.3 214782624 Native Ohio Flowers That Like Full Sun https://plantohionatives.com/2022/11/16/native-ohio-flowers-that-like-full-sun/ Wed, 16 Nov 2022 02:46:30 +0000 http://plantohionatives.com/?p=49 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 … Continue reading "Native Ohio Flowers That Like Full Sun"

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]]> 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.

Echinacea purpurea purple coneflower Ohio native plant
Purple coneflower (alvaroreguly)

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

Asclepias syriaca common milkweed Ohio native plant
Common milkweed with monarch butterfly (Michele Dorsey Walfred)
  • 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

Rudbeckia hirta black eyed Susan Ohio native plant
Black eyed Susan (Rachel Kramer)
  • Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)
  • Yellow coneflower (Ratibida pinnata)
  • Orange coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida)
  • Black eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
  • Brown eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba)

Blazing Star

Liatris spicata dense blazingstar Ohio native plant
Dense blazingstar (Carl Lewis)
  • Rough blazing star (Liatris aspera)
  • Prairie blazing star (Liatris pycnostachya)
  • Dense blazing star (Liatris spicata)
  • Scaly blazing star (Liatris squarrosa)

Bee Balm

Monarda punctata spotted bee balm dotted horsemint Ohio native plant
Dotted mint (Lydia Fravel)
  • 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.

Penstemon digitalis smooth penstemon Ohio native plant
Smooth penstemon (Mike Kestell)

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.

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