Cottage Brook rain garden plants
Goals: Obscure cement fixtures; de-accentuate the vertical relief of side walls; and provide a spread of texture and flower colors throughout the seasons of the year.
Vaccinium corymbosum — highbush blueberry in fall foliage
Cornus sericea — red osier dogwood
Matteucia struthiopteris — ostrich fern, 3-5 feet tall, edible in early spring
Mertensia virginica — Virginia bluebells, blossom April-May, leaves are gone by mid-summer, 1-2 feet tall
Lobelia siphilitica — blue lobelia, flowers mid to late summer, 1-2 feet tall
Aster novae-angliae — New England aster, flowers late summer-early fall
Asclepias incarnata — marsh milkweed, flowers mid to late summer, 2-4 feet
Chelone glabra — turtlehead, flowers mid to late summer, 2-3 feet
Echinacea pupurea — purple coneflower, flowers mid to late summer/early fall, attracts finches in the fall for seed heads
Monarda fistula — bergamot (pinkish) or bee balm (red), flowers June through August, attracts insects, butterflies, and some hummingbirds, 1-3 feet
Asarum candense — wild ginger, one flush of leaves annually, flowers early spring, good ground cover, 1-4 inches tall
