Missouri Native Plant Seeds for Sun, Shade and Wet Spots

Happy Halloween. While the neighbors are carving pumpkins, you have a better orange-and-black project available: getting Missouri native plant seeds into the ground before winter. (Butterfly Milkweed brings the orange. The black is the bare soil you are about to sow. We tried.)

Jokes aside, late fall really is the moment for this. Missouri has the real winter that so many native seeds need, and sowing now means that winter does the hard part. Below is a curated list of species we carry that our catalog lists as native to Missouri, grouped by the kind of ground you are working with.

What makes gardening with Missouri native plant seeds special

Missouri sits at a crossroads. Prairie, Ozark hills and woodlands, and big river bottomlands all meet in one state, which means a single neighborhood can include a dry, sunny slope, a shady wooded lot, and a low spot that stays wet after every rain. That variety is the fun of it. Rather than one "Missouri garden," you have several, and the trick is matching each plant to its preferred conditions.

It also means there is a Missouri native for nearly every corner of your yard. Sun, shade, wet, dry: you are covered. Before you order, take a walk around your property after a good rain. Notice which spots drain fast, which stay soggy, and which get full afternoon sun. Those three observations will tell you more about what to plant than any map, and they make the lists below easy to use.

Prairie and full sun

Missouri Primrose (Oenothera macrocarpa)

Also called Ozark Sundrops, it opens yellow blooms up to four inches across at dusk, from mid-summer through early fall, on plants just 6 to 12 inches tall. Sow in fall for natural cold stratification, and note that scarification is also recommended, since the seed coat is tough.

Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)

Our Halloween orange: brilliant orange flower clusters from mid-summer through fall, on plants 1 to 3 feet tall. Milkweeds are the food monarch caterpillars depend on, and this one's deep taproot makes it very drought tolerant once established, though it establishes slowly.

Prairie Blazing Star (Liatris pycnostachya)

Tall purple-magenta spikes that bloom from the top down, midsummer through early fall, on plants 2 to 5 feet tall. It thrives in full sun and tolerates clay soil and seasonal wetness, which is a handy trait on heavier ground.

Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium)

Spherical greenish-white flower clusters wrapped in spiny, silvery bracts, July through September, on bold 3 to 6 foot plants. Its description recommends 60 to 90 days of cold stratification, which makes it a textbook fall sow.

New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)

Purple-pink flowers with golden centers from August through October, on plants 3 to 6 feet tall. It is a late-season nectar source for migrating monarchs, and cold stratification of 30 to 60 days is recommended.

Woodland and part shade

Ozark Bluestar (Amsonia illustris)

Pale blue, star-shaped flowers in May and June, then golden-yellow fall foliage, on plants 2 to 3 feet tall in full sun to partial shade. It is native to the Ozark Mountains and surrounding regions, and it wants 60 to 90 days of cold stratification.

Eastern Red Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)

Nodding red and yellow flowers from April through June, with spurs made for hummingbirds. It handles partial shade to full sun, and its seed needs cold stratification, so sow in fall, scatter on the surface, and cover lightly.

Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea)

One of the first wildflowers of the year, with golden-yellow daisies from March to May. It grows 1 to 2 feet tall in partial to full shade and spreads by rhizomes into colonies, which makes it a lovely groundcover for a shady spot.

Tall Bellflower (Campanula americana)

An annual with star-shaped blue to violet flowers from mid-summer through early fall, on plants 3 to 6 feet tall. It likes rich, moist soil in partial shade to full sun. The seeds are very small and need light to germinate, so barely cover them.

Wet spots and rain gardens

Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)

Fragrant pink to rose-purple flowers from July through September, on plants 3 to 5 feet tall. It prefers consistently moist soil, tolerates seasonal flooding, and can be direct sown in fall. Barely cover the seed.

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

Scarlet-red spikes from July through September that hummingbirds adore, 2 to 4 feet tall. It loves consistently moist soil. Direct sow in fall, and do not cover the seed, since it needs light to germinate.

Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium maculatum)

A 6 to 8 foot giant with large clusters of vanilla-scented pink-purple flowers from late summer through early fall. It prefers moist to wet, rich soil, needs cold stratification for best germination, and may take 2 to 3 years to reach full size.

How to fall-sow native seeds in Missouri

1. Wait for a few hard frosts. Sowing into warm soil can trigger early sprouting, and tender seedlings may not survive the first hard freeze. Once the garden has gone quiet, you are in the window, which runs until the ground freezes.
2. Clear the area. Remove turf and weeds so seedlings are not fighting established roots next spring.
3. Handle the special cases. Missouri Primrose benefits from scarification (lightly nicking or sanding the tough seed coat so water can get in). Most of the others can go straight from packet to soil.
4. Scatter and press. Most of these species should sit on or just under the surface. Press seed firmly into the soil rather than raking it deep.
5. Keep going into winter if you need to. Missed the window? Scatter onto bare soil or light snow through late fall and winter, and let freeze and thaw cycles settle it in.
6. Mark everything. Seedlings of many natives look alike in spring. Labels help you weed with confidence.

Want the bigger picture on why fall works so well? Our post Fall Is the New Spring covers it.

Where to start

If you are just getting going, start with the plant that has the state in its name: Missouri Primrose. It stays low, it suits a sunny, well-drained spot, and those huge yellow blooms opening at dusk turn a summer evening into an event. If your yard has a wet corner, add Swamp Milkweed there and you have both ends of the moisture spectrum covered.

When you are ready to see everything we carry for the state, browse our Missouri native seed collection.

Quick answers

When should I plant native seeds in Missouri?

Late fall is ideal for most species: after a few hard frosts and before the ground freezes. You can also scatter seed onto bare soil or light snow through winter.

What native plants grow in shade in Missouri?

Golden Ragwort thrives in partial to full shade, and Ozark Bluestar, Eastern Red Columbine, and Tall Bellflower all handle partial shade.

What Missouri natives do well in wet soil?

Swamp Milkweed, Cardinal Flower, and Joe Pye Weed all prefer consistently moist to wet soil, which makes them good choices for rain gardens.

Is Missouri Primrose easy to grow from seed?

Sow it in fall for natural cold stratification. Its description also recommends scarification because the seed coat is tough.