Garden and Pollinator Friendly Native Plant Collection Sale
Saturday, June 14, 2025 10:00am to 2:00pm ~~ Library Back Patio
Please Note: Pre-orders, with the required deposit,
are only accepted inside the Library. Cash or check only, please.

As a fundraiser, the Friends of Lunenburg Public Library will offer carefully chosen native plant collections that will thrive in traditional garden settings as well as naturalized areas. The plants are native to the northeast and will support pollinators throughout the growing season. Collections will come with planting and care instructions as well as information about some of their pollination partners. Each 16-plant collection contains four different species.

Collection One for sunnier, drier sites

· Spotted Beebalm (4)

· Hairy Beardtongue (4)

· Flaxleaf Aster (4)

· Small Yellow Indigo (4)

Collection Two for sunnier, average to wet sites

· Golden Alexanders (4)

· Great Blue Lobelia (4)

· Dense Blazingstar (4)

· Prairie Dropseed (4)

Pricing and Ordering:

Each sixteen-plant collection is priced at $80. As a benefit to our current Friends members, the collections will be offered to members at a discounted rate of $70.

The number of available collections is limited. Pre-orders will be accepted beginning on Tuesday, April 1st, with a deposit of $25.

While supplies last, additional plugs will be available for sale on June 14, 2025 for $8 each.

Additional Plant Information:

Collection One for sunny, dry sites:

Hairy Beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus) – Stalks of trumpet-shaped, lavender flowers bloom in late spring to early summer. This herb grows naturally in dry or rocky ground in woods, fields, and hillsides. It can grow in areas ranging from full sun to full shade; flowers will be more abundant with access to more sunshine. It grows between one and three feet in height and will self-sow, but not aggressively. In addition to its abundant, early flowers that attract native bees, moths and hummingbirds, its leaves turn red or burgundy in the fall and its color persists through the winter. Seeds that fall from the pods feed migrating and overwintering birds. Hairy Beartongue is resistant to rabbit and deer browse.

Spotted Beebalm (Monarda punctata) – Although its creamy, tubular flowers are very small, the beautiful whorls of modified leaves below the spiky blooms vary in color from pale pink to purple with yellowish-green tips. This herb grows naturally in dry, rocky or sandy soil and prefers to grow in full to partial sun. These plants grow up to two feet in height and will self-sow, but not aggressively. Throughout the summer, its flowers provide nectar for bees, moths, butterflies and hummingbirds and its tiny seeds feed native songbirds. Spotted Beebalm is resistant to rabbit and deer browse.

Small Yellow Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria) – A compact, shrub-like perennial with small, pea-like yellow flowers. Growing between two and three feet tall, this herb prefers to grow in full to partial partial sun with dry to average moisture. Blooms appear in late spring and continue through the early summer, providing nectar for native bees and butterflies. In addition, this is a host plant for the endangered Frosted Elfin, Orange Butterfly, Wild Indigo Duskywing, Clouded Sulphur butterfly and many other moths and skippers. In late summer, the yellow flowers transition into blueish-black, tear-drop shaped seedpods that look attractive through the fall and winter. Found naturally in dry meadows, oak and pine barrens, and in open, sunny woods and fields. This indigo species is deer resistant and somewhat unpalatable for rabbits.

Flaxleaf/Stiff Aster (Ionactis linarifolius) – A small, compact perennial wildflower with needle-like leaves and daisy-like, blue flowers with yellow centers. This compact shrub rarely exceeds a foot in height and thrives in full to partial sun and dry to average soils. Blooms appear in late summer and into the fall, providing a late-season food for butterflies and bees, as well as acting as a host plant for a variety of moths. Found naturally in pine woods, these asters prefer acidic soils. Like most asters, flaxleaf aster is susceptible to deer and rabbit browse.

Collection Two for sunny, average to wet sites:

Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea) – An upright perennial that has showy yellow flowers that last for weeks in the late spring into early summer. This plant offers an important food source for native bees and butterflies early in the year and serves as a host plant for a variety of pollinators, including some of the swallowtail butterflies. Low maintenance and easy to grow, golden Alexanders thrives in full to partial sun. It prefers moist, well-drainged soil but tolerates wet conditions and late season drought, as long as it receives sufficient water in the early spring. The seeds and leaves turn purplish in the fall.

Dense Blazingstar (Liatris spicata) – Purple flower stalks bloom in mid summer into fall. Found naturally found in wet meadows, this liatris will thrive in most gardens. It prefers full to partial
sun exposure and medium to wet soil conditions. Dense Blazingstar is a hardy plant that can tolerate heat, cold, drought and poor, dry soils. If you plant it an area with heavy clay that doesn’t drain well, amend the area with sand when planting to improve drainage. It can grow between two and four feet tall. In addition to its summer flowers that attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds, its narrow leaves turn bronze in the fall and in winter. In the fall, song birds feast on the seeds. Dense Blazingstar is deer and rabbit resistant.

Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica) – In late summer and into fall. This plant produces tall spikes densely covered with deep blue-violet flowers that attract many native bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. The flowering spikes may reach three feet in height. It prefers moist or wet soils with partial shade and is found naturally in wet prairies and pond and creek edges. Like other lobelias, its leaves contain a compound that deters herbivores such as deer and rabbits.

Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus herolepis) – A lovely clumping native grass with hundreds of fine leaves that form dense, soft masses that provide beauty throughout the year. The leaves change from summertime green to orange-gold in the fall and finally a pale bronze in the winter months. This long-lived, easy to grow grass is drought tolerant once it is established.