Native plants are a wonderful and underused means to create a natural setting around a water feature in your landscape. Many wildflowers and grasses thrive along the moist edge of a pond. Pictured are gray-headed coneflowers, which can be grown from transplants or seeds. Masses of their earthy colored seed heads in fall and winter are attractive and provide feed for birds.
Some other great wildflowers, grasses, and shrubs for water features are:
| Asclepias incarnata, Swamp milkweed | |
| Penstemon digitalis, Smooth penstemon | |
| Monarda fistulosa, Wild bergamot | |
| Liatris pycnostachya, Kansas gayfeather | |
| Helenium autumnale, Helen’s flower | |
| Panicum virgatum, Switchgrass | |
| Chasmanthium latifolium, Northern sea oats | |
| Viburnum prunifolium, Blackhaw viburnum | |
| Viburnum rufidulum, Rusty blackhaw viburnum | |
| Cephalanthus occidentalis, Buttonbush |