Desmodium canadense

Sizes available: Landscape plug

Basics: zones 3-7, 24-60" x 12", full to partial sun, very pretty pinky-purple pea-like flowers in late summer, likes medium wet to medium dry situations, is very adaptable and both drought and clay tolerant

Common names: Showy Tick Trefoil, Canada Tick Clover, Canada Tick Trefoil

Family: Fabaceae

Origin/Distribution: Nova Scotia to Saskatchewan south to Maryland, West Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and north Texas, native to Maine

Habitat: rocky or sandy prairies and open woods, disturbed edges: think roadsides, flood plains, the banks of moving water

More: Larval host for the Silver-spotted Skipper, Epargyreus clarus, which is native to Maine. This plant is in the pea family and is a nitrogen-fixer with a deep taproot. It offers nectar and pollen for bees and butterflies as well as seeds for birds and small mammals. The plants shape is a bit sprawling and if you are not partial to that look, plant it in a group amongst, for example, grasses that like similar conditions, for a bit of support. Did you know that mass plantings of a single flowering plant enable pollinators more efficient foraging? One of the names for this is "floral fidelity". Not all foragers exhibit this behavior, but many do and planting the same species in a mass aids the behavior and is also a tried and true design technique. If it's good enough for Piet Oudolf, it's good enough for me. 

Nursery: Landscape plugs from New Moon

Image credits: Wikimedia Commons