Plants of the Midwest ( Chicago area and Indiana) for Monarchs and Hummingbirds.

Greetings there! I'm looking for more pollenating plants other than milkweeds, goldenrods, asters, and bee balm. I'm looking for medicinal and edible types that will not only draw monarchs and other butterflies as well as hummingbirds and moths for both summer and fall. I'm also looking for heirloom types (annuals) that come from Native Americans and early settlers besides fennel, bear paw and few others, as well as shrubs, vines and grass. Please reach me if there's some specific or very historic ones from the Midwest to send me. Love!

This link offers some suggestions for plants that hummingbirds like:

https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/education/Pages/PlantListHummingbird.aspx

Usually, any plants that hummingbirds like are also liked by butterflies.

Thinks about what plants that you see in your area that are bright red as that is their favorite color.  Dark pink works too.  Stay away from yellow flowers ar those attract bees and bees and hummingbirds are not friends.

Blake, some that work really well for me in Chicago are Joe-Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum), swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), tall bellflower (Campanulastrum americanum), golden alexanders (Zizia aurea), and late figwort (Scrophularia marilandica) .  I can share these plants with you, purple mooseage me to arrange.

Joe-Pye is a tall plant that all sorts of butterflies and bees love.  I got mine at Urhausen Greenhouse in Lincolnwood, IL (got my swamp milkweed there also).  It seems to thrive any where I put  it and spreads somewhat, but not out of control.

Tall Bellflowers is a biennial, I planted a small patch from seed year ago, and now every year patches of it pop up someplace new.  Tall spikes of blue flowers are just starting to bloom now and will last through the rest of the summer. Attracts an amazing diversity of bees, and its blue, shimmery pollen covers them.

Golden Alexanders is one host plant for black swallowtail butterflies.

Late figwort is a tall, not showy plant that spread rather aggressively.  However, its tiny flowers are full of nectar so bees and hummingbirds love this plant.

Some photos

I'm also looking for sweet everlasting, pearly everlasting, rubeckia hirta, spotted joe pye, more jewelweed, boneset, more sweet flag, wild mint, and others I can use for tea and medicine for my community plots at my community farm. Out!

Jewelweed seed is difficult to collect because the seeds are tiny & the pods tend to explode on contact when ready to disperse, but I believe a group in Ohio called Seedville USA sells it.

Other seed conservatories I have used in the past include Outsidepride, Prairie Moon Nursery & Hobbyseed, though the last one seems to moreso deal in rare native plants that are marketable for landscaping or food. Prairie Moon I have dealt with the most & they are very reliable in sending good seed & stationed in Minnesota. However many seeds per packet varies by weight, but everything is always $3 a packet.

Sometimes you can get lucky on Etsy too, but I haven't tried it yet & I'm loathe to trust third party sellers of anything after seeing how many apparent scam artists try to sell plants through Amazon. But, there are people selling stuff that no one else is selling.

Do Seedvile USA still exist? If they have, then do they sell older tribal and early settler types to restore pre-settlement and post settlement horticulture?

They have been selling out of Amazon under the seller Seedville & I saw that they have a website recently, though it does look ancient. And, no, it's just wild plants. Mostly stuff that grows in the Appalachian Mountains.

Do they also have Midwest heirloom veggies such as Ohio pole bean and a few others?

Never mind! Just came from the site and they don't have what I'm looking for regionally for my community.

Hello folks! I'm looking for the native large purple Angelica, sweet or pearly everlasting, man of the earth and russet buffaloberry if any of you have those. If there are those out there who don't need them anymore, then please send them to me by chatting with me on this post. Love!

X2 on the Joe Pye weed.  I've also had a lot of butterflies visiting my liatris (blazing star) this summer.  New England aster is a good bet for later in the season, it typically blooms deep purple late August through frost.  There's Ohio horsemint, which is also dried and used for tea.  

As far as bushes, spicebush is host to swallowtail butterflies, and has nice yellow flowers in the spring, and the red berries have been used as a replacement for allspice.  
Serviceberry can be an important nectar source for some pollinators early in the spring, and the fruits look and taste a lot like blueberries.  
False indigo is a big, lanky shrub with nice purple flowers in June that butterflies go nuts for, and there's some medicinal properties attributed to it, too.  Lead plant is closely related, is found on drier/prairie sites, has similar flowers and structure, and is less raggedy looking
But I like buttonbush most- it's a pretty shrub that works well in formal settings, glossy oval leaves and white, globe-shaped flowers that look like little staminate ping-pong balls.  Butterflies love them, and they seem to have at least a few flowers going off for most of the summer.

Good luck!

You ever had serviceberry as a deliacy before? I'm trying to find somewhere to grow serviceberry as an edible along with others. You also tried to use Joe pye and horsemint as medicinal provisions?

There is a Thicket Serviceberry species that only grows in as a bush. Maybe that one would suit your area better, if there's a space issue?

I'll consider it. I'm looking for shrubs or trees to help prepare for bird migration this fall and their surrival this winter. Any top ones?

Things that last into the winter would be holly bushes, Sumac & Eastern Wahoo, assuming you can find any of that last one. Prairie Moon Nursery has added Eastern Wahoo to their site, but you can't actually buy them yet.

Anybody grown Virginia creeper and other vines that provide food, shelter and nesting? I'm looking for more types that give birds nesting and food in my habitats.

I was just watching hummingbirds in my yard a few minutes ago, no I don't feed them never planted anything for them I just let the forest and weeds grow and there are lots of hummingbirds

Anybody had Jewelweed before for hummingbirds and combating poison Ivy?

I mean, I have some Jewelweed here, but I really don't know how to get it to you. I did just try a leaf on a mosquito bite yesterday, too. That stuff works really well. Almost instant relief & it hasn't itched once since.

i’ve got lots of jewelweed. the hummers love it. i don’t think it does much against poison ivy. i have been collecting seed as it ripens.

I'm looking for more jewelweed to grow for next year to not only help hummingbirds, but also use as a remedy to fight intense itching and rashes in the future. If anybody has more jewelweed whether plant or seed, please e-mail me right here on this site and I'll be more glad to be informed right away. Thanks!

Back! Anybody heard of a honeyvine milkweed, a native one? If it's invasive then where shall I plant it?

How can we create room for this magnificent plant without it choking out the rest of the garden?

Greetings! Long time no see! I wanna find out if anybody had lupine to help Karner blue butterflies and others. My area's half sandy and half moist soil, I'm wondering if it's appropriate to grow wild lupine in moist sandy soil even if it's near regular moist soil. Please let me know in this box. Thanks!