The Best Native Plants for Wet Areas

At In Our Nature, we always recommend an ecosystem approach to choosing the right plants for your garden. So, if you have wet soil, don’t drain it! Go with the flow and choose plants who like wet soil. These plants are suitable for a variety of conditions including rain gardens, bog gardens, swales and naturalizing wet areas.

30 Ontario Native Plants For Wet Areas:.

Canada Anemone is a vigorous and adaptable plant. It thrives in consistently wet soils but also does well in dry soils, but with less vigor. Tolerates full sun to full shade. Blooms in late Spring.

Pink Milkweed is showy, fragrant and adaptable. It tolerates standing water, consistently wet soils and will even grow in medium-dry soils once established. Strong upright form, wonderful summer blooms and a host for monarch caterpillars.

Marsh Marigold (Calthra pulustris)

Marsh Marigold lights up the landscape in early spring. It cannot be allowed to dry out so it is best suited for shallow water in pond gardens or consistently mucky soils. Bold leaves provide great greenery once the flowers fade. It thrives in wet soil and light shade.

Fringed sedge (Carex crinita)

Fringed sedge adds a delightful, delicate texture to moist areas with its evergreen leaves. The dangling flowers and seed heads add a unique look to your rain garden or pond edge. It will tolerate standing water, fun sun to part shade and consistently mucky soils.

Grays Sedge (Carex grayii)

Grays Sedge is a clumping sedge with graceful, arching foliage and unique seed heads that represent medieval maces. It will tolerate shallow standing water, light shade to part sun and even drier conditions. Good for rain gardens.

The unique leaf structure of palm sedge make it an interesting addition to wet gardens. It spreads well, but not aggressively. Tolerates standing water, mucky soil and even slightly dry soils once established.

Fox Sedge (Carex vulpinoidea)

Fox sedge is a resilient and beautiful choice for rain gardens and mucky areas. It prefers consistently moist soils but will tolerate medium-dry soils. Give it full sun to light shade. Attractive, upright seed heads.

Elegant, charming and dependable. White Turtlehead thrives in mucky soils and can even tolerate medium moisture. Plant it in full sun to part shade (requires less moisture in part shade). Great for rain gardens. Tolerates temporary flooding.

Virginia rye greens up early in the spring and maintains a nice clumping form. The attractive seed heads persist into winter. It thrives in full sun and mucky soils but will tolerate medium moisture and part shade. Use in rain gardens or to naturalize mucky areas.

A tall, majestic plant with profuse pink blooms in late summer. Joe-pye grows best in consistently wet, rich soils and full sun. It will tolerate average moisture and part sun with decreased vigor. Best for rain gardens or naturalizing.

A very desirable plant for wet soils. The unique flowers of bottle gentian are only accessible to bumblebees. Grows best in full sun and wet or mucky soils. Does not like standing water but may tolerate it for short periods.

Cheery, globular flowers in late summer. Thrives in consistently wet soil and full sun but will tolerate slightly dry conditions after its established. Great for rain gardens and other sites with periodic flooding. Bumblebee magnet!

Easy to grow and dependable in wet, sunny sites with rich soil. Blue Flag Iris has purple/blue flowers that hummingbirds and butterflies adore. Grows in shallow standing water and consistently moist sites. Tolerates up to 4” of standing water.

A good choice for rain gardens as it can tolerate wet soils and periods of drought. However, it does not like standing water, so plant it a little bit higher up in your rain garden.

Michigan Lily (Lilium michiganense)

This native lily does not have to try very hard to be the star of the show! It will tolerate fluctuations in soil moisture but does not like very dry soils. Give it sun to part shade.

Elegant, striking and vibrant, cardinal flower is a must-have in rain gardens! It thrives in wet soils that are rich in organic matter but does surprisingly well in medium-dry moisture conditions. Full sun to part shade.

Blue flowers are hard to come by in the garden, but blue lobelia really fills in the void! It will grow in full sun to part shade, wet to medium moisture and will tolerate periodic flooding. Ideal for wet soil and shade.

Monkey Flower (Mimulus ringens)

Monkey flower thrives in wet, mucky soils and will tolerate shallow standing water. Give it full to part sun. It has a long bloom time.

Virginia mountain mint thrives in full sun to part shade and will grow in wet to moist soil but is adaptable to dry soil once established. Versatile in rain gardens.

Cut-leaved Coneflower is prized for its yellow blooms and lush leaves. It adapts readily to most garden soils granted they don't dry out completely. It will tolerate periodic flooding and sun to part shade. Ideal for the tricky combination of wet soil and shade.

Bog Goldenrod (Solidago uliginosa)

Bog goldenrod is a moisture loving goldenrod with vibrant yellow, conical blooms. It thrives in wet, mucky soils but will adapt to average moisture conditions. Give it full sun to part sun. Not an aggressive spreader. Good for pond margins.

Swamp Aster thrives in rich, moist, mucky soils. It can tolerate part shade to full sun and is one of the first asters to bloom in the fall. It blooms profusely with soft purple flowers with yellow centers that fade to a reddish/brown as they age. In moist soil and full sun it will spread quickly by rhizomes and seeds.

Tall meadow-rue grows well in wet or mucky soils in full sun. It will tolerate slightly drier conditions if it has some shade. It will tolerate standing water for short periods. Stunning foamy clusters of creamy white flowers in early summer.

Blue Vervain has a strong, upright form with gorgeous violet/blue flower spikes. Its growing preference is fertile, mucky soil in full to part sun. It will tolerate slightly drier soils once established, making it good for rain gardens. Tolerates temporary flooding.

New York Ironweed adds height and structure to gardens. It works well in rain gardens as it adapts to moist or dry soils. It needs full sun to thrive.

Culvers root is as adaptable as it is beautiful! It will grow in wet soils but still tolerate some drought once established, making it a good choice for rain gardens. Full sun to part sun.

Naturally found in wet meadows, Golden alexander will thrive in sunny, moist areas. It will tolerate drier soils once established and requires less moisture if grown in shade. Tolerates short periods of standing water.

Sweet-flag (Acorus americanus)

Sweet flag grows in standing water up to 20inches deep, making it a good choice for pond gardens. Give it full sun to part sun and don’t let it dry out.

Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata)

Excellent for pond gardens. It grows in standing water up to 12 inches deep and needs full sun to part sun. It cannot tolerate drying out, so it should be kept in a pond or bog garden.

Arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia)

A plant of pond edges, Arrowhead will grow in standing water of up to 12inches deep. Give it full sun and don’t let it dry out.

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