Plants for Schoolyard Habitats
You can learn more about the benefits to wildlife and planting needs at California Native Plant Society’s CalScape website
Asclepius speciosa showy milkweed
**Host plant for the Monarch butterfly
Erect perennial that grows to about 4 feet tall. The large, pointed, banana-like leaves are arranged opposite on the stalk-like stem. The fragrant eye-catching furry pale pink to pinkish-purple flowers are arranged in thick umbels. Their petal structure is reflexed and the central flower parts, five hoods with prominent hooks, are star-shaped.
4’tall x 4’wide
Asclepius fasicularis narrow-leaf milkweed
**Host plant fo the Monarch butterfly
Flowering perennial sending up many thin, erect stems and bearing distinctive long pointed leaves which are very narrow and often whorled about the stem, giving the plant its common names. It blooms in clusters of lavender or lavender-tinted white flowers which have five reflexed lobes that extend down away from the blossom. The fruits are smooth milkweed pods which split open to spill seeds along with plentiful silky hairs.
Mark well where you plant them as they go completely dormant in winter and don’t re-sprout this Mid April
Grindelia Stricta Oregon gummend
Perennial herb forming low clumps to a sprawling subshrub.
Yellow flower cluster holds one or more flower heads each up to 5 centimeters wide.
Blooms spring - fall
3’tall x 6’wide
Helianthus californicus CA Sunflower
A sprawling, gangly plant, sending a thin stem to heights between one and three meters or more. The lance-shaped leaves may be 20 centimeters long and are smooth or slightly toothed along the edges. The flower cluster holds several flower heads. Butterflies nectar and host plant as well as many species of birds for the seeds and nectar and pollen for bees.
8”tall x 3’wide
Blooms summe/r fall
Butterflies host and nectar, birds and bees
Monardella villosa “Russian River” coyote mint
Perennial herb that forms a small bush or matted tangle of hairy mint-scented foliage. The fragrance is one of the best features of this plant. It grows in chaparral, coastal sage scrub, and various forest/woodland habitats. It produces rounded flower clusters of small, thready, bright lavender or pink flowers that are attractive to butterflies.
Cut back over winter for denser mounds
2’tall x 3 ‘wide
Blooms summer/fall
Solidago velutlina ssp californica CA goldenrod
It produces masses of yellow flowers when many other plants are dormant. Birds and pollinating insects love this plant.
Loves to spread so plant where it has room to move.
1.5’ tall spreads
Blooms summer/fall
Symphyotrichum chilenses CA aster
The hairy leaves are narrowly oval-shaped, pointed, and sometimes finely serrated along the edges. The flower cluster holds aster flower heads with centers of yellow disc florets and fringes of many narrow light purple ray florets. Great for a butterfly garden.The flowers attract many beneficial insects. The genus Symphyotrichum is a host plant for the Northern Checkerspot, Field Crescent and Pearl Crescent butterflies.
2’tall x 3’ wide but spreads easily
Blooms summer /fall
**Host plant for the Monarch butterfly
Erect perennial that grows to about 4 feet tall. The large, pointed, banana-like leaves are arranged opposite on the stalk-like stem. The fragrant eye-catching furry pale pink to pinkish-purple flowers are arranged in thick umbels. Their petal structure is reflexed and the central flower parts, five hoods with prominent hooks, are star-shaped.
4’tall x 4’wide
Asclepius fasicularis narrow-leaf milkweed
**Host plant fo the Monarch butterfly
Flowering perennial sending up many thin, erect stems and bearing distinctive long pointed leaves which are very narrow and often whorled about the stem, giving the plant its common names. It blooms in clusters of lavender or lavender-tinted white flowers which have five reflexed lobes that extend down away from the blossom. The fruits are smooth milkweed pods which split open to spill seeds along with plentiful silky hairs.
Mark well where you plant them as they go completely dormant in winter and don’t re-sprout this Mid April
Grindelia Stricta Oregon gummend
Perennial herb forming low clumps to a sprawling subshrub.
Yellow flower cluster holds one or more flower heads each up to 5 centimeters wide.
Blooms spring - fall
3’tall x 6’wide
Helianthus californicus CA Sunflower
A sprawling, gangly plant, sending a thin stem to heights between one and three meters or more. The lance-shaped leaves may be 20 centimeters long and are smooth or slightly toothed along the edges. The flower cluster holds several flower heads. Butterflies nectar and host plant as well as many species of birds for the seeds and nectar and pollen for bees.
8”tall x 3’wide
Blooms summe/r fall
Butterflies host and nectar, birds and bees
Monardella villosa “Russian River” coyote mint
Perennial herb that forms a small bush or matted tangle of hairy mint-scented foliage. The fragrance is one of the best features of this plant. It grows in chaparral, coastal sage scrub, and various forest/woodland habitats. It produces rounded flower clusters of small, thready, bright lavender or pink flowers that are attractive to butterflies.
Cut back over winter for denser mounds
2’tall x 3 ‘wide
Blooms summer/fall
Solidago velutlina ssp californica CA goldenrod
It produces masses of yellow flowers when many other plants are dormant. Birds and pollinating insects love this plant.
Loves to spread so plant where it has room to move.
1.5’ tall spreads
Blooms summer/fall
Symphyotrichum chilenses CA aster
The hairy leaves are narrowly oval-shaped, pointed, and sometimes finely serrated along the edges. The flower cluster holds aster flower heads with centers of yellow disc florets and fringes of many narrow light purple ray florets. Great for a butterfly garden.The flowers attract many beneficial insects. The genus Symphyotrichum is a host plant for the Northern Checkerspot, Field Crescent and Pearl Crescent butterflies.
2’tall x 3’ wide but spreads easily
Blooms summer /fall
Email our SchoolYard Habitat Coordinator Laurel Anderson today!
Laurel.Anderson@schoolgardens.org
Laurel.Anderson@schoolgardens.org