Native Plant Kits

Since 2024, the Society has been offering Native Plant Kits to Calgary gardeners. The kits are offered in partnership with The City of Calgary as part of our YardSmart programming. Each kit has plant plugs. Plugs are small plants that typically have been started from seed withn the past year. Each year we try to offer different plants in the kit. 2026 is the first year that we’re offering a Fall Plant Kit. We still have some available for purchase. Visit the Native Plant Kit Store to pre-order one.

Show us your Native Plant Kit Plants!

To enter, submit a photo of a native kit plant in your garden and answer a few plant kit questions. If you are the winner, you will need to be able to come to the Society office to collect your prize. A gardening prize package ($100 value) will be awarded by random draw of qualified entries.

Contest closes September 30 at 11 pm.

Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium maculatum)

The plant prefers moist locations and is well suited to rain gardens. In the right conditions, it can reach 2 m in height. Despite its size, it is suitable for urban gardens. It flowers from late summer until fall frost. It is very attractive to pollinators.

Hairy golden aster
(Heterotheca villosa)

This prairie plant is drought tolerant and thrives in well-drained rocky soil. It grows up to 15–60 cm tall. Its hairy stems support bright yellow flowers that provide a pop of colour to a late-season xeriscape garden.

Gumweed (Grindelia squarrosa)

This clump-forming plant grows from 15 to 60 cm tall. It blooms from July until September. It prefers average to dry soil in a full sun location. A short-lived perennial, this plant often reseeds.

June Grass (Koeleria macrantha)

Is a native perennial clump-forming grass that grows between 30 and 
60 cm tall. It forms feathery flower heads in early summer. It can be found in grasslands and forested areas, growing in full sun to partial sun locations.

Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa)

This plant is very versatile. It grows from 30 to 200 cm tall and can adapt to dry to moist soils. It has domes of pink star-shaped flowers and blooms in July. The flowers provide nectar for monarch and milkweed tussock butterflies and the plant can host their caterpillars.

Slender Penstemon (Penstemon procerus)

This plant grows from 30 to 60 cm tall. Large clusters of tubular flowers form at its apex while smaller clusters may form at nodes. It blooms from spring into the summer and does well in part to full sun locations. Its flowers are attractive to humming birds.

Note: there will be grower substitutions for this plant. We are waiting to learn what is available.

White Heath Aster/Prairie Aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides)

This prairie plant does well in dry, open, full sun locations. It grows 30 to 90 cm tall and blooms in the fall.

Nodding Onion (allium cernuum)

Known for its delicate drooping flowers, it blooms from June through August. It is drought-tolerant once established and prefers well-drained sandy or gravelly soils. It is fragrant and grows up to 45 cm tall.

Smooth Fleabane (Erigeron glabellus)

A long-flowering plant, the pale purple daisy-like blooms are displayed from June to August. It adapts to a range of soil moisture conditions and thrives in full sun. It forms tight clumps with stems reaching up to 45 cm tall.

Sticky Geranium (Geranium viscosissimum)

Often found in grasslands, this plant also grows in part sun areas such as open woodlands and willow thickets. It grows up to 90 cm tall and blooms from late spring until mid summer. Some research suggests it digests insects trapped on its sticky leaves.

White Beardtongue (Penstemon alibidus)

Found in dry, sandy areas of the open prairie, this plant does well in full sun. It grows up to 50 cm tall and blooms from late spring until early summer.

Giant Hyssop 
(Agastache foeniculum)

This tall plant, reaching up to 120 cm, is fragrant and has anise-scented leaves. It blooms from June to August and grows in full sun to partial sun locations.

Blanket flower
(Gaillardia aristata)

The blanket flower is a short- lived native herbaceous perennial wildflower in the Aster family. The blanket flower is typically found in grasslands, woodlands, and mountain meadows. It attracts bugs because of its bright colours. It blooms from spring until fall.

Beautiful sunflower 
(Helianthus pauciflorus)

A tall, upright, daisy-like flower that blooms from mid-summer to fall. It attracts bees, butterflies, and beneficial insects. The nutrient-dense seeds provide food for birds such as sparrows and goldfinches. Its deep root system makes it drought-tolerant once established.

Golden currant 
(Ribes aureum)

Golden currant has green leaves that are three-lobed. The edible berries may vary in colour from yellow to orange to red to black. In spring, the shrub develops tubular yellow flowers. Suckers should be removed unless you want the shrub to spread.

Little bluestem 
(Schizachyrium scoparium)

A native perennial grass, little bluestem has narrow, smooth, blue-green leaves that deepen to reddish- gold in the fall. The seedheads have a white, feathery appearance. Plant in meadows, slopes, beds, and borders. To control spreading, remove seedheads before they mature.

Prairie crocus 
(Pulsatilla nuttalliana)

Prairie Crocus (aka pasqueflower) is drought tolerant once established. It can be found blooming on south-facing hillsides in Calgary as early as April 1. From flowering to attractive seed head, it provides a long season of interest. A prairie flower, it must be grown in well-drained soil in an open sunny location.

Stiff goldenrod 
(Solidago rigida)

The plant’s flowers are bright yellow, with six to 13 short petals, that grow in flat-topped clusters. Its thick leaves and tall, stiff stem can serve as a perch for songbirds. This plant self-seeds and spreads easily, but seed heads can be removed to prevent stiff goldenrod from taking over a small space. This plant is very attractive to native pollinators.

Yellow coneflower
(Ratibida columnifera)

This prairie plant blooms from mid-
summer until fall. It has deep roots and thrives in hot, exposed spaces. Its long cone and drooping skirt-like petals bob in breezes, adding movement to the garden.

Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia)

With delicate bell-shaped blue flowers and feathery leaves, harebell makes a nice border plant. Growing up to 30 cm in height, this hardy plant blooms from mid-summer to early fall. An important source of nectar and pollen for solitary bees, harebells are also visited by hummingbirds.

Prairie smoke 
(Geum triflorum)

The most distinguishing feature of this native North American prairie plant is the fruiting heads that follow the blooms. As the flower fades and the seeds begin to form, the styles elongate to form upright, feathery gray tails which collectively resemble a plume or feather duster.

Rocky Mountain fescue 
(Festuca saximontana)

This native, cool-season grass, is often found in open, dry, sandy areas in prairies landscapes. It forms a distinctive clump. It grows 10–60 cm tall.

Smooth aster 
(Symphyotrichum laeve)

Producing many flowers with bright yellow centre discs surrounded by striking purple petals, smooth aster can reach a height of up to four feet. A drought tolerant plant which blooms in the fall, asters are known to attract bees and butterflies.

Wild bergomot 
(Monarda fistulosa)

This is Alberta’s wild beebalm. With tall, dramatic stalks topped with fragrant, shaggy, lilac-coloured flowers, this upright plant can grow to a height of five feet. Blooming in mid-summer, wild bergamot is an important source of nectar and pollen for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.