Hermit Thrush illustration by Kelly Ballantyne; follow on IG @kcballantyne
Help the birds and the environment, and enjoy a beautiful blooming native garden!
Chicago Audubon Society Online Native Plant Sale is held every spring, offering a wide variety of perennials. Order online and pick up at North Park Village Nature Center on Sunday afternoon, May 23. Proceeds of the sale help to fund CAS’s successful bird conservation programs such as the push for a bird- friendly buildings ordinance.
Chicago Audubon Society partners with Pizzo Native Plant Nursery to provide native plants from local and regional ecotypes for sale, many of which are difficult to find in the retail sector. Indigenous species have adapted to our local conditions over many centuries, growing naturally without fertilizers, supplemental irrigation or herbicides. Whether your landscape is sunny, shady or in between, there will be many perennials to choose from. Native plants provide food for pollinators, birds and other wildlife; shelter for wildlife— and they are beautiful.
We are selling plugs for $3.50 or $4.00, depending on species. To learn more about these plants’ requirements, look them up by clicking the links below or on this guide from the Morton Arboretum. Details on how these plants help birds and pollinators are at Illinois Wildflowers. Need more garden suggestions? We have a great page about how your garden can help migratory birds.
2021 Offerings
Anise hyssop - hummingbird and pollinator magnet!
Beardtongue - hummingbirds in early summer
Bishop's cap - spring pollinators
Bottle brush grass - fall, winter seed eaters
Bottle gentian - bumblebees
Brown-eyed susan - finches, other seed eaters
Butterfly weed - monarch host
Downy (prairie) phlox - early summer butterflies, pollinators
False sunflower - finches, other seed eaters
Gray sedge - swamp sparrow, pollinators
Great solomon's seal - fall berries for fruit-eaters
Hoary vervain - pollinators
Little bluestem - fall, winter seed eaters
New England aster - fall, winter seed eaters
Ohio spiderwort - early summer bees
Pennsylvania sedge - looks great under your shrubs!
Prairie blazing star - hummingbirds on fall migration
Prairie smoke - spring bumblebees
Purple coneflower - finches, other seed eaters
Rough blazing star - hummingbirds on fall migration
Short's aster - fall, winter seed eaters
Smooth aster - fall, winter seed eaters
Spotted joe pye weed - fall, winter seed eaters
Zigzag goldenrod - fall pollinators