EPA Level III Ecoregion
Central Corn Belt Plains
1172 native plants for the Central Corn Belt Plains ecoregion (Chicago area).
The Central Corn Belt Plains take in northern Illinois and northwestern Indiana, including the western and southern suburbs of Chicago, Rockford, Joliet, and Bloomington. This was tallgrass prairie long before it was farmland, and the deep black soil underneath it was built by that grass over thousands of years. Natives like prairie milkweed, eastern beebalm, and yellow gentian are the plants that made that soil, and they hold their own in the open sun and wind of a suburban front yard.
Conditions: Deep black prairie soils, 34–40 inches of rain, cold windy winters and warm humid summers, very little natural shade.
Cities and areas: Chicago, Rockford, Joliet, Aurora, Naperville, Bloomington.
1172 Native Plants for the Central Corn Belt Plains
HOA-friendly picks listed first. Pet-safety status varies by species; each plant page shows its sourced ASPCA status. Native range data from vouchered herbarium specimen records and regional native plant society lists.
Purple Coneflower
Echinacea purpurea
Swamp Milkweed
Asclepias incarnata
Little Bluestem
Schizachyrium scoparium
Wild Bergamot
Monarda fistulosa
Cardinal Flower
Lobelia cardinalis
Wild Red Columbine
Aquilegia canadensis
Black-eyed Susan
Rudbeckia hirta
Dense Blazing Star
Liatris spicata
Butterfly Milkweed
Asclepias tuberosa
Blue Lobelia
Lobelia siphilitica
Rattlesnake Master
Eryngium yuccifolium
Common Yarrow
Achillea millefolium
Switchgrass
Panicum virgatum
Common Sneezeweed
Helenium autumnale
Golden Alexanders
Zizia aurea
False Sunflower
Heliopsis helianthoides
Lanceleaf Coreopsis
Coreopsis lanceolata
New Jersey-tea
Ceanothus americanus
Perennial Black-eyed Susan
Rudbeckia fulgida
Drooping Prairie-coneflower
Ratibida pinnata
Purple Lovegrass
Eragrostis spectabilis
Nodding Onion
Allium cernuum
Mallow-rose
Hibiscus moscheutos
Blue Woodland Phlox
Phlox divaricata
Brown-eyed Susan
Rudbeckia triloba
Prairie Dropseed
Sporobolus heterolepis
Culver's Root
Veronicastrum virginicum
Showy Goldenrod
Solidago speciosa
Sideoats Grama
Bouteloua curtipendula
Smooth Aster
Symphyotrichum laeve
Narrowleaf Mountain Mint
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium
Whorled Milkweed
Asclepias verticillata
Inland Sea Oats
Chasmanthium latifolium
Smooth Spiderwort
Tradescantia ohiensis
Soft rush
Juncus effusus
Golden Groundsel
Packera aurea
Indiangrass
Sorghastrum nutans
Spicebush
Lindera benzoin
Sevenbark
Hydrangea arborescens
Purple Prairie Clover
Dalea purpurea
American Fox Sedge
Carex vulpinoidea
Pale Purple Coneflower
Echinacea pallida
Narrowleaf Blue-eyed Grass
Sisyrinchium angustifolium
Red-osier Dogwood
Cornus sericea
Coral Honeysuckle
Lonicera sempervirens
Aromatic Sumac
Rhus aromatica
Tall Blazing Star
Liatris aspera
Spotted Geranium
Geranium maculatum
Showing 48 of 1172. Enter your ZIP for the natives matched to your yard.
Fall care in the Central Corn Belt Plains
What to do right now for plants commonly grown here. Each links to the full regional care guide for that species, with sources.
- Old mans whiskers
Fall is easy: let the leaves turn and leave the clump alone.
- Bird foot violet
Fall can bring a second round of blooms, and the plant may reseed.
- Culvers root
Fall is for cutting spent spikes if you want more flowers.
- American blue vervain
Fall flowers turn into seed that birds eat.
- Michaelmas daisy
Fall is bloom time for pollinators.
- Perennial black eyed susan
Fall flowers feed pollinators and then birds.
- Whorled milkweed
Fall is when the seed pods split, so decide whether you want new seedlings.
- Prairie violet
Fall is a good window to plant or to sow seed, since the seed needs cold, moist time over winter. Keep new plantings watered until the ground freezes.
- Eastern beebalm
Fall is a good window to settle in new plants before Chicago freezes. Ease off watering as nights cool.
- Wild blue indigo
The plant winds down in fall. The leaves turn silvery gray and the dark seed pods can stay as decoration.
Build a plan for the Central Corn Belt Plains
The Pollinator Patch App turns plants like these into a front-yard plan tuned for the soil, climate, and HOA expectations of the Chicago area.