EPA Level III Ecoregion
Central Irregular Plains
1011 native plants for the Central Irregular Plains ecoregion (Kansas City area).
The Central Irregular Plains cover western Missouri, southeastern Kansas, and southern Iowa, centered on Kansas City and reaching down toward Joplin. It is a transition zone where the tallgrass prairie starts breaking up into wooded hills and river valleys, so a single neighborhood can have both open sun and heavy shade. Natives like prairie milkweed, willowleaf sunflower, and Barbara’s buttons cover that range and hold up through the hot dry stretch that usually arrives in August.
Conditions: Clay and silt loam over rolling ground, 36–44 inches of rain, cold winters and hot summers with a reliable late-summer dry spell.
Cities and areas: Kansas City, Springfield, Joplin, Columbia, Pittsburg, Ottumwa.
1011 Native Plants for the Central Irregular 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
Butterfly Milkweed
Asclepias tuberosa
Blue Lobelia
Lobelia siphilitica
Common Yarrow
Achillea millefolium
Rattlesnake Master
Eryngium yuccifolium
Switchgrass
Panicum virgatum
Golden Alexanders
Zizia aurea
Common Sneezeweed
Helenium autumnale
False Sunflower
Heliopsis helianthoides
New Jersey-tea
Ceanothus americanus
Mallow-rose
Hibiscus moscheutos
Drooping Prairie-coneflower
Ratibida pinnata
Purple Lovegrass
Eragrostis spectabilis
Blue Woodland Phlox
Phlox divaricata
Prairie Dropseed
Sporobolus heterolepis
Brown-eyed Susan
Rudbeckia triloba
Culver's Root
Veronicastrum virginicum
Sideoats Grama
Bouteloua curtipendula
Narrowleaf Mountain Mint
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium
Inland Sea Oats
Chasmanthium latifolium
Whorled Milkweed
Asclepias verticillata
Smooth Aster
Symphyotrichum laeve
Golden Groundsel
Packera aurea
Smooth Spiderwort
Tradescantia ohiensis
Soft rush
Juncus effusus
Pale Purple Coneflower
Echinacea pallida
Indiangrass
Sorghastrum nutans
American Fox Sedge
Carex vulpinoidea
Spicebush
Lindera benzoin
Purple Prairie Clover
Dalea purpurea
Spotted Geranium
Geranium maculatum
Scarlet Strawberry
Fragaria virginiana
Coral Honeysuckle
Lonicera sempervirens
Aromatic Sumac
Rhus aromatica
Virginia Mountain-Mint
Pycnanthemum virginianum
Red-osier Dogwood
Cornus sericea
Tall Blazing Star
Liatris aspera
Narrowleaf Blue-eyed Grass
Sisyrinchium angustifolium
Blue Grama
Bouteloua gracilis
Azure Sage
Salvia azurea
Creeping Polemonium
Polemonium reptans
Gulf Muhly
Muhlenbergia capillaris
Showing 48 of 1011. Enter your ZIP for the natives matched to your yard.
Fall care in the Central Irregular Plains
What to do right now for plants commonly grown here. Each links to the full regional care guide for that species, with sources.
- Creek sedge
Fall is a good time to check for unwanted seedlings.
- Hairy grama
In fall the fuzzy seedheads are the show.
- Pale purple coneflower
Fall needs almost nothing from you.
- Jumpseed
In fall jumpseed drops seed, so expect new seedlings nearby.
- Plantain leaf pussytoes
Fall needs very little from you since the leaf mat stays in place.
- Prairie junegrass
Fall is a good time to collect seed or sow new seed.
- Garden tulip
Fall is planting season for garden tulips in the Kansas City area.
- Prairie petunia
Fall is a good second planting window around Kansas City, and bloom continues until the first real cold snap.
- Bigleaf hydrangea
This is when next year's flower buds are forming, so the main job in fall is to leave the plant alone and get it ready for the winter temperature swings that cause most of the trouble here.
- Lyre leaf sage
Fall brings a light rebloom for some lyre-leaf sage plants in Kansas City, and the evergreen rosette holds its color as the season cools.
Build a plan for the Central Irregular Plains
The Pollinator Patch App turns plants like these into a front-yard plan tuned for the soil, climate, and HOA expectations of the Kansas City area.