EPA Level III Ecoregion
Northeastern Highlands
1232 native plants for the Northeastern Highlands ecoregion (Kingston area).
The Northeastern Highlands take in the Adirondacks, the Green and White Mountains, and the wooded uplands of northern Maine, from Kingston and Plattsburgh across to Rutland, Concord, and Bangor. Elevation and latitude both work against a long season here: winters are severe, summers are short and cool, and soils are thin, rocky, and acidic. Natives like Oswego-tea, New York ironweed, and clammy azalea are adapted to that cold and acidity, and they come back reliably where marginally hardy nursery stock does not.
Conditions: Thin rocky acidic soils over glacial till, 40–50 inches of precipitation with heavy snow, short cool summers and severe winters.
Cities and areas: Kingston, Plattsburgh, Rutland, Concord, Bangor, Lake Placid.
1232 Native Plants for the Northeastern Highlands
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
Common Yarrow
Achillea millefolium
Golden Alexanders
Zizia aurea
Common Sneezeweed
Helenium autumnale
Switchgrass
Panicum virgatum
False Sunflower
Heliopsis helianthoides
Lanceleaf Coreopsis
Coreopsis lanceolata
New Jersey-tea
Ceanothus americanus
Purple Lovegrass
Eragrostis spectabilis
Mallow-rose
Hibiscus moscheutos
Blue Woodland Phlox
Phlox divaricata
Brown-eyed Susan
Rudbeckia triloba
Culver's Root
Veronicastrum virginicum
Showy Goldenrod
Solidago speciosa
Narrowleaf Mountain Mint
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium
Smooth Aster
Symphyotrichum laeve
Whorled Milkweed
Asclepias verticillata
Soft rush
Juncus effusus
Golden Groundsel
Packera aurea
American Fox Sedge
Carex vulpinoidea
Sevenbark
Hydrangea arborescens
Spicebush
Lindera benzoin
Indiangrass
Sorghastrum nutans
Virginia Mountain-Mint
Pycnanthemum virginianum
Spotted Geranium
Geranium maculatum
Narrowleaf Blue-eyed Grass
Sisyrinchium angustifolium
Scarlet Strawberry
Fragaria virginiana
Aromatic Sumac
Rhus aromatica
Red-osier Dogwood
Cornus sericea
Coral Honeysuckle
Lonicera sempervirens
Creeping Polemonium
Polemonium reptans
Ninebark
Physocarpus opulifolius
Northern Red Oak
Quercus rubra
Black-alder
Ilex verticillata
Pennsylvania Sedge
Carex pensylvanica
Summersweet
Clethra alnifolia
Eastern Red Cedar
Juniperus virginiana
Blunt Mountain Mint
Pycnanthemum muticum
Broombush
Hypericum prolificum
Showing 48 of 1232. Enter your ZIP for the natives matched to your yard.
Fall care in the Northeastern Highlands
What to do right now for plants commonly grown here. Each links to the full regional care guide for that species, with sources.
- Lanceleaf coreopsis
Fall is a good time to ease off and decide how many seedlings you want.
- Short beak sedge
Fall is a quiet time, and the plant picks up a second flush of growth in cool weather.
- Cowberry
Fall is harvest time, and the October crop is the bigger one.
- Purple coneflower
Fall is a good time to plant or divide. Leave the seed heads standing for birds.
- Smooth aster
Fall is smooth aster's moment in Montpelier. From late August into October the plant opens clouds of lavender blue, yellow centered flowers right as most of the rest of the garden is winding down, and it becomes one of the last real nectar sources before frost.
- Rough stem goldenrod
Fall is rough goldenrod's peak season in Montpelier, with bright yellow blooms opening in late August before the average first frost, near September 18, typically ends the display.
- Little bluestem
Fall is little bluestem's showiest moment in Montpelier, with foliage turning copper and bronze right around the average first frost in late September.
- Black eyed susan
Fall frost arrives early in Montpelier. Let some flowers go to seed for next year and for birds, or cut back now for a tidier look.
- Switchgrass
Leave the foliage and seed heads standing through fall, they turn gold and feed birds as Montpelier heads toward its average late September first frost.
- Wild bergamot
Fall arrives early in Montpelier, so plan on wrapping up the growing season by mid September, and use fall cleanup to get ahead of next year's mildew.
Build a plan for the Northeastern Highlands
The Pollinator Patch App turns plants like these into a front-yard plan tuned for the soil, climate, and HOA expectations of the Kingston area.