Top Plants for a Rain Garden

Rain gardens will help slow the flow of water and the possibility of flooding after hard rains or in places with water runoff from gutters and such. On one side of the garden you will need to build up a wall or ridge with the soil so that it will trap the water. If the lawn is level you will need to put the garden at least 20-25 feet from the foundation of the house and for areas with an incline, decline, or any type of slope you will need it at least 10 feet away. Remember that the ridge for the garden plot is from the opposite side of the house.

The center of the garden will need the hardiest and most adaptable plants of the group. This is where the lot of the water will be. Find good extreme living plants or a shrub as a centerpiece. If done properly with soil modification, ridging, and plant selection, rain gardens will only hold water for around four hours.

Below are plants that are perfect choices for rain gardens.

Asclepias incarnata L. (Swamp Milkweed)

Kingdom Plantae - Plants

Subkingdom Tracheobionta - Vascular plants

Superdivision Spermatophyta - Seed plants

Division Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants

Class Magnoliopsida - Dicotyledons

Subclass Asteridae -

Order Gentianales -

Family Asclepiadaceae - Milkweed family

Genus Asclepias L. - milkweed

Species Asclepias incarnata L. - swamp milkweed

This flower is a favorite among butterflies. It gets up to 2-3 feet high and you need to space it around 18-24 inches apart. It prefers sun to partial shade in acidic soil. The flowers are pink or purple, and bloom from mid-summer to late fall. It is a clump forming plant, and you can divide these clumps to propagate or just direct sow the seeds outside after frost. Milkweeds tend to be susceptible to aphids, but being that they are the only plant that the Monarch Butterfly's larvae can survive on makes it worth it. It is a fragrant and beautiful plant to have in any garden. BEWARE: All parts of this plant are poisonous if ingested.

Boltonia asteroides (L.) L'Her. (White Doll's Daisy)

Kingdom Plantae - Plants

Subkingdom Tracheobionta - Vascular plants

Superdivision Spermatophyta - Seed plants

Division Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants