Swale Mix for Wet Soil

Five or more types of native flowers for naturalizing sunny to part-sun, medium to moist areas.  Perfect for ditches, low spots, problem wet areas, seasonally wet areas, and transition from field to wetland.  Also suitable for regular garden soil (our best patch of Swamp Milkweed is on the dry side of our vegetable garden), but will need more water while getting established. 
 
This is a wildflower patch for adding flowers and boosting habitat rather than a composed garden. For a more composed collection, try our Rain Garden Kit.
 
Kit plants 40 square feet at 1-foot spacing.  Plants can be spread out to fill a larger area, but weeding, mulch, or companion planting with a low growing matrix plant is recommended until these plants are able to hold their own against weed competition.  Kit contains 38 U.P.-genotype native wildflower plugs, each tagged with plant name, height, and details. 
 
This kit typically includes 7 or 8 each of:
New England Aster or Rose Milkweed
Blue Vervain or Wild Blue Iris
Boneset or Culver's Root
Grass-leaf or Bog Goldenrod
Flat-topped or Shining Aster
 
If you have the room, we recommend Joe Pye Weed, Paleleaf Sunflower, Golden Alexander, and Cutleaf Coneflower to complement this mix.  These are tall and vigorous spreaders and make great additions to habitat with frequent moist soil. Depending on conditions, they may be able to crowd out shorter non-native invaders. For less aggressive additions to ditches and low spots, consider Ironweed, Dogtooth Daisy, and Mad Dog Skullcap.
 
Sedges make an excellent habitat booster and companion/matrix plant with this mix. Sedges host butterflies and moth caterpillars and generally offer seeds eaten by birds. They can help suppress weeds and provide nesting habitat. Try Fox, Early Fen, Porcupine, Shining Bur, or Nodding Sedge. Mosquito Bulrush or Path Rush will also go well with this kit.
 
Note that the picture is an example of our plants in a plug tray; your kit will differ from the picture.