Perfect for both small gardens and large prairie meadows, it blooms heavily, sometimes for two months in mid to late summer. Its nectar draws butterflies, bees, and other pollinators, including hummingbirds. In the late summer goldfinches and other birds will be drawn to its large seedheads.

A fantastic attractant for birds, cup-plant leaves form cups against the plant stems that catch rainwater which can be a water source for a variety of songbird, butterfly, and hummingbird species. They thrive in medium to wet soils and can grow anywhere from three to 10 feet tall.

This plant is excellent for clay soils and does not spread by its roots, but self-sow in open soil. Expect bright yellow flowers in early to mid-summer on leafy stalks. This plant is a welcome addition to many nectar and seed eating organisms.

They have a light violet to blue flowers that bloom in the mornings and tend to close up in the afternoon heat. Their spikey foliage makes them visually intriguing even when the flowers are closed. The most important pollinators of these flowers are bumblebees. They have been known to form hybrids with at least nine different species of spiderwort.

Monarch butterflies exclusively lay their eggs on milkweed species. The cardiac glycosides in Milkweed foliage makes the caterpillars and adult butterflies toxic to birds and other predators. The seed pods split when ripe and release haired seeds that are carried by the wind.