Made in the Shade Garden Kit

This 15 plant kit provides an easy way to add wildlife-welcoming natives to a shady spot in your existing or new garden. 

The plants in this kit will supply nectar and pollen for native bees and other important pollinators and thrive in part-sun to shade, and medium to medium-dry soil.  The plants in this kit range from 1-3 ft and are suitable for a parkway planting but check with your municipality for height restrictions (in Oak Park it is 30 inches, and be careful about lines of sight at corners). The kit can be planted in an area of 10-15 sq. ft.

All plants are plugs. Plugs are a bit smaller than pint-sized plants, but develop a strong root system and are more affordable. 

Kit contains 3 plants of each species:

• Early Meadow Rue, whose lacy foliage supports several moth caterpillars, blooms green in spring.
• Hairy Beardtongue's trumpet shaped, lavender flowers open in late spring and attract bumblebees and hummingbirds.
• James's Sedge is a low-growing, tightly-packed tufted carex that is a host plant Eyed-Brown butterflies.
• Blue-stemmed Goldenrod is a great splash of sunshine in the shade from this yellow-blooming late nectar source.
• Big-Leaved Aster pretty white flowers provide important late summer nectar/pollen sources for  Monarchs and other insects.

Add some grasses and sedges

We recommend planting kits interspersed with grasses and/or sedges to create a native plant community.  In a woodland, native flowering plants grow intermingled with sedges which creates habitat for wildlife. The grasses provide food and cover for birds, insects and other small animals. This approach also helps control weeds.

The final two photos show a Made in the Shade kit planted in 2024 (photographed in 2025) which was planted with interspersed sedges (Carex pensylvanica)

Recommended Grasses and Sedges:

Common Oak Sedge, Straight-styled Wood Sedge, Curly-Styled Wood Sedge,  Long-Beaked Sedge, Pretty Sedge, Bottlebrush Grass

Kit Details:

• Kit is $45. You save $7.50 over the cost of purchasing plants individually.
• Light: Partial sun to shade
• Soil: Medium to medium-dry
• Height: 1-3 feet
• Blooms:  April-October

Plant Care Tips: New plants need care for the first growing season.

• Plant ASAP in a spot that is mostly shade or part sun. 
• Water them every couple days for the first month, or as needed to keep fairly most, depending on precipitation and other weather conditions.
• Consider protection from rabbits in the first season.
• Mulch and regular weeding are also required until plants fill in. 

Photo credit: Illinois Wildflowers, Midwest Groundcovers.