Best Native Plants for USDA Zone 5

Native plants you can actually buy that suit USDA hardiness zone 5 — ordered by how closely each one is matched to this zone rather than alphabetically.

40 plants, every one native to North America, routinely available from nurseries, and photographed. Ranked by cold limit, so the plants nearest the top are the ones zone 5 lets you grow and colder gardens do not. Traits are quoted from USDA PLANTS, never estimated — how we source this. The Plant Finder searches the full catalogue, including plants that miss this bar.

1. 
   American holly Ilex opacaZone 5+ · shade · 40 ft · native
2. 
   bald cypress Taxodium distichumZone 5+ · part shade · 130 ft · native
3. 
   blackgum Nyssa sylvaticaZone 5+ · shade · 95 ft · native
4. 
   broomsedge bluestem Andropogon virginicusZone 5+ · full sun · 3 ft · native
5. 
   chinquapin Castanea pumilaZone 5+ · part shade · 20 ft · native
6. 
   Columbian sedge Carex apertaZone 5+ · full sun · 2 ft · native
7. 
   cucumber tree Magnolia acuminataZone 5+ · part shade · 100 ft · native
8. 
   dense blazing star Liatris spicataZone 5+ · part shade · 4.5 ft · native
9. 
   eastern swampprivet Forestiera acuminataZone 5+ · shade · 33 ft · native
10. 
    Illinois bundleflower Desmanthus illinoensisZone 5+ · full sun · 3 ft · native
11. 
    Jack in the pulpit Arisaema triphyllumZone 5+ · shade · 1.5 ft · native
12. 
    Lyall's angelica Angelica argutaZone 5+ · part shade · 6 ft · native
13. 
    Maryland senna Senna marilandicaZone 5+ · part shade · 6.6 ft · native
14. 
    Mexican rush Juncus mexicanusZone 5+ · full sun · 0.8 ft · native
15. 
    muscadine Vitis rotundifoliaZone 5+ · part shade · 30 ft · native
16. 
    Nuttall oak Quercus texanaZone 5+ · full sun · 110 ft · native
17. 
    possumhaw Ilex deciduaZone 5+ · shade · 33 ft · native
18. 
    prickly bog sedge Carex atlanticaZone 5+ · part shade · 1.8 ft · native
19. 
    red chokeberry Aronia arbutifoliaZone 5+ · full sun · 5 ft · native
20. 
    scarlet gilia Ipomopsis aggregataZone 5+ · full sun · 3 ft · native
21. 
    shortleaf pine Pinus echinataZone 5+ · full sun · 100 ft · native
22. 
    Sitka willow Salix sitchensisZone 5+ · full sun · 23 ft · native
23. 
    slash pine Pinus elliottiiZone 5+ · full sun · 100 ft · native
24. 
    smooth oxeye Heliopsis helianthoidesZone 5+ · part shade · 4 ft · native
25. 
    southern catalpa Catalpa bignonioidesZone 5+ · part shade · 66 ft · native
26. 
    spike muhly Muhlenbergia wrightiiZone 5+ · full sun · 2 ft · native
27. 
    swamp azalea Rhododendron viscosumZone 5+ · shade · 16 ft · native
28. 
    swamp chestnut oak Quercus michauxiiZone 5+ · full sun · 80 ft · native
29. 
    swamp tupelo Nyssa bifloraZone 5+ · full sun · 115 ft · native
30. 
    tuliptree Liriodendron tulipiferaZone 5+ · full sun · 120 ft · native
31. 
    turkey tangle fogfruit Phyla nodifloraZone 5+ · part shade · 0.2 ft · native
32. 
    water hickory Carya aquaticaZone 5+ · part shade · 85 ft · native
33. 
    woolly geranium Geranium erianthumZone 5+ · full sun · 3 ft · native
34. 
    Arizona cypress Hesperocyparis arizonicaZone 4+ · shade · 50 ft · native
35. 
    Arizona fescue Festuca arizonicaZone 4+ · full sun · 2 ft · native
36. 
    black grama Bouteloua eriopodaZone 4+ · full sun · 2 ft · native
37. 
    blackeyed Susan Rudbeckia hirtaZone 4+ · full sun · 1 ft · native
38. 
    bursting-heart Euonymus americanusZone 4+ · part shade · 6 ft · native
39. 
    bushy bluestem Andropogon glomeratusZone 4+ · full sun · 6.3 ft · native
40. 
    Carolina fanwort Cabomba carolinianaZone 4+ · part shade · native

Every plant here is drawn from the USDA PLANTS database; the traits behind this list are quoted from it, not estimated. See data & sources.

Want plants matched to your exact zone and conditions? Use the Plant Finder.