This dainty plant has showy flowers. Plants can produce numerous seeds, making the plant readily self-seed. It's native habitat is dry, open, sandy sites.

The leaves have a bluish cast in the summer, with finely-textured, pink-tinged, branched flower seed heads that hover over the foliage like a cloud. Leaves turn a bright yellow in the fall.

Yes, Long Island has a native cactus! The Prickly Pear Cactus is a mounding, low-growing perennial found closer to the shoreline in sandy patches.  Easy to grow, hard to kill, and great for containers, too.  Be careful of the tiny hairlike spines when handling!  The paddles (nopales) and fruit (tuna) are edible and feature in Mexican cuisine. 

Inhabits sand dunes, sandy road shoulders, dry fields, disturbed sites and wet meadows, with neutral soil pH. Tolerates urban pollution. The leaves change from light-green to dark-green to purple throughout the year. Grows in an attractive clump. Provides seed, nesting, and shelter for ground nesters and birds of prey.

A highly ornamental bunchgrass with fine-textured foliage that forms dense mounds with slender blue-green stems. It becomes striking mahogany-red in the fall with white, shining seed tufts. Drought tolerant, it performs best in full sun.  Also, is a host plant to several butterfly species (skippers) including the common wood nymph.

An erect annual with flat-topped clusters of pink-lavender flower heads, it has a faint camphor fragrance. This plant adds color to marsh grasses at the end of the growing season. Prefers full sun and moist conditions. Its dense pinkish flowers are often used in dried flower arrangements.

When mass planted, it is an effective ornamental grass owing to its reddish-purple inflorescence (seed head). The plant turns brown in fall.  Found in a variety of habitats including old fields, prairies, open woods, and roadsides. It is tolerant of road salt.

A beautiful warm-season grass with striking form and coloring. It has erect broad blue-green leaves and tall, plume-like, soft, golden-brown seed heads. This showy perennial’s fall color is deep orange to purple.

A warm season, low-growing bunchgrass which produces striking plumage in the summer. The inflorescence appears as hazy,  reddish-purple clouds.  Often used for erosion control owing to its fibrous, deep roots. Drought tolerant and low maintenance.

Broomsedge is a primary native meadow grass in our region.  Drought tolerant, it requires little care and is virtually disease and pest free.  Seeds along the stems are striking in fall and winter when the fine hairs of the seeds catch the sunlight.  Supports the Common Wood-Nymph and Skipper butterflies.