Recommended native plants for Ottawa ROW (Right of Way) gardens

OSEAN is proud to have been one of the groups working with the City of Ottawa on changing their Right of Way laws to permit pollinator gardens. These changes allow property owners to plant right up to the curb in front of your house, with some restrictions. If you’re new to ROW gardening, please check out our plain-language summary of the new rules, or consult the full bylaw (Bylaw 2003-498) on the City’s website.

For those planning their gardens, here are some suggestions for native plants that meet the height restriction. They are listed by bloom time, from spring to fall. To best help our pollinators, try to choose flowers so you have blooms in all three seasons.

And for gardeners not ready to leap into ROW gardening, these plants are some of the shortest and most resilient ones available, and would make a positive environmental contribution wherever they are planted.

Native flowers and grasses that are drought and salt tolerant, and so work well close to the road

• Prairie Smoke

• Lance-leaved Coreopsis

• Butterfly Milkweed

• Hoary Vervain

• Nodding Onion

• Spotted Beebalm

• Pearly Everlasting

• Black-eyed Susan

• Virginia Mountain Mint

• Upland White Goldenrod

• Sky Blue Aster

• Heath Aster

• Grey Goldenrod

• Sideoats Grama (grass)

• Little Bluestem (grass)

 Native flowers/grasses for sun or part-shade

• Golden Alexander

• Red Columbine

• Downy Wood Mint

• Wild Bergamot

• Anise Hyssop

• Great Blue Lobelia

• June Grass

• Prairie Dropseed (grass)

Native plants for shade

• Bowman’s Root

• Wild Strawberry

• Hairy Wood Mint

• White Snakeroot

• Large-leaved Aster

• Calico Aster

• Heart-leaved Aster

• Blue-stemmed Goldenrod

• Zigzag Goldenrod

• Bottlebrush Grass

 Native shrubs

• Northern Bush Honeysuckle

• New Jersey Tea

• Fragrant Sumac

• Pot of Gold/Kalm’s St. John’s Wort

• Leadplant

• Shrubby Cinquefoil