Plants of Merit Plant List

The following is a list of plants that have been selected as Plants of Merit since program inception in 1998.  Some of these plants have been moved to an "emeritus" list having been in the program for a number of seasons.  But all of the plants are considered Plants of Merit no matter if they are in the list of the current year or in the emeritus list.

Criteria for selecting plants for the Plants of Merit were established by experienced horticulturists from industry, professional plant societies and botanical gardens.  The following are those criteria.

  • Grows consistently well in Missouri, central and southern Illinois, and the Kansas City Metro area
  • Easy to grow and maintain
  • Not known to be invasive in our area
  • Resistant or tolerant to diseases and insects
  • Has outstanding ornamental value
  • Reasonably available to purchase


The Plants of Merit Program serves to promote plants that are proven to be well-adapted to the Lower Midwest for the purpose of increasing plant diversity in the home landscape.

Select Plant Type:
Botanical Name     Common Name
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Acer campestre

Acer campestre

Common Name: hedge maple

Hedge maple is a dense, low-branched, rounded, deciduous maple that typically matures to 25-35 feet tall as a lawn specimen or small shade tree. It can also be easily pruned to form a large hedge. Milky-sapped stems are clad with f...


Acer griseum

Acer griseum

Common Name: paperbark maple

The paperbark maple is a wonderful small tree for tight spaces. It matures at about 20 to 30 feet and produces an exceptionally attractive, cinnamon to reddish-brown exfoliating bark that provides good winter interest. It has no se...


Acer saccharum ''Bailsta' FALL FIESTA'

Acer saccharum ''Bailsta' FALL FIESTA'

Common Name: sugar maple

FALL FIESTA describes the excellent yellow, orange and red fall color of this vigorous, rapid-growing sugar maple that matures over time to 50-75 feet tall with an upright rounded form.   Distinctive, deeply-lobed, l...


Acer triflorum

Acer triflorum

Common Name: three-flowered maple

Native to China and Korea, this small understory maple tree grows to only 30 feet tall and is ideal for smaller areas in the landscape. Its compact, densely-rounded shape, ash-brown exfoliating bark, medium green trifoliate leaves ...


Acer truncatum

Acer truncatum

Common Name: shantung maple

Native to China, this small rounded maple grows to only 25 feet tall and is an excellent compact dense shade tree for smaller areas of the landscape. Features 5-lobed green leaves which emerge with a reddish tinge in spring, mature...


Actaea matsumurae 'White Pearl'

Actaea matsumurae 'White Pearl'

Common Name: bugbane

Although the bane of bugs, this selection is a knockout in shaded areas of borders or shade gardens, blooming in October often just before the first frost. These are large, clump-forming plants that produce extremely attractive bot...


Aesculus parviflora

Aesculus parviflora

Common Name: bottlebrush buckeye

Showy 12-inch long bottlebrush-like spikes of tiny white flowers cover this 6-12 foot tall shrub in a spectacular mid-summer floral display. Handsome dark green palmate foliage turns bright yellow in autumn. This is one of the best...


Aesculus pavia

Aesculus pavia

Common Name: red buckeye

Hummingbirds love the red, narrow-tubular flowers that bloom in spring in exceptionally showy, erect, terminal panicles to 4–10 inches long. Palmate, shiny green leaves are attractive in spring and early summer, but usually b...


Ageratum houstonianum 'Blue Horizon'

Ageratum houstonianum 'Blue Horizon'

Common Name: floss flower

Floss flower describes the thread-like appearance of the fluffy lavender-blue flowers on this annual that grows to 18-24 inches tall on stems with soft green leaves. Flowers bloom freely from spring to fall. Best growth occurs in rich, consistentl...


Amelanchier arborea

Amelanchier arborea

Common Name: serviceberry

This is the most tree-like of the native serviceberries, typically growing 15–25 feet tall in landscapes. Five-petaled white flowers in spring, edible blueberry-like fruits in June, dark green leaves in summer and excellent o...


Amelanchier grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'

Amelanchier grandiflora 'Autumn Brilliance'

Common Name: apple serviceberry

A large multi-stemmed shrub or small tree to 15-25 feet tall. Showy white flowers in spring, edible purplish-black berries in June, clean blue-green leaves in summer and brilliant orange-red fall color make this an attractive addit...


Amsonia hubrichtii

Amsonia hubrichtii

Common Name: blue star

Star-shaped, powdery blue flowers bloom in clusters in spring atop generally upright stems densely clothed with feathery, soft-textured, almost thread-like leaves. The unique foliage remains bright green throughout summer, but chan...


Amsonia tabernaemontana

Amsonia tabernaemontana

Common Name: blue star

This Missouri native features pyramidal clusters of star-like soft blue flowers in late spring atop erect leafy stems growing 2-3 feet tall. Narrow, willow-shaped leaves turn a clear yellow in fall. Though it does well in the borde...


Anemone hybrida 'Honorine Jobert'

Anemone hybrida 'Honorine Jobert'

Common Name: windflower

Although discovered in 1858 in Verdun, France, this fall-blooming anemone remains an outstanding late-blooming selection. Ideal for naturalizing in moist soils in partially shaded borders, cottage gardens or open woodland areas. Ty...


Angelonia angustifolia 'Serena Mixture'

Angelonia angustifolia 'Serena Mixture'

Common Name: angelonia

Two-lipped, snapdragon-like flowers in shades of lavender, lavender pink, white and purple bloom non-stop from spring to fall on these annuals that rise to only 10-12 inches tall. Floral display is especially showy when massed in b...


Aristolochia tomentosa

Aristolochia tomentosa

Common Name: Dutchman's pipe

Unusual, curved-trumpet-shaped, yellowish-green flowers resembling Dutch smoking pipes bloom in spring on this Missouri native twining vine that grows to 20-30 feet long. Flowers are often hidden behind large, densely-overlapping, ...


Asclepias curassavica

Asclepias curassavica

Common Name: blood flower

Blood flower is winter hardy to USDA Zones 9-11. In St. Louis, it is grown as an annual. It is easily grown from seed each year. Start seed indoors in pots 8-10 weeks before last spring frost date. Plant seedlings outside after las...


Aster oblongifolius

Aster oblongifolius

Common Name: aromatic aster

When brushed with the hand, the stem-clasping, narrow-oblong, blue green leaves of this compact, shrubby, Missouri native aster release a fresh, intoxicating fragrance. Native to limestone glades and dry prairies, this aster produc...


Astilbe chinensis var. pumila

Astilbe chinensis var. pumila

Common Name: Chinese astilbe

This dwarf Chinese astilbe spreads by rhizomes to form an attractive 6-inch tall ground cover of compound, fern-like, dark green leaves. Tiny lilac-pink flowers densely packed into upright, plume-like, branched flower stalks rise a...


Athyrium  'Ghost'

Athyrium 'Ghost'

Common Name: lady fern

For more information about this plant, go to: http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Plant.asp?code=B291

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Botanical Name     Common Name
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