Quick answer: 83 native Iowa plants have a recorded bloom range that includes July.
83 species
- American basswood Tilia americana · 37 states
- American bellflower Campanulastrum americanum · 34 states
- Arctic brome (Kalm's brome) Bromus kalmii · 15 states
- Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta · 44 states
- Blue grama Bouteloua gracilis · 19 states
- Blue vervain Verbena hastata · 34 states
- Blue wild indigo Baptisia australis · 23 states
- Buffalograss Bouteloua dactyloides · 19 states
- Bunchberry Cornus canadensis · 18 states
- Butterflyweed Asclepias tuberosa · 40 states
- Cardinal flower Lobelia cardinalis · 41 states
- Chokecherry Prunus virginiana · 44 states
- Common buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis · 29 states
- Common evening primrose Oenothera biennis · 30 states
- Common hoptree Ptelea trifoliata · 28 states
- Common sneezeweed Helenium autumnale · 40 states
- Common snowberry Symphoricarpos albus · 21 states
- Common winterberry Ilex verticillata · 32 states
- Common yarrow Achillea millefolium · 47 states
- Compass plant Silphium laciniatum · 20 states
- Coralberry Symphoricarpos orbiculatus · 30 states
- Culver's root Veronicastrum virginicum · 32 states
- Cup plant Silphium perfoliatum · 27 states
- Cutleaf coneflower Rudbeckia laciniata · 43 states
- Eastern purple coneflower Echinacea purpurea · 24 states
- Eastern red columbine Aquilegia canadensis · 36 states
- Fall obedient plant Physostegia virginiana · 37 states
- Fireweed Chamerion angustifolium · 37 states
- Flowering spurge Euphorbia corollata · 29 states
- Foxglove beardtongue Penstemon digitalis · 35 states
- Golden alexanders Zizia aurea · 35 states
- Gray dogwood Cornus racemosa · 19 states
- Grayhead coneflower Ratibida pinnata · 26 states
- Great blue lobelia Lobelia siphilitica · 36 states
- Harebell Campanula rotundifolia · 35 states
- Highbush cranberry Viburnum opulus var. americanum · 22 states
- Leadplant Amorpha canescens · 16 states
- Little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium · 42 states
- Low prickly pear Opuntia humifusa · 31 states
- Mexican hat Ratibida columnifera · 17 states
- Michigan lily Lilium michiganense · 16 states
- Narrow-leaf coneflower Echinacea angustifolia · 11 states
- New Jersey tea Ceanothus americanus · 35 states
- Northern bush honeysuckle Diervilla lonicera · 18 states
- Pale purple coneflower Echinacea pallida · 17 states
- Partridge pea Chamaecrista fasciculata · 30 states
- Partridgeberry Mitchella repens · 31 states
- Pearly everlasting Anaphalis margaritacea · 38 states
- Prairie dropseed Sporobolus heterolepis · 19 states
- Prairie goldenrod Solidago nemoralis · 7 states
- Prairie ironweed Vernonia fasciculata · 14 states
- Prairie rosinweed (prairie dock) Silphium terebinthinaceum · 4 states
- Prairie tickseed Coreopsis palmata · 10 states
- Purple meadow-rue Thalictrum dasycarpum · 17 states
- Purple prairie clover Dalea purpurea · 18 states
- Rattlesnake master Eryngium yuccifolium · 20 states
- Rocky Mountain bee plant Peritoma serrulata · 26 states
- Roundhead lespedeza Lespedeza capitata · 30 states
- Scaly blazing star Liatris squarrosa · 22 states
- Scarlet beebalm Monarda didyma · 25 states
- Showy tick trefoil Desmodium canadense · 29 states
- Shrubby St. John's-wort Hypericum prolificum · 33 states
- Shrubby cinquefoil Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda · 23 states
- Sideoats grama Bouteloua curtipendula · 38 states
- Smooth oxeye Heliopsis helianthoides · 30 states
- Smooth rose Rosa blanda · 17 states
- Smooth sumac Rhus glabra · 42 states
- Southern arrowwood Viburnum dentatum · 28 states
- Spotted beebalm Monarda punctata · 29 states
- Staghorn sumac Rhus typhina · 28 states
- Sundial lupine Lupinus perennis · 28 states
- Swamp milkweed Asclepias incarnata · 37 states
- Sweet Joe-Pye Eutrochium purpureum · 33 states
- Sweet coneflower Rudbeckia subtomentosa · 11 states
- Trumpet vine Campsis radicans · 33 states
- Virginia mountain mint Pycnanthemum virginianum · 27 states
- White meadowsweet Spiraea alba · 22 states
- White turtlehead Chelone glabra · 22 states
- White wild indigo Baptisia alba · 23 states
- Wholeleaf rosinweed Silphium integrifolium · 16 states
- Whorled milkweed Asclepias verticillata · 30 states
- Wild geranium Geranium maculatum · 33 states
- Wood lily Lilium philadelphicum · 28 states
July in an Iowa native garden
July is a quieter month in Iowa: 83 of the state's 196 native plants flower in July, compared with 116 at the May peak. That makes these plants valuable for keeping color, and food for pollinators, going outside the main season.
20 start blooming in July, including Blue grama, Common evening primrose and Common sneezeweed. 21 finish in July, including American basswood, Blue wild indigo and Chokecherry, so this is the last chance to see them in flower.
71 of them grow in full or partial sun and 36 tolerate shade, so there are options for open beds and woodland edges alike. Sizes run from low plants like Black-eyed Susan and Buffalograss to trees such as American basswood and Chokecherry. For wildlife, 78 support pollinators, 48 provide food or cover for birds and 30 are caterpillar host plants.
75 of the 83 have a seed or plant listing we verified as the wild species. Be careful buying Black-eyed Susan, Common yarrow, Harebell: common listings for these are often a bred variety or a different species.
Good places to start
Verified wild-species listings that take sun and are widely native, so they are forgiving first plants.
- Chokecherry Prunus virginiana · Sun, Part Shade, Shade · blooms Apr-Jul
- Cutleaf coneflower Rudbeckia laciniata · Sun, Part Shade, Shade · blooms Jul-Oct
- Little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium · Sun, Part Shade · blooms Jun-Dec