Quick answer: 96 native Michigan plants have a recorded bloom range that includes July.
96 species
- Adam's needle Yucca filamentosa · 21 states
- American alumroot Heuchera americana · 20 states
- American basswood Tilia americana · 37 states
- American bellflower Campanulastrum americanum · 34 states
- Arctic brome (Kalm's brome) Bromus kalmii · 15 states
- Black huckleberry Gaylussacia baccata · 25 states
- Black willow Salix nigra · 24 states
- Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta · 44 states
- Blue mistflower Conoclinium coelestinum · 32 states
- Blue vervain Verbena hastata · 34 states
- Blue wild indigo Baptisia australis · 23 states
- Brown-eyed Susan Rudbeckia triloba · 21 states
- Bunchberry Cornus canadensis · 18 states
- Butterflyweed Asclepias tuberosa · 40 states
- Canadian burnet Sanguisorba canadensis · 20 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 selfheal Prunella vulgaris · 25 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
- Crimson-eyed rose-mallow Hibiscus moscheutos · 28 states
- Culver's root Veronicastrum virginicum · 32 states
- Cup plant Silphium perfoliatum · 27 states
- Cutleaf coneflower Rudbeckia laciniata · 43 states
- Dense blazing star Liatris spicata · 24 states
- Eastern purple coneflower Echinacea purpurea · 24 states
- Eastern red columbine Aquilegia canadensis · 36 states
- Eastern teaberry Gaultheria procumbens · 23 states
- Fall obedient plant Physostegia virginiana · 37 states
- Fewleaf sunflower Helianthus occidentalis · 16 states
- Fire pink Silene virginica · 26 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
- Groundnut Apios americana · 21 states
- Hairy beardtongue Penstemon hirsutus · 19 states
- Harebell Campanula rotundifolia · 35 states
- Highbush cranberry Viburnum opulus var. americanum · 22 states
- Hollow Joe-pye weed Eutrochium fistulosum · 24 states
- King of the meadow Thalictrum pubescens · 21 states
- Leadplant Amorpha canescens · 16 states
- Little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium · 42 states
- Low prickly pear Opuntia humifusa · 31 states
- Mapleleaf viburnum Viburnum acerifolium · 27 states
- Michigan lily Lilium michiganense · 16 states
- New Jersey tea Ceanothus americanus · 35 states
- Northern bush honeysuckle Diervilla lonicera · 18 states
- Orange coneflower Rudbeckia fulgida · 23 states
- Partridge pea Chamaecrista fasciculata · 30 states
- Partridgeberry Mitchella repens · 31 states
- Pearly everlasting Anaphalis margaritacea · 38 states
- Prairie dropseed Sporobolus heterolepis · 19 states
- Purple milkweed Asclepias purpurascens · 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
- Sensitive fern Onoclea sensibilis · 26 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
- Staghorn sumac Rhus typhina · 28 states
- Steeplebush Spiraea tomentosa · 22 states
- Sundial lupine Lupinus perennis · 28 states
- Swamp milkweed Asclepias incarnata · 37 states
- Swamp rose Rosa palustris · 27 states
- Sweet Joe-Pye Eutrochium purpureum · 33 states
- Sweet-fern Comptonia peregrina · 21 states
- Trumpet vine Campsis radicans · 33 states
- Virgin's bower Clematis virginiana · 27 states
- Virginia chain fern Woodwardia virginica · 24 states
- Virginia mountain mint Pycnanthemum virginianum · 27 states
- Virginia spiderwort Tradescantia virginiana · 24 states
- White meadowsweet Spiraea alba · 22 states
- White turtlehead Chelone glabra · 22 states
- White wild indigo Baptisia alba · 23 states
- Whorled milkweed Asclepias verticillata · 30 states
- Wild geranium Geranium maculatum · 33 states
- Winged sumac Rhus copallinum · 30 states
- Witherod viburnum Viburnum nudum var. cassinoides · 24 states
- Wood lily Lilium philadelphicum · 28 states
July in a Michigan native garden
July is a quieter month in Michigan: 96 of the state's 230 native plants flower in July, compared with 133 at the May peak. That makes these plants valuable for keeping color, and food for pollinators, going outside the main season.
22 start blooming in July, including Blue mistflower, Common evening primrose and Common sneezeweed. 22 finish in July, including American basswood, Black huckleberry and Black willow, so this is the last chance to see them in flower.
79 of them grow in full or partial sun and 46 tolerate shade, so there are options for open beds and woodland edges alike. Sizes run from low plants like American alumroot and Black-eyed Susan to trees such as American basswood and Black willow. For wildlife, 86 support pollinators, 60 provide food or cover for birds and 33 are caterpillar host plants.
81 of the 96 have a seed or plant listing we verified as the wild species. Be careful buying American alumroot, Black-eyed Susan, Common yarrow: 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