What are good plants for dry, sandy soils in the Northeast?

Hi, I have these two smallish 6x8 patches of land in front of my house that I want to plant some flowers in. The soil is very dry and sandy, and I live in zone 6 in the Northeast. What are some good plants for this area? I would especially love to know about some perennials!

What are good plants for dry, sandy soils in the Northeast?
This is what is growing in the sandy area of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden: Grasses thrive here, and their persistent and widespread root systems are adapted to withstand alternating conditions of drought and dampness. Scroll down to Dry Meadow:


http://www.bbg.org/exp/stroll/nativeflor...


There are many wonderful decorative grasses you can plant.


http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/Garden...


Blue Fescue :


http://www.vanessennursery.com/growing/i...





Blazing Stars, bursting forth with pinkish-purple flowers:


http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/e...


Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa ). Good for attracting butterflies, especially the Monarch butterfly.


http://www.holoweb.com/cannon/butterfl.h...


Wild Bergamot:


http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prai...


New England and New York asters:


http://chicagowildernessmag.org/issues/f...


http://www.waltersgardens.com/index.cfm?...





Coneflowers, %26amp; Blue False Indigo, would do well in dry sandy soil also.


The Coneflower (Echinacea) has many varieties:


http://www.waysidegardens.com/webapp/wcs...


http://www.ohioprairie.org/id32.htm


Blue False Indigo (Baptisia australis):


http://www.waltersgardens.com/index.cfm?...


http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/gall...





Good Luck! Hope this is helpful.
Reply:yuccas like the curve leaf yucca (hardy to 0) will make a large flower head in the spring
Reply:A 6x8 area is a nice size to work with when planting. I'm in zone 5 and have sandy soil also.





If your area gets plenty of sunshine, daylilies are a wonderful perennial that provides an abundance of summer color during July and August. They are available in many heights, and have different flower shapes and sizes. You can see my website for some information and pictures of 40 or so varieties planted successfully in my garden: http://www.gardening-quick-n-easy.com/da...





I use German Bearded Iris for color in the spring ... they love sand-based soil also. Again, you can check out my website for some I've planted: http://www.gardening-quick-n-easy.com/ir...





I've had success with Coneflowers and Black-eyed Susans or Coreopsis and Sedum for other nice perennial combinations that work well in sandy soil also.





And you might consider another drought resistant combination that can be seen on GreatGardenPlants.com: http://www.greatgardenplants.com/index.p...


They used a combination of Gaillardia 'Oranges and Lemons' with Stokesia 'Peachie's Pick'; I might be tempted to throw in the Echinacea (Coneflower) 'Raspberry Tart', also.





Just FYI ... I usually plant directly into the sandy soil rather than amend the area before planting. I then amend the soil well where the plants are going in. It's the one thing I do each time I plant new items into my sandy areas and I've found it quite helpful. The other thing I do is add about 1" of compost each spring and fall over all of the areas. Slowly but surely the areas are becoming less and less sandy.





*~ Good luck 'n ENJOY ~*