North Dakota in bloom

North Dakota bloom calendar

Darker = more flowering sightings that month. Based on iNaturalist research-grade observations in North Dakota marked “Flowering,” as of October 17–23, 2026. Garden flowers have few records because research-grade data leaves out planted ones.

Families on this list

The plant families with the most flowers on this list, from iNaturalist taxonomy. Within each family, the most-observed flowers come first.

• Asteraceae (24): Common yarrow, Black-eyed Susan, Bull thistle, Common dandelion, Creeping thistle, Upright prairie coneflower, Cutleaf coneflower, Common sunflower and 16 more
• Fabaceae (18): White clover, Red clover, Bird's-foot trefoil, White sweetclover, Yellow sweetclover, Leadplant, Purple prairie clover, American vetch and 10 more
• Rosaceae (8): Roses (genus Rosa), Chokecherry, Shrubby cinquefoil, Prairie smoke, Common ninebark, Common silverweed, Black chokeberry, Tall cinquefoil
• Lamiaceae (5): Ground-ivy, Wild bergamot, Common motherwort, Catnip, Russian sage
• Boraginaceae (4): Narrowleaf puccoon, Hoary puccoon, Western false gromwell, Cockscomb oreocarya
• Plantaginaceae (4): Butter-and-eggs (common toadflax), Large-flowered beardtongue, White-flower beardtongue, Lilac penstemon
• Apocynaceae (3): Common milkweed, Showy milkweed, Green comet milkweed
• Solanaceae (3): Bittersweet nightshade, Buffalo-bur, Black henbane
• Polygonaceae (3): Water smartweed, Alpine golden buckwheat, Few-flower buckwheat
• Ranunculaceae (3): Canada anemone, Prairie pasqueflower, Cylindrical thimbleweed
• Cactaceae (3): Plains pricklypear, Spinystar, Brittle pricklypear
• Onagraceae (3): Fragrant evening primrose, Scarlet beeblossom, Yellow sundrops
• Liliaceae (3): Wood lily, Sego lily, Garden tulip

Shortlists by growing conditions

Flowers on this list whose USDA PLANTS characteristics data gives the rating shown. USDA only rates some species, so these lists are not complete.

• High drought tolerance (18): White sweetclover, Cutleaf coneflower, Yellow sweetclover, Plains pricklypear, Yellow salsify, Leadplant, Dotted gayfeather, Great Plains yucca, Scarlet globemallow, Prairie smoke, American vetch, Stiff-leaved goldenrod and 6 more
• High moisture use (suits wet spots) (4): Wild bergamot, Bird's-foot trefoil, Wild licorice, Common silverweed
• Rapid growth rate (21): Red clover, Black-eyed Susan, Common dandelion, Dame's rocket, White sweetclover, Cutleaf coneflower, Yellow sweetclover, Common sunflower, Plains pricklypear, Chokecherry, Yellow salsify, Scarlet globemallow and 9 more

How we picked these flowers

We started from iNaturalist's research-grade sightings in North Dakota, most-observed first, left out grasses, sedges, trees and other plants with tiny or wind-pollinated flowers (plus poison ivy), kept at most three species per genus, and added North Dakota's official flowers, plus flowering shrubs and trees with at least 3 garden or 10 wild iNaturalist records in North Dakota and popular garden flowers that iNaturalist users record growing in North Dakota. Every flower needs a CC0 or CC BY photo.

Rare plant list: North Dakota has no state law listing endangered or threatened plants, so we show NatureServe's North Dakota ranks instead.
Invasive plant list: North Dakota state noxious weeds (N.D. Admin. Code 7-06-01-02), as listed by the ND Department of Agriculture