14 Kinds of PINK Wildflowers in Ontario (w/Pics)

Did you find a PINK wildflower in Ontario?

Types of pink wildflowers in Ontario

If so, I’m sure you’re wondering what type of wildflower you found! Luckily, you can use this guide to help you identify it. 🙂

Please be aware that today I’m ONLY listing and focusing on the most COMMON pink wildflowers. There are so many species, varieties, and subspecies that it would be impossible to name them all. But if you want to dive deeper into all the pink wildflowers in Ontario, check out this field guide!

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Today, we will look at 14 different PINK wildflowers found in Ontario.


#1. Swamp Milkweed

  • Asclepias incarnata

Also known as: Pink Milkweed

Pink wildflowers in Ontario

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-11
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 24-72 in (61-183 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

Swamp Milkweed is a native pink wildflower in Ontario.

It grows in wet meadows and along lakeshores. Look for its clusters of deep pink flowers to identify it.

If you want a variety of pollinators to visit your garden, Swamp Milkweed is the ideal wildflower to plant. Its clusters of fragrant flowers are attractive to hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies. The leaves are an incredibly important food source for Monarch caterpillars.


#2. Spreading Dogbane

  • Apocynum androsaemifolium

Also known as: Fly-trap Dogbane, Bitterroot

Ontario pink wildflowers

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 2-9
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 24-60 in (61-152 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Full Shade

As you might have guessed from its name, Spreading Dogbane is a prolific grower, which is why you’ll find it widespread across both North America and Europe. It’s called “dogbane” because it is highly poisonous to dogs (and humans too).

Spreading Dogbane has small, pink bell-shaped flowers and a scent similar to lilac. Look for this pink wildflower in Ontario in the sandy soil of streambanks.


#3. Crown Vetch

  • Securigera varia

Also known as: Purple Crownvetch, Crownvetch

Types of pink wildflowers in Ontario

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 12-72 in (30-183 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

Even though the large, pink clover-like blooms of Crown Vetch are beautiful, this plant is invasive in North America. Native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, Crown Vetch was introduced locally to be used as a groundcover in controlling soil erosion.

This pink wildflower grows in Ontario on sunny, sandy banks where it can push out less hardy plants.

If you plant Crown Vetch on your property, choose an isolated location far away from flower gardens. Don’t forget to control its growth so it doesn’t spread to other areas and invade native species and ecosystems.


#4. Common Milkweed

  • Asclepias syriaca

Pink wildflowers in Ontario

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3–9a
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 36-96 in (91-244 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun

If you’re looking for a fragrant pink wildflower to attract pollinators in Ontario, look no further than the Common Milkweed. About 450 species of insects feed on the Common Milkweed, including beetles, butterflies, moths, bees, wasps, ants, and flies.

Interestingly, Common Milkweed can push out and smother other plants.

If you decide to use it in your garden, plant it in an isolated spot where it has little to compete with.

In the wild, Common Milkweed grows in nearly every habitat. Look for its pinkish-purple blooms in abandoned fields, forest clearings, and roadside ditches.


#5. Sweet Joe Pye Weed

  • Eutrochium purpureum

Also known as: Purple Joe Pye Weed

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 24-96 in (61-244 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Full Shade

It’s no surprise that Sweet Joe Pye Weed is a favorite of gardeners and pollinators. This stunning ornamental plant has huge, dome-shaped pink flowers and smells like vanilla!

In addition to making your garden more beautiful, it will attract butterflies, moths, and native bees. Overwintering birds also eat the seeds of this flower once the blooms have died back.

Look for this pink wildflower in Ontario in meadows near ponds and streams.


#6. Springbeauty

  • Claytonia virginica

Also known as: Virginia Springbeauty

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 2-16 in (5-41 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Spring
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

When spring comes, this pink wildflower in Ontario explodes with color!

Springbeauty paints the landscape with patches of pink, white, and yellow blooms. Looking closely, you’ll notice that each star-shaped flower is intricately lined with dark pink veins.

Springbeauty is especially attractive to native bees, which love eating the nectar inside.


#7. Pink Lady’s Slipper

  • Cypripedium acaule

Also known as: Pink Moccasin Flower

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-8a
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 4-24 in (10-61 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Spring to Summer
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

Pink Lady’s Slipper is one of the most beautiful pink wildflowers in Ontario!

This hardy orchid has long stalks, bearing a single deep pink or magenta flower.

It’s relatively rare because it doesn’t propagate as well as other wildflowers. Pink Lady’s Slipper can take years to grow from seed to maturity, so if you see it growing in the wild, please don’t pick its flowers. It doesn’t transplant well and is very difficult to grow in gardens.


#8. Fireweed

  • Chamerion angustifolium

Also known as: Willow Herb

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 2-8
  • Life Cycle: Annual or Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 18-120 in (46-305 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Late Spring and Summer
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

True to its name, Fireweed is a resilient plant that will be the first to grow in clearings recently devastated by forest fires. In fact, Fireweed was seen growing throughout Washington State one year after Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980.

To find Fireweed, look for striking spikes of purplish-pink flowers covering a landscape. Hummingbirds, moths, and butterflies like to feed on this pink wildflower in Ontario.


#9. Deptford Pink

  • Dianthus armeria

Also known as: Grass Pink

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-8a
  • Life Cycle: Annual or Biennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 12-30 in (30-76 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Spring to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

The blooms of the Deptford Pink may be tiny, but they make up for their small size with their gorgeous coloring. A closer look at the petals will reveal an intricately dotted pattern of pink, white, and purple.

Deptford Pink is native to Europe, but this pink wildflower is a naturalized species in Ontario. It grows so well that it can take over roadsides, ditches, and fields.

Although the nectar is attractive to butterflies, skippers, and bees, Deptford Pink is a self-pollinating plant that doesn’t rely much on these insects.


#10. Virginia Meadow Beauty

  • Rhexia virginica

Also known as: Handsome Harry

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-8a
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 6-36 in (15-91 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

The Virginia Meadow Beauty puts on one of the most spectacular displays of purple, pink, and blue flowers in the summer. The seed capsules, stems, and leaves are just as showy in the fall, all turning red after the blooming season.

Bees, moths, and butterflies are attracted to the Virginia Meadow Beauty, but only bumblebees are capable of pollinating this pink wildflower in Ontario.

You can find this native species abundantly growing in wetlands, bogs, sandy areas, and open fields recently disturbed by fires.


#11. Carolina Rose

  • Rosa carolina

Also known as: Pasture Rose, Prairie Rose

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9a
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 12-72 in (30-183 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Spring to Summer
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

The Carolina Rose is one of the most popular pink wildflowers in Ontario.

The fragrant, bright pink blooms are not only pretty to look at but also bring a diverse variety of wildlife to your area. Bees, beetles, and hoverflies visit the flowers and use the plant parts as nesting material. The leaves feed Apple Sphinx Moth caterpillars. The rose hips are eaten by songbirds, quails, and small mammals. Even wild turkeys, elk, and deer are attracted to the Carolina Rose!

Be careful of the thorny stems and the hairy leaves of the Carolina Rose that can be irritating to the skin.


#12. Everlasting Pea

  • Lathyrus latifolius

Also known as: Perennial Pea, Perennial Peavine

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-9
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 60-120 in (152-305 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

The Everlasting Pea is a frost-hardy vine that requires little care and grows like a weed when not controlled. It is native to Europe but has been naturalized in North America since the 1700s. Look for this pink wildflower in Ontario on sunny banks with clay-rich soil.

The long tendrils and purplish-pink flowers of the Everlasting Pea look beautiful when climbing trellises or fences in your garden. You can also use it as a sprawling groundcover for banks and slopes.

Butterflies and bees find the pea-shaped blooms attractive. The vibrant colors will fade to white as the Everlasting Pea matures.


#13. Obedient Plant

  • Physostegia virginiana

Also known as: Obedience, False Dragonhead, Virginia Lions-heart

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 2-10
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 24-48 in (61-122 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

The Obedient Plant is named for the flowers that will stay in position if you push or bend them to one side. Look for the blushing pink or lilac flowers clustered along stiff stems, which grow to about four feet high.

This pink wildflower in Ontario grows in prairies, meadows, and unused fields. Plant it in your garden beds and borders to attract butterflies and hummingbirds. As its species name Virginiana hints, the Obedient plant is native to Virginia and other nearby states.


#14. Prairie Onion

  • Allium stellatum

Also known as: Prairie Onion, Autumn Onion

Growing Information:

  • USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-8
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Approximate Mature Size: 12-24 in (30-61 cm) tall
  • Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
  • Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade

Prairie Onion blooms look like floating balls of pink and white. Their flower clusters form on the end of long stalks that grow from tufts of leaves. Butterflies, in particular, are attracted to this pink wildflower in Ontario.

Look for Prairie Onion where plants typically don’t grow, like sandy, rocky, and dry soils and limestone cliffs.

Like other allium varieties, you can eat the Prairie Onion! With a strong flavor, the bulbs and the flower stems can be eaten raw, boiled, pickled, or used as a seasoning for salads and soups. Native Americans and early settlers also used the bulbs to repel insects.


Which of these pink wildflowers have you seen before in Ontario?

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One Comment

  1. I have a wild pink flower that I can’t identify.
    Can you?
    I need to able to send the picture.
    Thanks
    Karen