And what are the merits of planting only natives? I tend to feel that they can both be used if they are not overly invasive, The more, the merrier!

My favorite is https://gobotany.nativeplanttr...

For your specific area there is https://www.extension.iastate.... and https://store.extension.iastat.... Not sure which you have exactly, but there are plenty of plants to choose from there.

Native plants obviously support the natural surrounding wildlife better. That is their food source. Changing their food source wreaks havoc with their health. That doesn't mean, however, that you cannot consider naturalized plants. Many flowers have been in "show" gardens long enough now that the wildlife have adapted to them as a food source. Just don't plant anything that will leave your yard, like locusts, bamboo, tree of heaven, berries, vines, etc.

Native refers to your own area. What is native to Oregon, may or not be native to IA. Call your local extension agency to learn more.

I used the Audubon society for the native plants data for your area and it was great tool! You simply enter your zip code and you get your list:)

Other resources are your local county government and/or native plant society. In addition to lists, some offer native landscape plans, which I find quite useful.

It can be confusing when you first dip your toes into the "native" waters. The first thing to do is take an inventory of the plants you already have. As a member of this site, you may have done this already. There are two websites that you can use to check to see if they are natives or invasives and just "how bad" they are. The first will only have them if they are native: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
https://www.wildflower.org/
This site will tell you lots of info and have links to other data. It is sometimes a little difficult to use, if you don't type the plant name exactly the way it is in their data base it will not pop up. The other site will tell you how invasive a plant might be: Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health https://www.invasive.org/
This is the most comprehensive website on invasive species. It included maps and publications. It is good to explore the whole website.
After all that if you are still willing to go for it, I suggest going to the North Carolina State University website: Going Native https://projects.ncsu.edu/goin...
for a downloadable step by step guide.
Welcome to the wildlife side!!!
Moggs

These are helpful reminders, especially to visit with my extension office. I moved onto new native land so it's been really fun to walk around and see what is TRULY native here, vs. what I want to bring in from nurseries.

I favor wildflowersearch.org now for my first stop in field ID or species range related things. The database pulls from numerous sources of data, some I think were already mentioned here. Not only do they provide a range map which highlights the native and non-native range of the plant in the States.. It also gives pictures and links to the sources the data was generated from, some of which have detailed information related to habit, uses, and community. My only real issue so far is sometimes I have to clear the location to actually match up an identification of a non-native species that has moved into an area. You can manipulate and play with the way the data is pulled in so many ways.. Seems like it only gets better.
https://wildflowersearch.org/

You can use the "native plant finder" on the National wildlife federation web site.

All you do is enter your zip code, and plants conducive to YOUR region will populate:

https://www.nwf.org/NativePlan...

As gardening terms, "native" and "invasive" are mutually exclusive. A native can not invade its' own habitat. Every plant is native to somewhere. But natives can be too big or otherwise exuberant to be suitable for various situations and in various locations within native range.