Canada milkvetch is a medium-sized member of the pea family, and an adaptable plant for a variety of garden situations. It has tall slender shoots that almost (but not quite) resemble classic pea vines, arching compound leaves with tidy rounded leaflets,  and lovely bunches of creamy flowers borne high on the plant. Like all peas, it's a nitrogen fixer, pulling nitrogen from the air directly into the soil like a magic fertilizer fairy. 
 
While we have many species of vetch that like very dry sites, Canada vetch prefers moister conditions and is happiest with at least some afternoon shade. It's a great plant for thicket and forest edges and along ditches. The more sun it gets, the shorter and more compact it tends to be. 
 
Consider planting with cutleaf coneflower, western coneflower, fireweed, spreading dogbane, or around the margins of clustered thimbleberry, honeysuckle, and currants.
 
Blooming photo credit: Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0