Green-and-gold
Chrysogonum virginianum
Try: 'Allen Bush'
Note: Ground cover
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Native Plant Guide
Dependable North Carolina natives by season and colour. Free advice to help you plan.
Why plant natives?
Plants that belong here
Native plants evolved with our soils, rainfall and summers. Once established they generally need less watering and fussing, and they support the native bees, butterflies and birds that depend on them. Introduced plants can't always provide that food and cover, and some escape and outcompete natives.
All 55 plants below are perennials, ferns, grasses, vines or shrubs that should come back year after year if planted in the right spot. Most are available from good local nurseries. If yours doesn't stock them, ask them to.
I trained with Cambridge University Botanic Garden and have spent years designing planting schemes. I'm happy to help you put these into a plan that suits your light, soil and maintenance budget.
How to read the guide
- FFull sun
- PSPart sun, especially morning sun
- SShade
- SeasonMain period of interest
- CultivarsRecommended varieties
Plant list adapted from "NC Natives by Season and Color" by the North Carolina Native Plant Society. Visit them to find a local chapter.
Spring
Woodland wildflowers, ground covers and flowering shrubs that wake the garden up from March to May.
Celandine Poppy
Stylophorum diphyllum
Note: Shady border
Large-flowered Bellwort
Uvularia grandiflora
Cross-vine
Bignonia capreolata
Try: 'Dragon Lady', 'Tangerine Beauty'
Note: Head in the sun
Foamflower
Tiarella cordifolia
Try: 'Spring Symphony', 'Brandywine'
Note: Ground cover
Large-flowered Trillium
Trillium grandiflorum
Atamasco-lily
Zephyranthes atamasco
Note: Moist soil
Eastern Shooting Star
Primula meadia
Note: Less acid soil
Bloodroot
Sanguinaria canadensis
Blue Phlox
Phlox divaricata
Try: 'Clouds of Perfume', 'London Grove Blue'
Virginia Bluebells
Mertensia virginica
Wideleaf Blue-stars
Amsonia tabernaemontana
Eastern Columbine
Aquilegia canadensis
Try: 'Canyon Vista', 'Little Lanterns'
Note: Seeds around
Sweet-shrub
Calycanthus floridus
Note: Shrub; suckers
Eastern Redbud
Cercis canadensis
Try: 'Tennessee Pink'
Note: Tree
Flame Azalea
Rhododendron calendulaceum
Note: Shrub
Summer
Long-flowering, sun-loving perennials for pollinators, plus a few shade lovers for cooler corners.
Common Black-cohosh
Actaea racemosa
Tall White Beardtongue
Penstemon digitalis
Try: 'Husker Red'
Solomon's-seal
Polygonatum biflorum
Goat's-beard
Aruncus dioicus
Longstalk Coreopsis
Coreopsis lanceolata
Black-eyed Susan
Rudbeckia fulgida
Try: 'Early Bird Gold', 'Little Gold Star'
Narrowleaf Sunflower
Helianthus angustifolius
Try: 'Low Down'
Sundrops
Oenothera fruticosa
Try: 'Fireworks'
Gayfeather
Liatris spicata
Try: 'Kobold'
Purple Giant-hyssop
Agastache scrophulariifolia
Try: 'Blue Boa', 'Blue Fortune'
Stokes Aster
Stokesia laevis
Try: 'Peachey'
Azure Sage
Salvia azurea var. azurea
Note: Late summer
Downy Woodmint
Blephilia ciliata
Indian-pink
Spigelia marilandica
Butterflyweed
Asclepias tuberosa
Try: 'Gay Butterflies'
Coral Honeysuckle
Lonicera sempervirens
Try: 'Major Wheeler', 'John Clayton'
Note: Vine
Fall
Late colour from asters, goldenrods, lobelias and grasses, when many gardens are fading.
Rough Goldenrod
Solidago rugosa
Try: 'Fireworks'
Wreath Goldenrod
Solidago caesia
Try: 'Creel's Gold'
Oxeye Sunflower
Heliopsis helianthoides
Try: 'Summer Sun'
Bushy St. John's-wort
Hypericum densiflorum
Note: Shrub
Common White Heart-leaved Aster
Eurybia divaricata
Try: 'Eastern Star', 'Raiche', 'Silver Spray'
White Turtlehead
Chelone glabra
Try: 'Black Ace'
White Snakeroot
Ageratina altissima
Try: 'Chocolate'
Meadow Bottle Gentian
Gentiana clausa
Eastern Aromatic Aster
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
Try: 'October Skies'
Great Blue Lobelia
Lobelia siphilitica
Try: 'Ruby Slippers'
Cardinal Flower
Lobelia cardinalis
Note: Moist soil
Heart's-a-bustin'
Euonymus americanus
Note: Shrub
Pink Turtlehead
Chelone lyonii
Try: 'Hot Lips'
Hair-awn Muhly
Muhlenbergia capillaris
Note: Grass
Any Time (foliage, ferns & grasses)
Ferns, gingers, alumroot and grasses that hold the garden together in every season.
Christmas Fern
Polystichum acrostichoides
Note: Evergreen
Southern Lady Fern
Athyrium asplenioides
Fancy Fern
Dryopteris intermedia
Note: Evergreen
Marginal Woodfern
Dryopteris marginalis
Note: Evergreen
Northern Maidenhair
Adiantum pedatum
Heartleaf Ginger
Hexastylis shuttleworthii, Hexastylis arifolia
Try: 'Callaway'
Note: Evergreen
Common Wild Ginger
Asarum canadense
Note: Not evergreen
American Alumroot
Heuchera americana
Try: 'Dale's Strain'
Note: Evergreen
Little Bluestem
Schizachyrium scoparium
Try: 'The Blues'
Note: Grass
The full list
NC natives by season and colour
| Common name | Species | Colour | Recommended cultivars | Light | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | |||||
| Green-and-gold | Chrysogonum virginianum | Yellow | 'Allen Bush' | PS | Ground cover |
| Celandine Poppy | Stylophorum diphyllum | Yellow | PS | Shady border | |
| Large-flowered Bellwort | Uvularia grandiflora | Yellow | PS | ||
| Cross-vine | Bignonia capreolata | Yellow | 'Dragon Lady', 'Tangerine Beauty' | PS | Head in the sun |
| Foamflower | Tiarella cordifolia | White | 'Spring Symphony', 'Brandywine' | PS | Ground cover |
| Large-flowered Trillium | Trillium grandiflorum | White | PS | ||
| Atamasco-lily | Zephyranthes atamasco | White | PS | Moist soil | |
| Eastern Shooting Star | Primula meadia | White | PS | Less acid soil | |
| Bloodroot | Sanguinaria canadensis | White | PS | ||
| Blue Phlox | Phlox divaricata | Blue | 'Clouds of Perfume', 'London Grove Blue' | PS | |
| Virginia Bluebells | Mertensia virginica | Blue | PS | ||
| Wideleaf Blue-stars | Amsonia tabernaemontana | Blue | PS | ||
| Eastern Columbine | Aquilegia canadensis | Red/orange | 'Canyon Vista', 'Little Lanterns' | F PS | Seeds around |
| Sweet-shrub | Calycanthus floridus | Red/orange | PS | Shrub; suckers | |
| Eastern Redbud | Cercis canadensis | Red/orange | 'Tennessee Pink' | F PS | Tree |
| Flame Azalea | Rhododendron calendulaceum | Red/orange | PS | Shrub | |
| Summer | |||||
| Common Black-cohosh | Actaea racemosa | White | PS | ||
| Tall White Beardtongue | Penstemon digitalis | White | 'Husker Red' | F PS | |
| Solomon's-seal | Polygonatum biflorum | White | PS | ||
| Goat's-beard | Aruncus dioicus | White | PS | ||
| Longstalk Coreopsis | Coreopsis lanceolata | Yellow | F | ||
| Black-eyed Susan | Rudbeckia fulgida | Yellow | 'Early Bird Gold', 'Little Gold Star' | F | |
| Narrowleaf Sunflower | Helianthus angustifolius | Yellow | 'Low Down' | F | |
| Sundrops | Oenothera fruticosa | Yellow | 'Fireworks' | F PS | |
| Gayfeather | Liatris spicata | Blue/purple | 'Kobold' | F | |
| Purple Giant-hyssop | Agastache scrophulariifolia | Blue/purple | 'Blue Boa', 'Blue Fortune' | F | |
| Stokes Aster | Stokesia laevis | Blue/purple | 'Peachey' | PS | |
| Azure Sage | Salvia azurea var. azurea | Blue/purple | F | Late summer | |
| Downy Woodmint | Blephilia ciliata | Blue/purple | F PS | ||
| Indian-pink | Spigelia marilandica | Red/orange | PS | ||
| Butterflyweed | Asclepias tuberosa | Red/orange | 'Gay Butterflies' | F | |
| Coral Honeysuckle | Lonicera sempervirens | Red/orange | 'Major Wheeler', 'John Clayton' | F | Vine |
| Fall | |||||
| Rough Goldenrod | Solidago rugosa | Yellow | 'Fireworks' | F | |
| Wreath Goldenrod | Solidago caesia | Yellow | 'Creel's Gold' | PS | |
| Oxeye Sunflower | Heliopsis helianthoides | Yellow | 'Summer Sun' | F | |
| Bushy St. John's-wort | Hypericum densiflorum | Yellow | F | Shrub | |
| Common White Heart-leaved Aster | Eurybia divaricata | White | 'Eastern Star', 'Raiche', 'Silver Spray' | S | |
| White Turtlehead | Chelone glabra | White | 'Black Ace' | PS | |
| White Snakeroot | Ageratina altissima | White | 'Chocolate' | F PS | |
| Meadow Bottle Gentian | Gentiana clausa | Blue | PS | ||
| Eastern Aromatic Aster | Symphyotrichum oblongifolium | Blue | 'October Skies' | F | |
| Great Blue Lobelia | Lobelia siphilitica | Blue | 'Ruby Slippers' | PS | |
| Cardinal Flower | Lobelia cardinalis | Red/orange | PS | Moist soil | |
| Heart's-a-bustin' | Euonymus americanus | Red/orange | PS | Shrub | |
| Pink Turtlehead | Chelone lyonii | Red/orange | 'Hot Lips' | PS | |
| Hair-awn Muhly | Muhlenbergia capillaris | Red/orange | F | Grass | |
| Any Time | |||||
| Christmas Fern | Polystichum acrostichoides | Ferns | PS S | Evergreen | |
| Southern Lady Fern | Athyrium asplenioides | Ferns | S | ||
| Fancy Fern | Dryopteris intermedia | Ferns | S | Evergreen | |
| Marginal Woodfern | Dryopteris marginalis | Ferns | S | Evergreen | |
| Northern Maidenhair | Adiantum pedatum | Ferns | S | ||
| Heartleaf Ginger | Hexastylis shuttleworthii, Hexastylis arifolia | Green | 'Callaway' | S | Evergreen |
| Common Wild Ginger | Asarum canadense | Green | S | Not evergreen | |
| American Alumroot | Heuchera americana | Green | 'Dale's Strain' | S | Evergreen |
| Little Bluestem | Schizachyrium scoparium | Green | 'The Blues' | F | Grass |
F = full sun · PS = part sun, especially morning sun · S = shade. Adapted from the North Carolina Native Plant Society's "NC Natives by Season and Color".
Native planting questions
Native plants are adapted to our soils and climate, so once established they usually need less water and care. They also feed native bees, butterflies and birds. Introduced plants often provide less food and cover for wildlife, and some become invasive.
For most perennials, shrubs and trees in the Piedmont, fall is the best time to plant. The soil is still warm, so roots grow through the winter before the summer heat. Spring is the next best choice. Summer planting is possible but needs much more watering.
Yes, at first. Every new plant needs regular watering through its first growing season while the roots establish. After that, well-chosen natives in the right spot usually need far less watering than typical bedding plants.
Many will. Plenty of North Carolina natives cope well with clay. The key is choosing plants that suit how wet or dry the spot is and improving drainage where water sits. I'll take your soil into account in the plant choices.
No plant is completely deer-proof, but some natives are much less appealing to deer than others. If deer visit your garden, tell me and I will favour less palatable plants and suggest protection for young plants.
Many local nurseries stock them, and the North Carolina Native Plant Society lists plant sales and local chapters. If your nursery does not sell natives, ask them to. My planting schedules give the botanical name, so you get the right plant.
Want these in a plan for your garden?
A planting design is $500. Send photos and I will suggest natives that suit your light and soil.
Get a free quote Call 919-282-7878