Oct

A warm season perennial native grass found in sunny, dry locations such as open fields and meadows throughout the Eastern two-thirds of the US. A tough little plant and very drought tolerant. Grows in dense clumps low to the ground, reaching only 8 to 18 inches tall and readily self-seeds. This…

It’s no mystery why this species is called Showy Goldenrod! From its impressive height paired with its densely clustered vibrant yellow flowers, a stand of this species in bloom is a quite spectacular sight. The upright stems host foot-long rods of golden yellow flowers in the early fall followed by wispy…

Present in nearly all of the Mountain region and most of the Piedmont of North Carolina, Late Figwort is a pollinator magnet! An upright, square-stemmed perennial native to open woods and roadsides, its tiny, greenish purple two-lipped, tubular flowers with reddish-brown interiors bloom in summer, following Early Figwort (Scrophularia lanceolata). This…

In its natural setting, Meadow Beauty can be found growing in wetlands, wet meadows, and open sandy locations. It stands between 1 to 1.5 feet tall. The taller plants sprawl along the ground while shorter ones stand erect. Growing from an underground tuber, it is known to spread rapidly which makes…

Thriving in wet prairies and open meadows, Blue Vervain is a biennial that can tolerate part shade but does best in full sun and wet conditions. Upright stems of this plant can grow up to five feet, but pinching off tops of plants before they bloom can encourage them to grow…

New England Aster is a deciduous, sometimes woody perennial that oftentimes appears as a small shrub. Plant at least 12 inches apart in a sunny location with good drainage. This plant tends to grow rapidly, so make sure to give it room to grow! Leaves are rough, alternate, and hairy with…

While other goldenrod species bloom yellow, White Goldenrod is the only one native to the east coast that blooms white. Yellow and white ray flowers bloom late summer to fall on spikes, and it looks beautiful planted alongside asters. It is naturally found in dry upland forests, rocky woodlands, and roadsides.…

Little Bluestem is a clumping warm season grass in the Poaceae family. In full sun, this plant can get up to four feet tall and slightly less wide. Blue-green linear leaves turn golden to orange in fall and persist in winter, adding winter interest to the garden. Like many of our…

‘White Cloud’ Muhly Grass is a stunning cultivar of Pink Muhly Grass. White tufts appear over the blue-green grass-like foliage in fall, fading to a more cream color over time and persisting into winter. This variety blooms about the same time, or shortly after the species Pink Muhly Grass. This grass…

Major Wheeler is a variety of Coral Honeysuckle with a denser habit and longer blooming period. This vine can begin blooming as early as late February and may continue into late October with ideal conditions. Not very drought tolerant, it is important to remember to water during particularly hot and dry…

Bright yellow flowers with showy stamens bloom throughout summer into early fall on the current year’s growth. Shrubby St. John’s Wort is a deciduous to evergreen shrub with a compact and dense habit. Its dark green leaves grow oppositely or in whorls along multi-stemmed branches. In nature it is found in…

Resembling the common sunflower, this showy wildflower has smaller flowers with more abundant blooms. Oxeye Sunflower shows off its bright yellow daisy-like flowers between May and October, providing visual interest over a long bloom period and are great as cut flowers. With its easygoing nature, it makes a great addition to…

Swamp Sunflower makes an impression with its brilliant yellow disc flowers. These bright flowers make an appearance in summer and display until the first frost. As flowers are pollinated, they give way to seeds that are a source of food for songbirds through late fall. Since Swamp Sunflower can grow to…

Common Sneezeweed is a showy upright perennial in the sunflower family. Bright yellow disc flowers have 3-toothed petals that droop away from round yellow centers in late summer and early fall. They are a fantastic pollinator plant and are frequently visited by native bees. As petals fall away and seeds mature,…

Coastal Plain Joe Pye Weed is a late summer to early fall blooming wildflower, with large pale pink flower heads, found throughout sunny meadows along the east coast. This wet-loving perennial is in the aster family, but the blooms form dense clusters rather than large disc flowers. Frequently described as a…

Grass-leaved Goldenrod is a quick-growing, dense clumping perennial in the Aster family. Slender, grass-like leaves grow alternately up the length of the stems, giving this plant its common name. From July to October, rounded flat-topped clusters of golden yellow flowers make their appearance, giving way to cypselae in colder months. Nectar…

Roundleaf Thoroughwort is known for its umbels filled with clusters of white flowers, frequently visited by flying insects including wasps, butterflies, and bees. Wasps are helpful in the garden in keeping pest insects at bay. This upright perennial grows in bogs, savannahs, and wooded areas. Although it can occur in wetlands,…

Carolina Elephant’s Foot is an herbaceous perennial found in dry woodlands in the southeast. It prefers soil that is well-drained and can handle sandy soils. Light purple, pink to white disc flowers form clusters that appear as a single flower, appearing in late summer and fall. In the Asteraceae family, it…

Field Thistle has incredible value to wildlife as a food source. Native bees, beetles, butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds flock to the blooms of this plant for its sweet nectar. Songbirds eat the seeds, while Goldfinches are particularly fond of them. Not to be confused with aggressive non-native bull thistle, which blooms…

  Chelone glabra, also referred to as White Turtlehead, is a clumpy, erect, leafy stemmed perennial in the Plantaginaceae family. It is most commonly found in moist areas along stream banks, open woodlands and swampy areas. It prefers full sun to part shade and grows 2-3 feet tall. The white and…

  Blanketflower is a short-lived perennial in the Asteraceae family. Although short-lived, it has a long bloom time, from Spring until the first frost. Flowers are bright red, orange, to yellow and daisy-like. The name Blanketflower comes from the pattern on the petals resembling woven blankets. Propagation is best done by…

  Climbing Aster is a deciduous woody vine in the Asteraceae family. This plant can handle a variety of soils and moisture conditions, and is deer resistant too! Pink to lavender flowers bloom in late fall, making it the final bang of the growing season. With its dense growing habit, it…

Pink Muhly grass is a very showy, clump-forming, warm season perennial grass that can get to two or three feet tall and just as wide, and to 4 feet or more when in flower. The stems and leaves are thin, wirelike and upright, protruding from a basal clump, sprouting up almost…

Seashore Mallow is a lovely, salt tolerant herbaceous perennial (some call it a subshrub) native to the Eastern shore of the U.S. The toothed, roughly triangular leaves and stems are softly hairy with tiny stellate (star-shaped) hairs. An obligate wetland plant, it thrives in full sunlight and wet soil. It is…

Swamp Sunflower is a clump-forming, upright, late-blooming perennial sunflower — the latest flowering of the sunflowers (October and even November). It is found in bottomlands, swamps, and other natural wet habitats as well as in disturbed wet areas, on roadsides and in ditches. It thrives in full sun in moist soils…

Garden Phlox is a staple of the late summer and early fall garden and ‘Jeana’ is a super-rewarding cultivar of it to grow. It provides wonderful color with its bright pink, aromatic flower clusters, attractive to people, butterflies and hummingbirds alike. Named after a woman in Nashville who identified this genotype,…

Green-and-Gold, of which there are several forms, is a hardy, low-growing, long-blooming herbaceous perennial found along woodland edges and clearings on the East coast from New York south to Florida and west to Louisiana. With attractive, semi-evergreen foliage, bright yellow 1.5-inch daisy-like flowers on fuzzy stalks for much of the growing…

Common Witchhazel is a deciduous shrub 12-18′ tall, and sometimes taller, famous for producing its aromatic, crinkly yellow flowers as it drops its foliage in late October/early November. Seeds from the previous season are ready for dispersal at the same time, and are expelled with some force from their capsules. Witchhazel…

Wreath (or Bluestem) Goldenrod could have been so named for its plant form, growing to 2-3′ in gracefully arching, mostly unbranched shoots with bright flowers positioned in the axils of leaves all along the stems. It is smaller and less aggressive than most of its cousins, and more suitable for cultivation…

The common Blue Wood Aster (of which ‘Avondale’ is a cultivar) is an herbaceous perennial native to a huge swath of north-central-eastern North America, and the counties in NC where it is reported represent the southeastern tip of its range. Found in dry to moist (well drained) deciduous woodlands and woodland…

Aromatic Aster is a tried and true source of stunning blue color in the late season perennial garden, where it is seen to play dramatically against rich fall yellows and golds and oranges. It is shrub-like and bushy, compact, reaching 1-2+ feet and usually totally covered in blooms for up to…

This natural variety of Black-Eyed Susan is found in meadows and on roadsides in the eastern United States from New York to the Florida panhandle and west to Illinois and Mississippi. It is a lovely wildflower, hugely useful in the garden. The plant is 2-3′ high x 1.5 – 2′ wide…

Partridgeberry is a beautiful, trailing, evergreen, mat-forming woody vine, no taller than two inches, reported in all states of eastern North America, and thriving in our piedmont Oak Hickory forest understory. Its leaves are rounded, paired, rich dark green with white markings, 1/2 to 3/4-inch long. Its tiny white, fragrant, tubular…

Speckled Phlox is an upright, clumping, herbaceous perennial with beautiful bright clusters of small, aromatic, tubular flowers. It grows in moist meadows, along riverbanks and in bottomland woodland openings in the eastern mountains and piedmont and in the midwest, although it is not really common in the wild. Generally unbranched, the…

The Great Blue Lobelia is a colony-forming, clumping perennial which is well known for its long-lasting, deep violet-blue floral spires from late summer to mid-autumn. The deep blue floral racemes play exceedingly well against the dominant yellows of other fall garden greats, and draw their own share of butterflies, bees and…

Boneset or Thoroughwort is a hardy perennial which is found throughout the Eastern half of North America in sunny, low, wet roadsides and fields. The plant grows three to four feet in height with multiple, hairy stems branched only near the top. These terminate in bright white clusters, up to eight…

This plant is not currently for sale.  This is an archive page preserved for informational use.  Purple-Headed Sneezeweed is a winning native perennial, found in wet, sunny habitats in the Eastern half of the U.S. In NC, it is reported to occur in scattered counties in the mountains, piedmont and coastal…

Blue Mistflower is a shrub-like herbaceous perennial native to the south-central and eastern portions the U.S. In NC, is is present in most non-mountainous counties. Growing two to three feet tall and as wide, it has opposite, triangular-shaped leaves and masses of tiny, whimsical, fluffy, bright blue-purple disc flowers in clusters,…

Maryland Goldenaster is a Southeastern short-lived herbaceous perennial about 2.5 feet tall which occurs on roadsides, in dry, open, rocky woods and sandhills throughout NC. It thrives in full sun and well drained soils and is considered drought tolerant. Each plant is short-lived, but persists in the garden by seeding out…

Green-and-gold is a hardy, low-growing, long-blooming herbaceous perennial found along woodland edges and clearings on the East coast from New York south to Florida and west to Louisiana. With attractive, semi-evergreen foliage, bright yellow 1.5-inch star-like flowers on fuzzy stalks for much of the growing season, and an unfussy attitude about…