Ericaceae (Heath Family)

Dwarf Coastal Azalea, one of the smaller native azaleas at about 6 feet (with more exposure to light, usually on the order of 4 feet), occurs in sand hill and coastal communities from southern New Jersey to Georgia. It is adorned in spring (April, May) with clusters of wonderfully aromatic, funnel-shaped…

The Oconee or Piedmont Azalea is a beautiful deciduous shrub native to woods, slopes, sandhills and edges of stream banks in a few counties in the piedmont of South Carolina and Georgia. It is easy to remember this shrub: Native to a hot area, it is exceptionally heat and drought tolerant…

The Pinxter Azalea is a deciduous native azalea famous for it’s stunning flowers all the way from New Hampshire to Alabama. In NC, it is present in most counties of the state except for the highest mountain counties and the swampiest counties in the northeast corner. Pinxter Azalea’s funnel-shaped flowers, with…

Swamp Azalea is a shrub up to 8 ft tall at maturity with an upright, loosely branched, multi-stemmed habit and a tantalizing, musky floral scent in late spring. Clusters of very fragrant bright white (often with pink accents), trumpet-shaped flowers with five petals, slender tubes and elegant, exserted stamens appear in…

Doghobble is a graceful, informal, evergreen shrub common in the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plain which shows off best when planted in mass. Stoloniferous, it is naturally found in drifts or colonies along banks of creeks or shady ditches and woodlines. Doghobble’s arching form reaches 3-4 feet or 4-6 feet (reports…

Shining Fetterbush (“lucida”) is a commonly encountered evergreen shrub of the south, 3-5 feet tall and wide (or occasionally taller), found mostly in counties of the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains from Virginia south to Florida and west to Louisiana. The leaves are alternate, smooth, thick, and leathery. The sweetly fragrant…

Sweetbells Leucothoe is a handsome, deciduous, colony-forming, understory shrub which is naturally found in the Coastal Plain and Piedmont swamps, bogs and wetlands of Southeastern states. It can be cultivated easily in upland sites as well, reaching up to ten feet tall in consistently moist and shady locations. Arching, mostly unbranched…

Agarista, or Florida Leucothoe, is a tall (8-12′), evergreen, shade-loving shrub, well suited to our hot and humid southern summers. It is found in coastal environments, in a few counties from NC to Florida, but it performs well in upland Piedmont clay-based soils. We have seen it planted under large, deciduous…