Groundcover

Recognized by its paired, green-and-brown/maroon spotted leaves (like trout), the Trout Lily is sometimes called Dogtooth Violet for its white underground corm. Trout Lily is a lily, not a violet. It is a common spring ephemeral wildflower that grows in woodland colonies in Eastern North America, except for Florida. In North…

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…

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…

Phlox nivalis, or Traliling Phlox, is a low growing, early flowering, sun-loving species of Phlox which presents as a mound-forming mat of stiff, needle-like, evergreen foliage. Although reported in all three NC zones (mountains, piedmont, coastal plain) its strongest presence appears to be in sandhill and dry habitats of the central…

Dwarf Crested Iris is beloved in southern gardens as it is a beautiful and easy groundcover. In nature, it is found in rich or rocky wooded slopes and stream banks in Eastern states, well inland from the coast, and in NC is reported in mountain and piedmont counties only. Dwarf Crested…

White Wood Aster is a two foot-tall, rhizomatous, drought-tolerant herbaceous perennial which grows in open, dry woods and shady clearings in much of the Eastern U.S., including many mountain and piedmont couties in NC. This plant lights up shady, dry woodland sites with delicate white daisy-like flowers from September to November.…

In spite of its intimidating scientific appellation, St. Andrew’s Cross is a humble little “subshrub”, one that is not found elsewhere in the trade. It occurs in dry woods from Long Island south and over to Texas and Oklahoma. We are very fond of it as it volunteers along paths inside…

Coreopsis auriculata, or “Mouse-eared Coreopsis”, is a sun-loving favorite for the native perennial garden in the Southeast. The flowers are single, about 2 inches across, with a center of golden disk flowers and 8 golden, characteristically toothed petals or ray flowers. They are held at 12 – 24 inches high, well…

Log fern is a fertile, naturally occurring, semi-evergreen hybrid between D. ludoviciana (Southern Shield Fern) and D. goldiana (Goldie’s Wood Fern) with a range in central, eastern and southeastern U.S. Log fern grows rapidly with wide, shiny, deeply cut, dark green fronds and dark stripes along the central rib. The sori,…

Marginal Wood Fern is a smallish ( 1.5 – 2 foot high), well behaved, evergreen fern found in shady, rocky slopes in most of eastern U.S. In North Carolina, is is found in mountain counties and a few piedmont counties. It is clump-forming and non-colonizing, propagated by root crown division and…

Not all sedges are the same and this one is a beauty! The finely textured, medium green leaves of Appalachian Sedge grow between 12-18 inches in length, but the clumps arch gracefully over to the ground, actually only 6 to 10 inches tall. It can be grown as a specimen, where…

Carex pensylvanica, or Oak Sedge (or Pennsylvania Sedge) is found in dry woods mostly in Northeastern U.S. In North Carolina it occurs naturally in the mountain counties. This is one of the more popular sedges for gardeners and landscapers in our area because of its versatility. Plants are about 8 inches…

This plant is not currently for sale.  This is an archive page preserved for informational use. Old Field Sedge, or Reflexed Sedge, is a clump-forming, evergreen, grasslike plant usually found in dry, deciduous forests throughout Eastern North America. In NC it occurs in some of the piedmont counties, including our own…

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…

Asarum, or Wild Ginger, is an herbaceous perennial which grows in colonies in shady woodland locations especially in the more northerly Eastern U.S. Each plant consists of two heart-shaped leaves emerging from a fleshy root/rhizome complex. Between these two leaves a single, somewhat inconspicuous maroon flower arises in May/June, most often…