Native Plants

Why plant English Ivy, Vinca or Liriope when you can enjoy this native evergreen gem? Fragrant, white flower spikes appear in spring, later becoming camouflaged by a new flush of gorgeous, crisp green foliage. Leaves have a scalloped margin and take on an attractive pale silver mottling.

Clusters of small golden daisy-like flowers appear over broad, shiny green, toothed basal leaves in May. Strong blooming, even in the shade. A robust groundcover where happy and an excellent cut flower. Self seeds and naturalizes.

A tough groundcover, Packera obovata is similar to its popular cousin, Packera aurea, but with a smaller round leaf and the ability to withstand drier, full-sun conditions without losing its verdant appearance! 

North Creek is proud to bring Panicum 'Cape Breeze' to the market. Fantastic foliage stays green until Halloween! From production to the landscape, this grass truly is a breeze. Selected for upright habit, compact size and early flowering. Its perfect, tidy stature combines the toughness of seaside Panicum with the neatness of garden worthy cultivars. Great texture and movement in the landscape!

Aaaarrrrgggghhhh! Named after the infamous English pirate Blackbeard, Penstemon 'Blackbeard' has the darkest of eggplant foliage with bright lilac-purple flowers rising high above and standing tall. With a long season of interest and a magnet for hummingbirds and bees, this Walters Gardens introduction is sure to cause a delightful cry of 'Shiver me timbers!' 

This native makes a stunning display with its brilliant white flowers against a backdrop of deep red foliage. Tough and easy to grow, it tolerates a wide variety of conditions including hot, dry sites. Our plants are now vegetatively propagated from our reddest, most vigorous selections.

In early summer, white or light-pink-tinted, tubular 1" flowers on branching, hollow stalks rise above a basal rosette of lustrous dark green leaves. Drought tolerant, tough as nails, and deer resistant. The tubular flowers make an excellent landing pad for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds alike!

Phlox carolina ssp. carolina ‘Kim’ is a fantastic selection that was discovered by Jan Midgley in Alabama. It performs much better than any other cultivar of Carolina phlox in our trial. What sets ‘Kim’ apart from other members of the species is its lush and vigorous habit (2’ tall) that remains sturdy and disease-free all season long. The leaves are also a lighter shade of green, almost lime-colored, which can prolong its horticultural interest in the garden. However, the most impressive feature of ‘Kim’ is its show-stopping light pink flowers which blanket the plant from late May through early June. - Mt. Cuba Center

A delightful spring-blooming native for shade, it carpets the shady border with nearly white blooms. 'May Breeze' will spread and fill in around bulbs or perennials that are late to emerge. A small-statured wild sweet william with loose clusters of fragrant, pale blue, almost white flowers that drive the butterflies wild! A Piet Oudolf introduction, from the Netherlands.

Selected for outstanding flower color and full petals, 'Blue Moon' bears many fragrant, 5-petaled flowers with the arrival of spring. Enjoy a knee-high sea of elegant, violet-blue flowers that attract hummingbirds & butterflies to your garden. Foliage is lance shaped and medium green. A long-lived, carefree native groundcover.

Found by and named after Jeana Prewitt of Nashville, TN, this selection possesses outstanding mildew resistance with varying shades of sweetly scented, lavender-pink flowers, vibrant midsummer through early autumn. Foliage remains clean green while flower clusters create a tiered effect along upright, multi-stemmed branches. Expect a flurry of pollinator activity!

Mat-forming habit with masses of star-like, clear purple flowers with deep green foliage. A beautifully vibrant groundcover that will bring excitement to the shade or woodland garden!

This stunning, bright pink flowering creeping phlox was one of the top performing pink cultivars in Mt. Cuba Center's Phlox trials. Sweetly fragrant flowers bloom in April. The dense, mat forming foliage is a lovely groundcover all season. 

Tubular flowers in shades of lavender-pink adorn this taller sport of 'Miss Manners' from midsummer through autumn. As expected, it holds an upright, clump forming habit with attractive medium green foliage and grows to about 36” tall and 20” wide. An adaptable and easy-to-grow native, the strong stems do not require staking.

This plant was selected by Darrell Probst of Garden Visions in Hubbardston, MA. 'Miss Manners' is notable for its well-behaved, non spreading habit. It is a compact, clumping form, with excellent secondary branching and good rebloom. Pure white snapdragon-like flowers from June to September over deep green, glossy foliage. A nice late season addition to the garden for bees and hummingbirds.

This excellent variegated selection of P. reptans was selected by Bill Cullina of The New England Wild Flower Society. A good plant for shade or a sunny edge (with adequate moisture). Imagine, a variegated Polemonium that actually lives! This native groundcover is very popular, and its royalties benefit the Garden in the Woods and their plant and habitat conservation.

A free-flowering woodland native with delicate light blue flowers topping ladder-like foliage in late spring. A good light-textured groundcover in areas with average to moist soils.

While not as showy as some others, this fern makes up for it with its neat habit, easy culture, and its lustrous, nearly evergreen leaves. Often used in Christmas floral arrangements because it is still attractive in December. It is a wonderful companion for spring blooming bulbs. Found in acidic to neutral soils on shaded slopes and well drained flats.

Bowman's Root is an easy-to-grow native for bright shade or partial sun and it tolerates tree root competition well as long at it has a nice layer of organic mulch. Bowman's Root is lovely in a mass planting where its lacy white flowers can shimmer in a light breeze. It makes a nice filler - think Gaura for shade! A compact, rounded plant is topped in late spring with ethereal white flowers growing in a few loose terminal panicles, with red petioles and mahogany stems. Clean, disease-free foliage often turns deep bronzy red in fall and contrasts beautifully with the more typical oranges and yellows in the perennial border. Interesting form and unique seed heads persist into winter. Great for cut flowers!

We've been enjoying this great native for many years in our garden, since it was given to us by the Mt. Cuba Center in 2001. 'Pink Profusion' has clear pink flowers that are held daintily above reddish leaves on deep red stems. The best part is the way the flowers shimmer in a light breeze, as though they will take flight at any moment.

An aromatic, summer blooming, herbaceous perennial that produces silvery white, globular flowers on sturdy, upright stems. Blooming over a long period, flowers are prominently displayed above clean green foliage from summer into fall. A good soil stabilizer, this species spreads moderately via underground stem. Foliage develops an attractive red tinge in autumn. A larval host plant for the Gray Hairstreak Butterfly. Incorporate along the perennial border, rain garden, or near the vegetable garden to entice pollinators.

We give up! So many of you claimed this mountain mint to be superior to Pycnanthemum virginianum that we decided to try it for ourselves. We love it! Its leaves are broader and more lustrous, the bracts are silvery and very showy, the flowers are pinkish and its habit is more compact. Nicely aromatic. This native is happiest at the wood's edge, so it is excellent for a naturalized border or woodland garden. Mountain Mint is one of the best nectar sources for native butterflies, so butterfly gardeners can't do without this one. Our bees go crazy for it, too!

Densely branching with fine foliage and white flowers atop terminal clusters, Pycnanthemum tenuifolium, or slender mountain mint, has a more delicate appearance than P. muticum but with all the same pollinator action. Like its mountain mint brethren, P. tenuifolium spreads generously by rhizome making this plant a wonderful mass of white blooms in late summer. 

An attractive clump-forming native perennial with silver foliage. When the white flowers bloom in summer, they are covered in bees and butterflies! The seeds are loved by birds. This species makes a powerful addition to a pollinator habit hub!