Small to medium-sized tree of wet forests, found at scattered locations throughout North Carolina, primarily in the Coastal Plain and southern Mountains. Fairly rare in the Piedmont of North Carolina. Quite showy in bloom....

In late spring, this fern unfurls tall fronds that provide a nice canopy of contrast to blooming ephemerals. This very popular large fern has an elegant vase-shape and is often found in open shade gardens. Keeping to its namesake, the long arching ...

A small perennial that blooms from July to August with small blue flower clusters on a spike of scented, green leaves. This mint grows along creeks and in meadows. Tolerates full to part sun, sand or clay soils, seasonal flooding and deer browsing. F...

In March and April, pink flower buds open to sky blue on this spring ephemeral. Ephemeral plants are those whose foliage goes dormant in summer. The foliage of this plant is blue-green. Virginia Bluebells naturalize well making it a great choice fo...

This interesting species can be found throughout the southeastern United States. The plant is easy to identify becasue of its pom-pom inflorescences, prickly stems, and sensitive leaflets. The leaflets fold together immediately after being disturbed ...

Rhizomatous, upright perennial which typically occurs in swampy areas, wet meadows and along stream or pond edges. Erect, square, sometimes branching stems have light purple, snapdragon-like flowers (to 1" long) and lance-shaped, serrated leaves. Flo...

Plants have erect or drooping habit with hairy stems. Flowers are white to pinkish in loose branched clusters. Petals fall early; papery sepals appear petal-like. Blooms June to August. Leaves are lance-like, tapering toward the base. Naturally occur...

In late spring, twin white flowers bloom on this prostrate evergreen creeping vine with dark green, glossy, rounded opposite leaves. The flowers create shiny, bright red berries with two "eyes". This comes from the fact that twin flowers work togethe...

In May and June, this mint family member blooms with pinkish to whitish, purple-spotted flowers in dense heads at the top of square stems with each flower resting on a whorl of showy, purplish, leafy bracts. The flowers attract butterflies and bees....

This plant is an annual, biennial, and perennial depending on the conditions. In late spring to mid-summer, it has candelabra-like white to pinkish-lavender flowerheads with leaves and stems that are broad at the base of the plant. A pleasant citrus...

Spreading, clump-forming perennial with square stems, opposite leaves and fragrance characteristic of herbs in the mint family. Bright red flowers are attractive to butterflies and hummingbird....

With a long summer bloom period the whorls of lavender flowers are an excellent source of nectar for butterflies and hummingbirds while the gray-green foliage is aromatic....

Mulberries are dioecious (separate male and female trees). Female trees produce the fruit which is both ornamentally attractive and edible for humans and attractive to wildlife, but messy. Inconspicuous greenish-white flowers appear in late spring. G...

Red Mulberry in an uncommon medium-sized understory tree. The leaves are similar in shape to the naturalized White Mulberry (M. alba), but are rough above and not glossy. As with Sassafras, the leaves are highly variable. Mulberries are dioecious - m...

Yellow Pond Lily is a native water lily which grows in lakes, ponds, and slow-moving rivers. It dies back in the winter, but grows again from the roots each spring. The plant's thick leaves can be round or heart-shaped. They are large, growing up to...

This hardy water plant has fragrant flowers with yellow centers that are only open during daylight hours. The round leaves are emerald green and float at water level. A number of waterfowl and mammals eat various parts of the plant while the leaves...

This Plants of Merit winner, it is one of our most beautiful and underused native trees and rivals anything for fall color displays. The attractive glossy, dark green leaves turn a fluorescent yellow to orange to scarlet red to purple in fall. Wond...

Evening primrose blooms in moist woods from June through August. Soft yellow, scented flowers open at dusk and stay open through the night and much of the morning. The flowers usually close by afternoon. Seeds ripen from August to October. The flower...

From spring through summer these showy, trailing plants bloom with large, yellow, fragrant flowers up to 4" across. Great selection for dry sites including rock gardens, dry planting beds and containers....

Upturned cup-shaped pink flowers stay open all day. Flowers begin white then turn rosy pink from the outer edge of the petals inwards as they age. Leaves are medium green and often speckled with rose markings. Its tendency to spread by underground r...

This is an interesting fern with a broad, triangular overall leaf shape and deeply cut, wavy margins that are smooth (not toothed) with the leaf stem being winged and the fronds upright to arched in habit. This fern's name comes from the fact that i...

This is a winter hardy, clump-forming cactus with round-to-oval, flattened, succulent green pads. They are not leaves but swollen water-storing stem segments that have a few needle-like spines and are covered with numerous tufts of bristles. In Jun...

This fern can be easily distinguished from the Ostrich Fern by the fertile fronds that appear in May and mature by mid-June. The dark green fronds of the Ostrich Fern do not ripen until July. It is a stately, gracefully curved fern with an upright ...

A regal fern that produces huge, graceful clumps when mature, has smooth textured, pale green divided fronds, two to three feet long, that change to brilliant yellow in the fall....