Today’s photos are from Wiley Bennett in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Shooting star (Dodecatheon meadia, Zones 4–8) is a beautiful and not too commonly grown native wildflower.
Tiarella cordifolia (Zones 4–9) is another native, found in moist woodland sites around the eastern part of North America.
Phacelia bipinnatifida, a biennial wildflower that is native to woodlands around eastern North America, has lovely blue flowers.
The wild gingers (Asarum species) have beautiful flowers that are often missed because they bloom low to the ground—the better to be accessed by the beetles that pollinate them. But look closely and you will be rewarded by these beautiful flowers. The foliage is an attractive, deer-resistant, native addition to any shade garden as well.
The Alabama snow wreath (Neviusia alabamensis, Zones 5–8) is a beautiful shrub native to the Southeast that produces clouds of airy white flowers in the spring.
Camellia (Zones 7–10) is the classic winter-flowering shrub. This one has great pink flowers that perhaps make even a better display after they have fallen.
It’s hard to beat the bright yellow of a ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba, Zones 4–9) in the fall against a clear, blue, North Carolina sky.
Georgia aster (Symphyotrichum georgianum, Zones 3–9) has intensely pigmented purple flowers that are equally loved by humans and bumblebees.
Surely one of the most gorgeous native wildflowers in eastern North America is Sabatia kennedyana (Zones 6–9), with its incredible pink flowers. It prefers wet sites.
Another fan of wet sites is the pine lily (Lilium catesbaei, Zones 7–10).
Just a FEW monarch butterfly caterpillars feasting away—one of the pluses to growing lots of native plants!
If you want see more beautiful plants from Wiley, check out his Instagram: @wileyb2141
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