Dwarf crested iris

A low, clump-forming native woodland violet of eastern North America, grown for its early spring blue-to-purple flowers with conspicuous white throats held over glossy, heart-shaped leaves. It does not run, but self-seeds freely - to the point of being weedy in rich, moist ground. A larval host for fritillary butterflies and a nectar source for early bees and butterflies; the leaves are high in vitamins A and C.

A native spring-blooming herbaceous perennial of eastern North American woodlands, forming a low spreading carpet of fragrant pale-blue to lavender flowers above evergreen-ish foliage. Naturalizes by ground-running stems that root at the nodes - among the best native groundcovers for dappled-shade beds, woodland edges, and as a living mulch above spring bulbs.

A clump-forming native perennial of the carrot family that opens flat-topped, compound umbels of tiny golden-yellow flowers in late spring, when little else is blooming. The toothed, twice-divided-in-threes (biternate) foliage and the bare central flower stalk on each umbel set it apart from other umbellifers. A documented larval host for the black swallowtail and an early-season nectar and pollen source for short-tongued native bees.

A native southeastern US heuchera with large rounded velvety lobed leaves (the namesake 'hairy' is the fine pubescence on the foliage) + airy panicles of small white-to-pink flowers on tall slender stems in late summer. Among the most heat- and humidity-tolerant heucheras - solves the southern-shade heuchera-rot problem that plagues most Heuchera americana × sanguinea garden hybrids. The genetic parent of many heat-tolerant Heuchera cultivars.

A widespread temperate native fern with delicate finely-divided lacy green fronds in upright graceful clumps. Among the most adaptable native ferns - tolerates a wider light + moisture range than most. Cold-hardy to zone 3 and one of the few ferns suited to colder gardens. Deciduous (dies back fully in winter); reliably re-emerges in spring.

A native evergreen fern with leathery dark blue-green fronds in upright vase-shaped clumps. Among the most drought-tolerant native ferns - useful for drier-shade settings where most other ferns fail. The "marginal" name refers to sori (spore clusters) carried at the leaflet margins. Evergreen through winter in zones 5+; reliably long-lived (20-30+ years).