Woodland phlox

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 low North American native prairie perennial whose nodding, reddish-pink to purplish globular flowers in spring are upstaged by what follows: as the seeds form, the styles elongate into upright, feathery gray plumes that collectively read like wisps of smoke - the source of its many regional names (prairie smoke, old man's whiskers, long-plumed purple avens). A soft, hairy plant to about 16 inches with fern-like, pinnately divided leaves; it spreads slowly by rhizomes into a low groundcover and prefers cool-summer climates and dry, well-drained soil.

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 clump-forming aromatic native perennial of eastern North America, grown as much for its silvery floral bracts as its bloom - the upper leaves below each flower head turn a frosted, dusty-mint color in summer. Dense flat-topped clusters of tiny two-lipped pinkish-white flowers cover the plant from mid to late summer and are a magnet for bees and butterflies. Unlike the true mints (Mentha), it spreads only modestly by rhizome and is not invasive.

A native eastern North American perennial with fine threadlike foliage and abundant bright-yellow daisy flowers from early summer through fall. Drought-tolerant + long-blooming; among the most reliable native sunny-border perennials. The Moonbeam cultivar is the most-planted form.

A part-shade / bright-shade planting for morning sun or dappled light - eastern North American woodland-edge natives with spring bloom, season-long foliage, and a fern + shrub structure.