The BEST Southeastern Natives for Your Garden

The BEST Southeastern Natives for your Garden Dr. Larry Mellichamp UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens

Ask: what might homeowners most want? Make sure you know these “best” choices.

12 best big trees (ranked) 13. Rhapidophyllum hystrix - needle palm (fall color, nice crown, bark, longevity, flowers, fruits) 14. Pinus glabra - spruce pine 1. Acer barbatum - southern sugar maple 14 best shrubs 2. Nyssa sylvatica - black gum 1. Amelanchier x grandiflora - Service berry 3. Acer rubrum - red maple 2. Aronia arbutifolia - red chokeberry 4. Tilia americana - American basswood 3. Viburnum nudum - smooth witherod 5. Magnolia grandiflora - southern magnolia 4. Hydrangea quercifolia - oakleaf hydrangea 6. Betula nigra - river birch 5. Fothergilla gardenii - dwarf witch-alder 7. Quercus shumardii - Shumard oak 6. Clethra alnifolia - sweet pepperbush 8. Quercus rubra - northern red oak 7. Rhododendron austrinum - Florida azalea 9. Quercus phellos - willow oak 8. Aesculus parviflora - bottlebrush buckeye 10. Fraxinus americana - white ash 9. Ilex verticillata - winter red holly 11. Ilex opaca - American holly 10. Ilex vomitoria - Yaupon holly 12. Gymnocladus dioica - Kentucky coffee tree 11. Illicium floridanum - Florida anise 12. Lyonia lucida - shining fetterbush 13. *Hypericum stragulum - St. Andrew’s-cross 12 worst big trees (brittle, disease, nuisance, spiny, drought, short-lived, no color) 14. *Croton alabamensis - Alabama croton 1. Platanus occidentalis - sycamore 2. Acer saccharinum-silver maple 10 best sun-loving perennials (alphabetical) 3. Salix nigra -black willow 1. Amsonia hubrichtii - Arkansas blue star 4. Robinia pseudoacacia - black Locust 2. Asclepias tuberosa - orange butterfly weed 5. Ulmus americana - American elm 3. Baptisia alba - wild indigo 6. Gleditsia triacanthos - honey locust 4. *Echinacea laevigata - smooth coneflower 7. Celtis laevigata - southern hackberry *E. pallida - pale coneflower and E. 8. Morus rubra - red mulberry tennessensis 9. Prunus serotina - black cherry 5. Eutrochium (Eupatorium) dubium - Joe-pye 10. Catalpa bignonioides - catalpa weed 11. Pinus echinata - shortleaf pine 6. Hibiscus coccineus, H. moscheutos - hibiscus 12. Juglans nigra - black walnut 7. Phlox carolina - tall phlox 13.  Liquidambar styraciflua - 8. *Rudbeckia subtomentosa - sweet sweetgum coneflower 9. Stokesia laevis - Stoke’s aster 10. Symphyotrichum (Aster) oblongifolium - 14 best small trees aromatic aster (flowers, fruits, foliage, form, bark, adaptability) 1. Cornus florida - flowering dogwood 10 best shade-loving perennials (alphabetical) 2. Cladrastis kentuckeya - yellowwood 1. Chrysogonum virginianum - green-and-gold 3. Magnolia macrophylla - big-leaf magnolia 2. Heuchera americana ‘Dale’s- Strain’- 4. Oxydendrum arboretum -sourwood Alumroot 5. Magnolia virginiana -sweet-bay magnolia 3. Lobelia cardinalis - cardinal flower 6. Chionanthus virginicus - fringe tree 4. *Pachysandra procumbens - Alleghany- 7. Halesia diptera -two-winged silverbell spurge 8. Cercis canadensis - redbud 5. Polemonium reptans - Jacob’s-ladder 9. Acer leucoderme -chalk maple 6. *Polygonatum biflorum - large Solomon’s- 10. Asimina triloba - pawpaw seal 11. Taxodium ascendens - pond cypress 7. *Sanguinaria canadensis - bloodroot 12. Cotinus obovatus - American smoke tree 8. Spigelia marilandica - Indian-pink 9. Stylophorum diphyllum - wood poppy Univ. of NC at Charlotte Botanical Gardens 10. *Trillium cuneatum - little sweet Betsy http://gardens.uncc.edu Plant Sale April 17- 18, 2015

*Limited availability book - Native Plants of the Southeast 2014. Timber