17 Native Wildflowers for Carolina Gardens

While every state includes diverse ecosystems, North and South Carolina pack a lot into a small area. These southern states include temperate rainforests, cypress swamps, sandy beaches, meadows, and more! This diversity means you can find various native plants growing in the Carolinas.

All of these plants can grow well somewhere in these states, but not all will thrive in every garden. Fortunately, you can find dozens of native wildflowers that grow well in both sunny and shady gardens.

The vines become covered with bright yellow, bell-shaped flowers during the spring and early summer. Planting Carolina jessamine near an arbor, trellis, or fence will provide them support and allow them to grow into a long vine. If left to their own devices, they’ll sprawl across the ground.

You may also hear people refer to this plant as Carolina yellow jasmine or yellow jessamine. This wildflower is native throughout the Carolinas and is the official state flower of South Carolina.

Purple Coneflower

	botanical name Echinacea purpurea
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 2-3’
	hardiness zones 3-9

One of the most iconic native plants, purple coneflower shines due to its beautiful blossoms and hardy nature. The perennials produce large blooms with rounded orange centers surrounded by light pink or purple petals. They attract pollinators in the summer and provide food for birds in the fall and winter.

Since purple coneflower can tolerate poor soil and dry conditions, it’s an excellent choice for rocky and disturbed areas. Even if your garden has poor soil or is in the direct afternoon sun, you can count on coneflower to flower throughout the summer.

Joe Pye Weed

	botanical name Eutrochium maculatum
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 4-6’
	hardiness zones 3-8

One of my favorite Southeast natives, Joe Pye weed is a magnet for bees, wasps, and butterflies. The tall plants produce many small dusty pink flowers in the summer that bloom for multiple weeks.

Joe Pye weed requires moist soil to remain happy, so it’s a great choice for the edges of ponds and other wet areas. While you can try planting it in a drier location, you’ll need to irrigate it regularly. Therefore, I recommend choosing another native that can tolerate dry soil.

Threadleaf Coreopsis

	botanical name Coreopsis verticillata
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2-3’
	hardiness zones 3-9

Although you can find multiple Coreopsis species, this one has unique, thin leaves that resemble some species of cosmos. The sun-loving Carolina native wildflowers produce bright yellow flowers in the summer that continue to bloom as long as you deadhead them.

Threadleaf coreopsis can tolerate poor and dry soil, so it’s a good option for disturbed sites. Since it prefers well-draining soil, avoid planting it in compacted or boggy areas.

Small Yellow Wild Indigo

	botanical name Baptisia tinctoria
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 1-3’
	hardiness zones 3-9

This Carolina native wildflower really lives up to its name. It has the classic rounded leaves of Baptisia species, yellow blossoms, and a short stature.

Like most false indigo plants, it can grow well in almost any area with well-draining soil and at least partial sun. Its adaptable nature means you can find it growing wild in most counties in the Carolinas.

If you aren’t a fan of yellow or are looking for a larger plant, check out other Baptisia species native to the Carolinas. White wild indigo (Baptisia alba) can grow up to four feet tall with small white flowers, and blue false indigo (Baptisia australis) produces deep indigo blooms. 

White Wood Aster

	botanical name Eurybia divaricata
	sun requirements Partial to full shade
	height 1-3’
	hardiness zones 3-8

Asters like the white wood aster come into bloom when summer wildflowers are fading, providing color to the garden and food for pollinators. This aster remains shorter than many other species, so it’s a good choice if you want to plant it in a small space or among dwarf plants.

White wood aster thrives in dappled light and partial shade, so it’s a good choice for planting near woodland edges or under shade trees. It prefers moderately dry soil but can tolerate heavy rainstorms and brief dry spells.

Partridge Pea

	botanical name Chamaecrista fasciculata
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 1-4’
	hardiness zones 3-9

Partridge pea is a native flowering legume that provides beauty and benefits the garden. The roots contain nodules that host nitrogen-fixing bacteria. These bacteria take atmospheric nitrogen and convert it into a form that plants can take up.

The plants also produce beautiful yellow blooms in the summer and early fall. The leaves also serve as hosts for the larvae of butterflies, such as the orange sulfur and the little yellow.

Unlike many species on this list, partridge pea is an annual. However, partridge peas often self-seed and come back the following year. 

Tall Sunflower

	botanical name Helianthus giganteus
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 5-8’
	hardiness zones 3-9

If you want a tall Carolina native for wildflower meadows or gardens, the tall sunflower is one of the best options. The plants produce tall, straight stems that branch at the top to support round, yellow flowers. These bright flowers bloom from mid-summer to early fall.

Since the sunflowers are so tall, they provide an excellent backdrop to smaller plants. You can also mix them in with other wildflowers to create a diverse mixture of heights. Just be aware that this sunflower species doesn’t grow well in arid soil and has rhizomes that spread.

Blue Mistflower

	botanical name Conoclinium coelestinum
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 1-3’
	hardiness zones 5-10

Also known as hardy ageratum, blue mistflower blooms in the late summer and fall. The plants produce many clusters of small bluish-purple flower heads that contain elongated disk florets. These florets look like tiny strands of colored floss, leading to the name mistflower.

This perennial grows throughout the Carolinas in rich soil and partial shade. The plants particularly love growing along the sides of ponds, rivers, and drainage ditches.

Make sure not to confuse this plant with annual floss flower. While the two plants look similar, the latter is not native to the Carolinas and will only grow for one season.

Eastern Bluestar

	botanical name Amsonia tabernaemontana
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2-3’
	hardiness zones 3-9

A member of the dogbane family, eastern bluestar blooms in the spring. The plants produce multiple single stems covered with oval leaves. Some time in April or May, the ends of the stems produce clusters of small, blue, star-shaped blooms. These Carolina native wildflowers are true blue, a rare sight in the plant world.

Eastern bluestar grows best in areas with moist, rich soil, so it thrives in open wooded areas. However, you can grow it in your garden with the help of compost and regular irrigation. The plants can tolerate some shade, but their flower display will be more impressive in full sun.

Tall Bellflower

	botanical name Campanula americana
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 3-6’
	hardiness zones 3-8

A great native wildflower for shady areas throughout the Carolinas, tall bellflower blooms throughout the summer and into the fall. The plants’ tall stems are covered with light purple or blue star-shaped flowers with elongated styles. Pollinators love the flowers, so you’ll often see bees, flies, and butterflies flying among the blooms.

Rich soil is the best environment for tall bellflower, but the plants can tolerate both dry and wet periods. Since they are biennials, they’ll grow a vegetative rosette their first year and flower in the second year. They also self-seed, so you can expect a continuous supply of new plants.

Common Milkweed

	botanical name Asclepias syriaca
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2-5’
	hardiness zones 3-9

Common milkweed grows throughout the Carolinas in sunny areas with well-draining soil. Its widespread native and tolerance of dry soils make it one of the best milkweed species to grow in these states. This perennial can also tolerate poor soil and grows quickly.

Gardeners and pollinators enjoy the plants’ spherical clusters of dusty pink flowers. These flowers bloom throughout the summer and then give way to large pods filled with seeds attached to fluffy white floss.

If you want to grow milkweed in your garden, you can either buy transplants or start the perennials from seed. Winter sowing is an easy way to grow healthy seedlings, but you can also plant the seeds in cell trays or directly sow them in your garden. Just make sure to place the seeds in your refrigerator to meet any cold stratification requirements!

Shrubby St. John’s Wort

	botanical name Hypericum prolificum
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 1-5’
	hardiness zones 3-8

This perennial is one of my favorite pollinator magnets. The small shrubs become loaded with bright yellow flowers in the summer, and the bees and wasps quickly follow. I’ve counted more than a dozen species of insects on one of these plants at the same time!

The plants grow best in moist but well-draining soil and often grow near rivers and ponds in the wild. However, you can plant them in most gardens if you’re willing to water them when the plants are becoming established.  Once the plants are settled, they’re quite hardy in moist environments.

Swamp Rose Mallow

	botanical name Hibiscus moscheutos
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 4-6’
	hardiness zones 4-9

While many hibiscus are native to tropical climates, rose mallow calls the Carolinas home. These plants have a tall, branching growth pattern and produce impressively large flowers. The round flowers can reach up to eight inches wide and come in shades of pink and white.

Rose mallow grows best in moist soil and doesn’t mind sitting in wet soil for periods. It’s a natural fit for the banks of streams and ponds as well as moist areas of your garden.

You can also find a few other hibiscus species native to North Carolina and South Carolina. Rose mallow (Hibiscus laevis) also grows well in moist soil.

Dense Blazing Star

	botanical name Liatris spicata
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 3-6’
	hardiness zones 3-8

Also known as marsh blazing star, this perennial is known for tall flower spikes that are densely covered with small purple flowers. The tops of the spikes bloom, followed by lower flowers. 

Dense blazing star grows best in well-draining and moist soil. However, it can tolerate drier areas if you plant it in an area with afternoon shade. Just be aware that less sun will lead to a less impressive flower display.

Wild Bergamot

	botanical name Monarda fistulosa
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2-4’
	hardiness zones 3-9

A type of bee balm, wild bergamot is a hardy perennial that blooms throughout the summer. The plants grow in spreading clumps of tall stems covered with fragrant foliage. Light purple or pink flowers appear on the plants in the late spring or early summer.

Wild bergamot spreads via rhizomes, but you can easily contain its expansion by trimming back the growth. It mixes well with other natives that can tolerate poor soil and sunny areas—try mixing it with coreopsis, coneflower, and native grasses to create a beautiful meadow.

Purple Passionflower

	botanical name Passiflora incarnata
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 8-20’
	hardiness zones 5-9

Although purple passionflower blooms look like they belong in the tropics, this vining plant is native to both North and South Carolina. The flowers appear in the summer and bloom throughout the summer. Look for large flowers with white petals, wavy purple structures called coronas, and bright orange anthers.