A Bee Balm native to the Ocoee River in Tennessee and formally described as a new species in 2015 thanks to the work being done by botanist Aaron Floden. Nice white flowers on what for us has been a shorter plant of 18" or so but we expect it to be a bit taller in the garden.  First introduced in the US as Monarda sp. nova by Far Reaches in 2014.

This is the rarest US Magnolia species occurring in just 6 counties in the Florida panhandle. Fantastic species with huge leaves up to 2' or more long and nearly a foot across. On plants young as 3-4 years old, white scented flowers to 10" wide appear in May avoiding frost damage . Dramatic large shrub to small tree.

Speckled Wood-lily is common name as white flowers are lightly speckled in green and purple.  The flowers are held in an umbel clustered atop stems up to twenty inches tall if the plant is in its happy place,  The flowers are replaced by round black fruit.  The tongue-like green leaves make a dense cover and this is gently rhizomatous creating a small carpet in time.

A nice find in the woods of North Carolina, this variegated Perfoliate Bellwort is a choice addition to the shade garden.  Creamy, feathered markings adorn the margins of the perfoliate leaves which pair nicely with the creamy white flowers.  Perfoliate means the leaf surrounds the stem so it looks like the stem runs through the leaf.  Slow to increase, we don't have many.

Found growing along coastal Maine and up the eastern Canadian seaboard, this was known as the dwarf form of I. setosa but is now regarded as a distinct species.  Favoring moist places but adapting very well to average garden conditions, this is best described in the most rigorous of botanical terms as "Cute".  Very hardy.

Heal-All, Stone Root. Tuberous form of this widespread East Coast species which we received from Aaron Floden. Widely used in ethnobotany and homeopathy, this is an interesting shade ornamental in its own right. Broad soft leaves and curious late-season, creamy yellow flowers whose strong Lemon Pledge scent will put a shine on your garden.

Blue Cohosh.  Quiet woodlander from east of the Rockies who plays supporting cast to the stars in the shade garden but its absence would cause these same stars to seem to not shine so brightly.  Herbaceous Barberry family member, glaucous leaves in spring with meh flowers but lovely, blue fruit in fall just when you need them.  Thanks to Charles Kelley for the seed.

Box Huckleberry. This now rare in the wild blueberry relative is a choice little shrub that is notable on multiple counts. Compact habit to a foot or more tall and slowly spreading by rhizomes, this has good glossy evergreen leaves turning bronzy in winter with small whitish urn-shaped flowers giving way to edible blue berries. Berried Treasure is a trademark name.

Extremely rare lily native to just a few sites in the southeastern US and discovered by Mary Henry in 1940, known as the Panhandle or Pot of Gold Lily.  This is found growing along streams and  pitcher plant bogs.  It is unusual in that it is adapted to warm winters and high humidity. It is a Turk's Cap type and will be 3'-6' at maturity. The bulbs will make a nice little colony when happy.

A newly described (2013) species found in..............wait for it.............Tennessee in just three locations.  Incredibly rare and a very exciting find.  These are newly-potted divisions from our plants of the type specimens used to describe the species and do not impact the wild population.  Small yellow flowers with a maroon base.  A Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy Offering.

One of the darkest of the cristata selections, the violet-blue petals are made to appear even darker by the little thumbprint of yellow and white at their bases.  A small but mighty little woodland creeper which would revel in bright shade or morning sun.  The thin rhizomes trundle along on the surface and are plenty hardy so don't bury them in mulch!

Partridge Berry.  An introduction from Piping Tree Gardens Nursery in Virginia who made numerous selections from the rich local woodland flora.  We can't attest to comparative sizes - too much like junior high locker rooms - but can say that this small-scale evergreen groundcover with small white fragrant flowers does have lovely red fruit.

A selection by Piping Tree Gardens Nursery of this dwarf species from Alabama where spring starts early and so does this phenotype of the species. The March flowers are delightful little imps and why not get the party started a little early, we always say. Ultra-cute rhizomatous clumping species to just a few inches high with irrepressible perky upward-facing scented white flowers.

Sweet Wakerobin. One of the best Trilliums you can grow, this has some of the largest flowers in the genus and the news just gets better because these flowers are not only big but deep red. Stunning, hanging ornaments.  We seldom offer these which we have grown from seed but every so often we have to let a few go as proof of progress for our therapist that we are managing our plant hoarding dysfunction.

A graceful Trillium native from Minnesota to Alabama and which has been a very good plant in our garden.   White flowers in April above three broad green leaves and can be quite robust getting up to 2 feet tall and making multiple stems per bulb. And the darned thing is seeding itself around in the garden - lucky us!

Perfoliate Bellwort.  So named for the perfoliate leaves in which the stem seems to pierce the leaf and bellwort for the pendant pale yellow (in this form) to greenish flowers.  This is a collection from Hamblen County Tennessee shared with us by botanist Aaron Floden.  A delight in the shade garden contrasting well with dark Podophyllums and ferns.

This used to be var. kolenatiana from the Caucasus but this widely distributed circumarboreal species has had the species equivalent of a taxonomic black hole occur with numerous varieties, subspecies and genera all ascribed to this one species being sucked into the vast maw of botany never to be seen again.

Doll's Eyes Baneberry.  Striking woodland plant in fruit - the white puffs of flowers in late spring are ok but the fruit is serious business.  An elongated fruiting spike holds with red stems, round white berries each with a small black pupil.  The common name is immediately obvious and is either clever or creepy depending on how many "Chucky" movies you have watched.  We think it is clever.  All parts poisonous which means deer proof.

This Southeastern native is a very exotic looking Carex - so much so that it was placed in a separate genus Cymophyllus but recent DNA work confirms it is a Carex. The wide green semi-horizontal leaves look far more exotic than a grass and the truly unusual white flowers just adds confirmation. Shade and moist

Hamilton Dwarf Cranberry. This is one of our desert island dwarf shrublets. Granted, we would be bundled up on the beach as this would be a cool northern island for this to be happy but that is a small concession for 12 months of beauty.   Perfection in a small package with very slow growth, evergreen leaves turning burgundy in winter, tiny pink flowers and red fruit - yea, verily!

A Japanese selection of our Eastern US wildflower with larger than normal pink flowers of good color.  This is surprisingly tough given its small size and a lightly shaded spot or morning sun will suit this to a 'T'-airin.  Good drainage is important so if your soil is heavy, add some gravel chips and lift it up a bit.  This is one of those spring delights that seems so critical.

Meadow Blazing Star.  One of the many garden stars at Denver Botanic Garden's Chatfield gardens, this is especially favored by Monarch butterflies.  Fluffy rose-purple flowers to an an inch or more wide appear on the vertical 12"-36" stems midsummer to September.  Native from Alberta to New Mexico, this likes sandy or rocky soils on the dry side.  Rich loamy easy-livin' soils pushes too much growth leading to the dreaded flop.

Seed-grown from a wild collection in Winston County Alabama of this unrivaled North American tree..  This has the largest simple leaves of any native plant - up to 30" long - and let's add the flowers as well which are 8"-10" wide and rarely to 12".  These fragrant soup bowls are white with rose-purplish bases and followed by showy big cone-like fruits from which red seeds hang by threads.  Seriously.  Rich moist soil sheltered from wind.

A southeastern native in one of our favorite families, the Diapensiaceae, this has unapologetic beautiful evergreen foliage and wands of white flowers which evoke our native Vanilla Leaf, Achlys triphylla. This form, we assume from Watnong Nursery in Morris Plains, NJ, is notable for very good vigor and garden adaptability. Spreads not fast enough by runners and appreciates looser forest-type soil.

A vigorous selection from Piping Tree Gardens Nursery some years back.  We have not offered this before and finally a few divisions deemed expendable thanks to the Covid-19 loss of retail, lectures, tours and offsite plant sales.  There is a silver, or rather, a snowy lining to this pandemic.  Sizable, white pendulous flowers nod beneath the leaves and this will increase nicely in a few years.

Whorled Stoneroot. A pretty sweet Southeastern woodland wildflower whose uppermost two pairs of broad leaves are so close together you would think they were held in a whorled arrangement rather than opposite.  Add in its woody rhizome and you have the origins of its common name.  The spike of peachy-cream flowers is both lovely and rich in detail.

Fairy Wand. Small plants of this cool species we grew from seed and it is right up there with Ruscus for unprofitable slowness. Male flowers have an arching plume of white flowers while the females have a smaller, erect spike and we have no idea on gender for these plants. Rich, moist soil in shade to part shade.

Small plants from wild-collected seed of this dramatic species native to the Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountains.  Drama comes in with the leaves - up to 24" long and 10" across and the white 6"-10" flowers.  The flowers are scented but not pleasantly so and not enough to banish from the garden this impressive tree.

A vigorous selection from Piping Tree Gardens Nursery some years back.  We have not offered this before and finally a few divisions deemed expendable thanks to the Covid-19 loss of retail, lectures, tours and offsite plant sales.  There is a silver, or rather, a snowy lining to this pandemic.  Sizable, white pendulous flowers nod beneath the leaves and this will increase nicely in a few years.

Yellow Fairy Bells.  Sweet woodlander from the eastern US and Canada which means this can take it cold in the winter.  Gets to 20" tall give or take a few and and has branched stems from which dangle the palest yellow flowers which in turn become dangling orange fruit.  Anything with fairy in its name gets planted in our garden.