Flowers brighten every landscape and garden. While we love exotic and unusual varieties, we also like to plant native plants of our state. So should you be in the mid-eastern US, you may also enjoy this list of popular North Carolina native flowers.
Native Flowers of North Carolina and Beyond
Naturally, flowers don’t recognize state boundaries and so can grow throughout other states as well give the optimum climate conditions. So while these are NC native flowers, they may grow well beyond this USDA zone 7 state.
Annual Native Flowers of North Carolina
Black Cohosh (Actaea racemosa)
- Hardiness zone 3-8
- Blooms in summer
- Partial shade
- Also native to other parts of the eastern United States.
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta)
- Hardiness zone 3-9
- Blooms from summer through fall
- Full sun
Blanketflower (Gaillardia pulchella)
- Hardiness zone 3-10
- Blooms from spring through fall
- Full sun
- Also native to parts of Texas and other southern and western states.
Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
- Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)Hardiness zone 3-9
- Blooms in summer
- Partial shade to full sun
Wild Four O’clock (Mirabilis nyctaginea)
- Hardiness zone 7-11
- Blooms in the afternoon and evening during summer
- Full sun
Perennial Native Flowers of North Carolina
Bee Balm (Monarda fistulosa)
- Hardiness zone 3-9
- Blooms from summer through fall
- Full sun
- Also native to parts of the central and eastern United States.
You may also enjoy this article on bee balm.
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
- Hardiness zone 4-9
- Blooms in summer
- Fragrant
- Full sun
Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
- Hardiness zone 3-8
- Blooms in spring
- Partial shade