GCA Medal Recipients: Montine McDaniel Freeman Medal

Hamamelis vernalis attracts pollinators and benefits a variety of insects, butterflies, and moths. It provides food for nesting birds. Deer eat the shoots, leaves and sometimes bark. Beavers, squirrels, and rabbits feed on this too. It also feeds the wild turkey and grouse who eat the seeds and flowers of the Ozark Witch Hazel Plant.

Ozark witch hazel occurs naturally in the Ozark highlands in the southern and east-central United States. It also grows and thrives in Ozark stream edges and natural communities with wood like conditions. This gravel wash community is an important place for many animals to have access to water, such as raccoons, toads, snakes and insects. Ozark witch hazel is recommended to be used to prevent land erosion. It is now often planted in rain gardens and in cityscapes.

The Missouri Botanical Garden selected Ozark witch hazel as the Plant of Merit in 2003. Plants of Merit are selected for their outstanding quality and dependable performance for the lower Midwest. They grow consistently well in Missouri, central and Southern Illinois, and the Kansas City Metropolitan area. 

This fascinating plant is an exotic looking shrub and low maintenance. It is a superior winter flowering plant which has a deep burst of golden yellow and fall leaf color which is notably outstanding. Each flower has four, narrow ribbon-like, curled and crinkled petals resembling a “bear claw” shape that curls up in cold weather. Usually red color at its base and transitioning to copper-orange at the tip. Rarely blooming in December, it flowers from January to April. Medicinally, witch hazel extract is used in shaving lotions, in ointments, and for treating bruises, sprains, skin irritations, and much more.

Beetles are the primary pollinators of the Magnolia fraseri, but bees and flies also visit the flowers. The flowers and the seedheads, a large cone-like structure of follicles that dangle bright red “seeds,” are typical of magnolias, with flowers blooming in late spring (May) and fruits ripe by late summer into fall (August through September). The tree is an important food source for wildlife, sprouts are often browsed, and the fruit attracts birds. Occasionally, wildlife use larger trees as den trees. The magnolia often grows on steep sites, preventing erosion. 

The most striking features of the Magnolia fraseri are its 16 to 24-inch long alternate leaves that are borne in whorls at branch tips, and its fragrant, creamy- or yellowish-white flowers that are eight to 10 inches wide. This species is often planted for its coarse foliage and large flowers.

Magnolia fraseri’s native environment is the cove forests and other moist mountain habitats of the southern Appalachian. From West Virginia and Virginia through Kentucky and Tennessee, into the Carolinas and Georgia, Magnolia fraseri  is often grown in suburban and even urban landscapes for its large, coarse foliage, and beautiful fragrant flowers. It is considered both a good lawn and woodland tree.

Quercus montana provides benefits to wildlife for food, foraging, shelter, and nesting. Its large, sweet acorns are an important source of nutrition for animals of all sizes from black bears to turkeys to mice. A wide variety of birds find shelter and safe nesting habitat in the chestnut oak’s canopy and limbs. Even the leaves serve as a host plant for larval Duskywings and Hairstreaks, while the litter acts as cover for salamanders and insects.

Extremely adaptable and resilient, the chestnut oak will grow where many other oaks cannot survive. It lives on steep, rocky slopes and even thrives in poor, dry soils. Once overharvested to procure tannins for processing leather, this hardy tree regenerated by sprouting from stumps. The tough outer layer of the acorn helps retain moisture resulting in high germination rates.

In 2017 the Society of Municipal Arborists designated this tree as the Urban Tree of the Year because of its ability to thrive “in challenging conditions, even in the mean streets of cities.”

This chestnut oak’s widespread growing range, multi-faceted landscape uses, economic value, ease of propagation, and low maintenance requirements makes it an outstanding choice for a diverse range of locales. Although its natural home is the Appalachian Mountain range, the chestnut oak has the potential to grow successfully in over three-fourths of the USA. In ideal conditions, this handsome, long-lived shade tree may easily reach 100 feet tall and nearly as wide.

Special recognition was awarded to Shortia galacifolia, a perennial plant native to the southern Appalachian Mountains, concentrated in the tri-state border region of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Commonly referred to as Shortia, the plant is a petite evergreen perennial that blankets the forest floor. Its heart-shaped leaves form a lush green carpet that sends up clusters of slender stalks, each adorned with dainty, star-shaped flowers in shades of white or pale pink. The blossoms exude a sweet fragrance that beckons an array of pollinators.

Shortia has a fascinating relationship with its environment, forming symbiotic connections with specific soil fungi. These mycorrhizal associations enable the plant to thrive in nutrient-poor soils, highlighting its resilience and adaptability. Its dense foliage provides vital cover and nesting sites for small creatures, contributing to the overall biodiversity of the garden ecosystem.

An Honorable Mention was awarded to Packera Aurea, a perennial plant native to North America's zones 3-8. Also known as Golden Ragwort, Packera Aurea graces the landscape with its vibrant yellow blossoms. This plant forms robust clumps, spreading through rhizomatous growth, making it an excellent choice for ground cover in garden borders, meadows, or even wetland edges.

As a pioneer species, Packera thrives in various habitats, including moist woodlands, meadows, and stream banks. It plays a crucial role in soil stabilization and erosion control, preventing the loss of valuable topsoil. Moreover, this plant serves as a host for several butterfly species, amongst other pollinators, providing both food and habitat for their caterpillars.

Its vibrant yellow blooms create a cheerful and eye-catching display, adding a burst of color to any landscape. This plant is relatively low maintenance, thriving in both sun and partial shade. Its adaptability to a range of soil conditions makes it a versatile choice for various garden settings.

An Honorable Mention was awarded to Liatris ligulistylis, commonly known as the Rocky Mountain Blazing Star, native to North America's zones 3-8. Liatris ligulistylis is a native perennial plant belonging to the Asteraceae family and is known for its vibrant purple flowers that add a burst of color to gardens and meadows.

Characterized by its tall, slender stems that can reach heights of 2 to 5 feet (60 to 150 cm), Meadow Blazing Star Liatris has long, cylindrical flower spikes adorned with numerous small, tubular flowers that bloom from mid-summer to early fall. The striking purple blooms are a magnet for pollinators, especially butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds, which are attracted to its nectar-rich flowers.

This native plant thrives in a variety of environments, including open meadows, prairies, and mountainous regions. It prefers well-drained soils and full sun exposure but can also tolerate some shade. It requires minimal watering once established and is relatively resistant to pests and diseases.

A second Honorable Mention was awarded to Callicarpa americana, commonly known as American beauty berry. The fruit provides spring nectar for bees, and year-round sustenance for at least 40 species of mammals and birds. The fruit is also high in moisture content and is an important food source for more than forty species of songbirds including the American Robin, Brown Thrasher, Purple Finch, and Eastern Towhee. The drupes or clusters are eaten by armadillo, foxes, opossum, raccoons, and squirrels. White tailed deer consume the fruit in the fall after leaf drop. Crushed leaves deter mosquitos.

An Honorable Mention was awarded to Lindera benzoin, commonly recognized as spicebush  for the leaves that are fragrant when crushed. The genus name salutes a Swedish doctor and botanist named Johann Linder. This shrub is dioecious, so one must have both male and female to produce fruit. 

An early harbinger of spring, the flowers produce a soft yellow haze in the landscape before the foliage emerges. Lindera will fade into the background during summer months only to shine again with dazzling yellow fall foliage.

Lindera attracts many birds, butterflies, bees, and flies. It is a larval host of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Spicebush Swallowtail, and many more. Its fruit is high in lipids, which makes it especially valuable to migrating birds. Over twenty species of birds enjoy Lindera’s red fruit, especially during fall migration. 

Lonicera sempervirens commonly known as Coral Honeysuckle has been named the 2023 Plant of the Year: Freeman Medal winner by The Garden Club of America! Annually, the GCA identifies a stellar North American native plant to receive the Montine McDaniel Freeman Medal: GCA Plant of the Year. 

Lonicera sempervirens is a long-bloomer, tolerant of a wide variety of soil conditions and is drought tolerant, requiring little water. 

Lonicera can create an interesting groundcover when allowed to sprawl, otherwise it is well-suited to climb arbors, trellises, fences, and climb/cascade over walls. It’s highly resistant to deer browse, and has a tendency to naturalize. Lonicera naturally occurs along roadsides and stream beds, in forests and thickets. It is an excellent candidate for large container gardening in urban settings, in addition to suburban and rural settings. Not to be confused with the invasive Asian honeysuckles, our native Lonicera sempervirens is an excellent garden plant.

Phlox divaricata ‘Blue Moon’, commonly known as woodland phlox has been named the 2022 Plant of the Year: Freeman Medal winner by The Garden Club of America! Annually, the GCA identifies a stellar North American native plant to receive the Montine McDaniel Freeman Medal: GCA Plant of the Year. Phlox divaricata 'Blue Moon' was discovered by William Cullina, Executive Director of the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, while he was working at the New England Wildflower Society.

“It’s a champ” was the sentiment from this year’s Freeman Medal selection committee of distinguished horticulturists. Phlox divaricata ‘Blue Moon’ is mildew resistant with vibrant blue long lasting blooms along with winter interest. The cultivar 'Blue Moon'  has the largest petals of any of the Phlox divaricata cultivars with fragrant, billowy tufts of lilac-blue flowers throughout April and May creating a spectacular and long-lasting show in early spring. The 2022 Freeman Medal winner is a valuable early-season pollen source for bees and swallowtail butterflies as well as a nectar source for hummingbirds. 

This phlox is suitable for shade gardens, woodland gardens, cottage gardens, rain gardens, low-maintenance gardens, and perennial borders and is also an excellent groundcover. Garden writer Ketzel Levine aptly notes that “the species Phlox divaricata's strength is not as a specimen but as a mingler, chatting its way across the woodland floor."

An Honorable Mention was awarded to Tiarella cordifolia, foamflower.

This romantic plant, with its dainty flowers, can light up any shady bed. Commonly called foamflower, this clump-forming perennial spreads rapidly from runners, and it’s slender stamens give the white flowers a frothy appearance. 

Tiarella cordifolia blooms in early May, and is an impressive plant in a woodland garden where the perennial is an excellent ground cover.

Photo Credit: Betsy Bulleit, Garden Club of Lexington 

An Honorable Mention was awarded to Schizachyrium scoparium, little bluestem.

Little bluestem is a tough ornamental grass almost “ bomb proof in drought conditions.” Birds love the seeds and this plant is a host plant for caterpillars with multi-season interest.

This ornamental grass has a strong vertical form complimenting other plants in the garden as a “great partner” in the landscape. The North American grass is native to most of the United States. The US Forest Service has documented that little bluestem is now found in every one of the lower 48 states except Nevada.

Photo Credit: Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens

A Special Recognition was awarded to Kosteletzkya pentacarpos, Virginia salt marsh mallow or seashore mallow.

Kosteletzkya pentacarpos or seashore mallow, is outstanding as a native pollinator plant; well known for its conservation uses in the restoration of wetlands. Seashore mallow creates a stunning focal point in water gardens, blooming from May through October. Although it originates in marshy coastal areas, this plant can be cultivated in a variety of soils and moisture levels. 

This plant is both a perennial and a halophyte (salt-tolerant plant) that grows in areas where other plants cannot. Seashore mallow adds color to shoreline plantings, and invites pollinators such as hummingbirds and butterflies.

Photo Credit: This photo has an open license. 

The 2021 Montine McDaniel Freeman Medal winner is Cephalanthus occidentalis, buttonbush. The Freeman Medal Selection Committee, comprised of outstanding horticulturists from across North America, unanimously chose buttonbush as the 2021 winner in the category of woody plants. Attributes of Cephalanthus occidentalis include its adaptability to soils, its use when planted in groups along stream beds to slow erosion with fibrous roots, the unique beauty of the flowers, its fruit that provides food throughout the winter for 24 species of birds, and its ability to be planted in full sun or part shade. The common name, honey bells, was used by beekeepers who found the shrub to be irresistible to honey bees and, thus, introduced it into production in the colonies in 1735. A pollinator magnet, buttonbush is a food source for swallowtails, monarchs, skippers, Titan sphinx moths, hydrangea sphinx moths, and royal walnut moths.  Native North American bees such as the bumblebees, yellow-faced bees, green sweat bees, and long-horned bees also regularly visit the shrub. Easily maintained to a desired height through pruning, buttonbush is a great addition to gardens across North America. With its fascinating flowers and the insect and butterfly activity that accompany its planting, it is a notable plant for educating children and adults on its unsurpassed values for the environment! USDA Hardiness Zones 5-9 but plants are evident throughout the lower 48 states.

 Photo Credit:  Caroline Orr, Memphis Garden Club

Prunus mexicana, Mexican plum tree, provides a spring show of blooms that can successfully replace those of Bradford Pear!  This adaptable tree, despite its botanical name, can be grown in multiple hardy areas across North America. Thriving with little maintenance, it is the host plant for the Tiger swallowtail butterfly and Cecropia moth.  Mexican plum tree is resistant to pollution and unattractive to deer.  Its structure and furrowed, gray bark add excellent structure to a garden space.  The sweet plums it produces also can be made into great jams and jellies.  USDA Hardiness Zones 6-9 

Photo Credit: Lee Page, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center 

Special Recognition is awarded to a plant with limited geographical presence.  This year the award went to Ehretia anacua, sandpaper tree.  Given its common name by early settlers in Texas who used the coarse leaves as sandpaper, Ehretia anacua, is an outstanding supporter of wildlife.  The flowers provide food for many bees, butterflies, and insects.  The fruits that follow are valuable to birds, mammals, and humans!  Early German settlers in Central Texas called the tree vogelbeerenbaum or bird-berry tree.  A fascinating feature of sandpaper tree is the way its young sapling trunks intertwine to create an extraordinary natural sculpture in the adult tree trunk.  Drought tolerant and of beautiful form, this is a wonderful shade-provider in its sun-drenched natural environment.  USDA Hardiness Zones 8-11.

Photo Credit: Mary Pinke Neck (mondo.petnik@att.net)

This North American wild ginger is a lovely, soft green, shade-loving herbaceous perennial. It colonizes to form a graceful ground cover that successfully competes with non-native plants. In the summer its 6” heart-shaped leaves carpet moist to dry shady sites as a welcome foil to blazing sun. It is a food source for Battus philenor (L.), pipevine swallowtail, is deer resistant, and unpalatable to other mammals. A low maintenance plant, it grows well in many soil types and acid to alkaline soil. 

Photo Credit: Wasp32,  Asarum canadense 4,  CC BY 4.0 Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Berkeley, CA in April 2007 

This native penstemon is a prolific pollinator magnet attracting butterflies, moths, and native bees. It is adaptable to both wild sites and garden settings and thrives in sandy loam, rocky, and even clay soil. Penstemon strictus is a vigorous and low maintenance perennial for sun or partial shade. The beautiful spikes of blue-violet tubular blooms make this a welcome sight from meadows to home gardens.

This year’s Special Recognition is awarded to our only North American native cycad, Zamia integrifolia, coontie. Zamia integrifolia has a fascinating history. Harvested extensively because its starchy roots could be made into a mold-resistant flour that was sent overseas, extensively during WWI, coontie has now made a true comeback. Along with the plant’s return came the rediscovery of Eumaeus atala, atala butterfly, once believed to be extinct. This butterfly uses coontie as its host plant and is now as prolific as is coontie in the landscape.

The Freeman Medal Selection Committee, comprised of outstanding horticulturists from across the United States, was unanimous in its final decision about this lovely bloomer. Its early spring interest is followed by an amazing seed head display. As Seta writes: “the real magic occurs after pollination when the silvery pink, fluffy fruit, or achenes, appear…the stems slowly turn upright, and the seed heads begin to form, creating plumes which persist for one to two months.” Hence the name prairie smoke or old man’s whiskers gives a perfect description of the plant after bloom. Although prairie smoke is being challenged by taller, non-native plants in its native mesic prairie sites, it is readily adaptable to many other areas. Tolerant of poor soil, moderate drought, heat and humidity, Geum triflorum can be grown in sun or partial shade and is suitable for cottage gardens, prairies, meadows, and perennial beds. It is not favored by deer or burrowing animals. Geum triflorum nearly has it all! The selection committee was eager for this plant to become more available across the country and to be planted wherever it might flourish and spread its magic. 

Photo Credit: Stan Shebs, geum triflorum 2, CC BY-SA 3.0 Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Berkeley, CA in April 2007

Aristolochia macrophylla, also known as Isotrema macrophyllum, is a deciduous native vine that can be used to create a lush living wall, a sheltering green roof, a thick ground cover, or an attractive privacy fence and it has been used in American gardens since the eigtheenth century.  Large, heart-shaped, densely overlapping leaves 6 to 12 inches long can quickly cover an arbor or trellis with attractive, glossy, deep green foliage and create a canopy impenetrable to the rays of the sun or moderate rain.  The common name derives from the plant's exotic pale yellow flowers that resemble a “Dutchman’s pipe." The flowers bloom in May and June among a swathe of large, fuzzy, heart-shaped, dark green leaves.  Aristolochia macrophylla is the host plant for the Pipevine Swallowtail Butterflies which lay their eggs in small clusters on young leaves or stems. When the eggs hatch, the leaves become an important food source for the growing caterpillars.  The unusual shape of the pipe blossom serves as a type of 'fly-trap,' attracting small insects that are temporarily held and released to carry pollen to the next flower.  Aristolochia macrophylla​ thrives in USDA zones 4 to 8, in sun to part shade, and in average to moist soil.  It is deer resistant and pollution tolerant, and it has no serious insect or disease problems.  It is a workhorse vine with an exotic look that would highlight a small or large native garden in the twenty-first century. Garden photograph: Jamie Purinton | Blossom photograph: Mark A. Garland, hosted by the USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database

Gymnocladus dioicus (Kentucky Coffeetree) grows in USDA  zones 3 to 8 and has unique characteristics that make it stand out as a striking and aesthetically pleasing tree throughout all four seasons. In early summer, the showy greenish white female flowers are 8 to 12 inches long and have the fragrance of roses.  During summer, the tree has a soft lacy appearance and the female flowers give way to flattened, reddish-brown pods up to 10 inches long. The pods, which ripen in October and persist well into winter, provide a striking silhouette against a winter sky.  Male trees are also a good option because they provide seasonal interest with smaller flowers and no seedpods.

Viburnum rufidulum (Rusty Blackhaw, Southern Blackhaw) is an incredibly versatile and underutilized native plant that can be used as a small specimen tree, a showy shrub border, an understory planting, or naturalized to provide habitat in a woodland setting.  With four-season interest, it is covered in spring and early June with striking 5 to 6-inch-wide clusters of small, creamy-white fragrant blooms that provide nectar for bees, butterflies, and beneficial insects.  Its showy flowers can be cut or dried and are surrounded by lustrous dark green, glossy, summer foliage. During fall, its clusters of dark blue berries are extremely popular with wildlife. The berries are edible and taste similar to raisins.  In fall, Viburnum rufidulum foliage puts on a brilliant display of autumnal colors which concludes with reddish-brown articulated bark that provides architectural interest in winter.  Viburnum rufidulum will grow 10 to 20 feet in USDA zones 5 to 9 in full sun or partial/deep shade.  It tolerates clay and poor soil and can be planted and naturalized in ravines and along rocky banks of creeks to prevent erosion.  It is resistant to disease, insects, and deer and, because it is tolerant of drought and pollution, it is an excellent option for public and urban areas.  You will probably not find this hearty, vibrant native in a big box store, but it is definitely worth asking your local nursery to get it for you for your home or community.

Carnegiea gigantea (Saguaro - pronounced "suh-WAHR-oh") is a stately, tall columnar cactus with large branches (arms) curving upward and a limited growing range in the arid Sonoran Desert. The saguaro is the iconic plant of the American Southwest and is indeed 'special' as a foundation species that supports many other species in the specialized ecosystem by providing food and habitat.  The 3-inch, creamy white and yellow blossom of the saguaro is the state flower of Arizona. These night-blooming flowers have a mother-of-pearl glow that is visible under the moonlight and attracts a variety of pollinators, including nectar-eating bats, birds, moths, and honeybees.  The bright red fruit is a food source for birds and has been harvested for centuries by native peoples. When the fruit falls to the ground, it is eaten by animals, especially coyotes and foxes. Birds use the saguaro for nesting and when water sources are not available, pack rats, jackrabbits, mule deer and bighorn sheep will eat the saguaro's flesh.  A saguaro requires little or no water, can live as long as 150 to 200 years, and grow to 40 to 60 feet tall. The saguaro has woody xylem, but it does not have bark. Despite the saguaro's fleshy exterior, the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona, deemed the Carnegiea gigantea a woody plant.

Caltha palustris is a special spring ephemeral plant commonly known as marsh marigold.  This charming yellow plant produces both nectar and copious amounts of pollen which attract pollinating insects including flies, bees and butterflies. The seeds provide food for small wildlife and ducks. Caltha palustris grows in shade to sun, in wet and marshy areas, and along edges of streams, wetlands and rock crevices where it provides natural erosion control. For home use, it is well suited for rain gardens, water's edge and ephemeral ponds. Hardy in USDA Zone 2 to 7, it is one of the first to bloom and is often called "a harbinger of spring." Special Recognition was awarded to raise awareness that Caltha palustris needs promoting, planting and protecting.  An invasive plant, Ficaria verna, commonly known as lesser celandine, is a weedy, tuberous rooted, perennial that is also yellow, grows in wetlands and blooms in spring.  Native to Europe and eastern Asia, it is now naturalized in 19 states and can form large colonies covering several acres of wetland.  This aggressive growth displaces less vigorous native spring ephemerals.  If they grow side by side, the marsh marigold will lose. Caltha palustris is the better option for our native American gardens. 

Maianthemum racemosum, formerly known as Smilacina racemosa, is commonly known at false Solomon's seal. Maianthemum racemosum is a three-season woodland beauty.  In the spring, it flaunts beautifully fragrant white panicle flowers. The graceful architectural form provided by the arching stems and ridged green leaves carries the plant through summer. In the fall, the foliage turns a warm rich yellow and the flowers turn into showy red berries. This natural colonizer grows in shade or partial shade and is extremely resilient, adaptable, low-maintenance and hardy.  It grows 2 to 3 feet high and just as wide in moist or dry conditions.  Maianthemum racemosum is hardy in USDA  growing Zones 3 to 9 and is located in every state in the U.S. except Hawaii. The fragrant flowers provide nectar for butterflies and bees, the foliage provides food for grazing elk and bear, and the berries become food for the birds and small animals in fall and winter.

Pycnanthemum muticum, commonly known as mountain mint, is a native perennial that attracts such an abundance of diverse bees, butterflies, moths and other beneficial insects that it has been described as providing "wildlife TV!"  It is an excellent source of nectar but also attracts predatory and/or parasitoid insects that prey upon pest insects. This easy-to-grow ornamental plant has noteworthy blue-green foliage, silvery bracts, aromatic leaves, and pinkish to white flowers that bloom from July through September.  It naturalizes politely and provides an attractive upright and tiered clump that is 2 to 3 feet high and just as wide. Pycnanthemum muticum grows in USDA Zones 4 to 8, in full sun to partial shade and both drought and wet conditions. It helps with erosion control, is resistant to diseases, insects, deer, rabbits and rodents and happily grows from Maine to Michigan and south to Florida and Texas. 

Endemic to northern California and native to the Sacramento Valley, San Francisco Bay area, Sierra Nevada foothills, USDA Zones 8 to 10, Aristolochia californica, commonly known as the California pipevine or California Dutchman’s pipe, is the exclusive food source for the larvae of the California pipevine swallowtail butterfly, Battus philenor hirsute. The red-spotted caterpillars eat the leaves of the pipevine and then use the flowers as a secure enclosure to undergo their transformation from larvae to butterfly. The leaves of the plant contain a toxin, which when eaten by the caterpillars, makes them unpalatable to predators.

 A deciduous woody vine, pipevine grows from rhizomes to a length of about 5 feet but can reach over 20 feet. The vine prefers part-shade and regular watering but can tolerate some drought. Common in moist woods and along streams in northern and central California, pipevine will spread out over open ground in the wild but can be trained on trellises or along paths in a garden providing a groundcover. The plant produces large green to pale brown, unpleasant, musty smelling pipe shaped blooms January through April that attract tiny carrion feeding insects that aid in pollination.  After the blooms, the vine sends out green heart shaped leaves. The leaves tend to dry and hang on the vine in the winter so it is suggested, in some sources, that one plants the pipevine with other plants. 

Photograph courtesy of UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley

Native to the southeastern United States, mostly in the Piedmont and mountains of the Carolinas, Halesia carolina, commonly known as Carolina silverbell, is a small, deciduous tree with lovely white, pendulous, bell shaped flower clusters blooming from April through May. Grown in USDA Zones 4 through 8, this lovely specimen requires moist, slightly acidic soil in sun or part shade and will reach heights of 40 feet with a spread of 35 feet at maturity. Tolerant of wind and heat, Carolina silverbell is resistant to diseases, insects and deer. This tree is useful in establishing and maintaining riparian forest buffers. Note that the species can be grown as a shrub also.

In the fall, four-sided winged, brownish, nut like fruits appear and often persist well into the winter. Squirrels use the seeds as a food source and the trees for dens. The wood of the silverbell is soft and close-grained making it a favorite wood of craftsmen. This genus honors the Reverend Stephen Hales (1677-1761), an English chemist and inventor. 

Photograph courtesy of R.W. Smith, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Michael Dirr states, “This plant has a lot to offer our landscapes in subtle beauty.” Carpinus caroliniana, also known as American hornbeam, ironwood or musclewood, due to its closely grained heavy, hard wood, is a small, deciduous hardwood, understory tree or multi-stemmed shrub native to eastern North America. Found in the wild along stream banks, moist woods, and in ravine bottoms, preferring moderate soil fertility and moisture, this species tolerates a wide range of temperatures, soils and moisture conditions, even several weeks of drought once established.  Slow growing in USDA Zones 3 to 9, American hornbeam can grow 20 feet high and 35 feet wide at maturity. 

Much admired for the bark, the smooth, grey trunk and branches exhibit a unique muscle-like fluting hence the other common name for the tree. In the spring, flowers bloom with male and female catkins.  The female catkins produce clusters of winged nutlets as they mature.  Long, oval, dark green, textured leaves turn shades of yellow, orange and red in the fall.

An attractively shaped globular tree, the catkins are a food source for numerous animals including squirrels, rabbits and beavers as well as turkeys, ducks, songbirds and grouse. The blossoms are a nectar source and the leaves a larval host for butterflies.

Resistant to disease, insects, ice damage and deer browsing, Hornbeam is suitable in a woodland setting, along a street, in a garden or as a bonsai specimen. 

Photograph courtesy of Julie Makin, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Named after U.S. Forest Service forester, William Willard Ashe, Magnolia ashei or Ashe magnolia is a spreading, deciduous, understory shrub or small tree endemic to 8 counties in Florida but capable of growing in Zones 6 to 9 in rich, moist, well drained, acidic soil. An outstanding specimen in a shady woodscape, the dark green glossy leaves can grow up to 2 feet long. Large citrus scented, creamy white, saucer shaped flowers with purple stains at the base of the 6 to 9 pedals are characteristic of this plant.  The flowers can reach up to 12 inches across during blossom in early spring. The flowers set fruit borne in cone shaped aggregates that are an attractive pink-purple color adding fall interest to the plant. Seeds should be collected when the fruit turns bright red and stratified with a minimum of 60 days cold, moist storage to ensure germination. 

The Florida Department of Agriculture lists the Ashe magnolia as endangered due to its small population and restricted area of growth in Florida though the tree can be grown in a wider geography. The flowers support pollinators and the fruit is eaten by wildlife. Long-lived, tolerant of heat and resistant to diseases, deer and insects, this magnolia is an ideal specimen tree in a small garden.

Photograph courtesy of Steven P. Christman

Trillium grandiflorum, (Common names: white trillium, great white trillium or white wake-robin) is a herbaceous perennial native to eastern North America ranging from Nova Scotia south to northern Georgia and west to Minnesota. Common in rich, mixed upland forests, T. grandiflorum is a spring ephemeral recognized by a whorl of three leaf like bracts standing up to 20 inches above the ground above which blooms its single large white three-petaled flower. T. grandiflorum is a slow growing plant whose seeds require two years to fully germinate, and flowering is usually determined by the surface volume of the leaf and the size of the rhizome which can take up to seven to ten years to reach optimal size for flowering. Due to the popularity of T. grandiflorum conservation concerns have been raised as a vast majority of the plants sold in nurseries are believed to be wild collected. When buying T. grandiflorum one must ensure that the plants are raised from seed. T. grandiflorum is thought to be self pollinating and its seeds are spread by ants. Occasionally it is thought that deer will spread the seed. As this plant is particularly attractive to deer, trillium foraging is often used as a gauge of the size of the deer population. Photograph courtesy of Elaine L. Mills.

The carnivorous yellow pitcher plant, Sarracenia flava, traps insects by using a vibrant yellow rolled leaf on top of a pitcher form bloom which can reach up to 3 feet in height. The upper part of the leaf is flared into a lid covering the tubular pitcher preventing excess rain from entering and diluting the digestive secretions within. Once the insect has landed on the upper regions of the pitcher, it is guided down towards the opening of the pitcher tube by short, stiff, downwards pointing hairs and brightly patterned guiding markings. The surface of the opening of the pitcher tube is studded with nectar-secreting glands. These nectars contain not only sugars, but an alkaloid which intoxicates its prey causing it to lose its footing and tumble to the bottom of the pitcher from which there is no escape. Because the pitcher plant traps insects for food, it does not require fertile soil and grows in acidic, low nutrient, damp wet bogs along the eastern seaboard from Alabama, through Florida and Georgia up the coastal plains to Virginia. It spreads by rhizomes and can be propagated easily by seed. In the life cycle of this plant, first the pitcher is produced; then large yellow flowers with long, strap like petals hanging umbrella style at the end of a two-foot scape. In the fall, the plant stops producing carnivorous leaves and produces a flat non-carnivorous leaf called a phyllodia. Photograph courtesy of W. D. and Dolphia Bransford, The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Three feet wide and high, Amsonia hubrichtii is a clump forming, herbaceous perennial with multiple willow-like, leafy stems emerging from a semi-woody rootstock. This graceful, long-lived, shrub-like plant produces feathery, bright green foliage in the spring that remains neat and attractive throughout the growing season. Terminal clusters of steel blue flowers appear in May and June and pendant, chocolate hued seed heads present well into the fall. The mounding billows of this plant’s foliage turn a brilliant pumpkin orange color in October and November, particularly when grown in full sun. Snow and ice on the stems in the winter provide additional textural interest to the landscape in the winter. Suited for mass plantings in sun or partial shade throughout zones 4 to 9, Amsonia is extremely drought and wind tolerant once established and supports butterflies, bees and moths. Photograph courtesy of Rick Darke.

Aster ‘Raydon’s Favorite’ is a cultivar named in the 1980’s and recognized for its marked improvement over most better known asters by presenting a more compact form, fragrance and a dazzling bright blue-purple flower with a yellow center in the fall. Ranging from zones 3 to 9, this cultivar can be grown in almost any sunny or partial shady location as it is tolerant of wind, heat, pollution, and soil compaction, and resistant to diseases, including powdery mildew, deer, rabbits, rodents and insects.  While the aromatic compounds of this aster may make it resistant to wildlife, it is a pollinator plant attracting hummingbirds, bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects. Commonly referred to as the aromatic aster, ‘Raydon’s Favorite’ lives up to its name as when brushed against, the plant releases a nice hint of mint.  Named by Allen Bush after plantsman Raydon Alexander of San Antonio, Texas, this cultivar is believed to be originally from Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. Photograph courtesy of Caroline Borgman, Glenview Garden Club, Zone VII.

Arctostaphylos densiflora ‘Howard McMinn’ was awarded Honorable Mention. This manzanita cultivar is a California native shrub that reaches 7 to 10 feet. Easily identified by its reddish bark that peels to a smooth surface, ‘Howard McMinn’ is environmentally adaptable. It tolerates average soil conditions and does not require heavy summer watering. Its mounding evergreen foliage has showy clusters of small white flowers tinged in pink during the spring. Its berries in the fall provide food for birds. Hardy in USDA zones 7b to 10. 

Quercus macrocarpa , Bur Oak, is the 2015 GCA Plant of the Year.  This majestic oak is found in USDA zones 4 to 8. It commonly reaches 200 to 300 years of age and often is 100 feet tall and wide. The fiddle-shaped, shiny green leaves are 8 to 10 inches in length and the acorn is the largest of all native oaks. The Bur oak is both pollution and drought tolerant. It provides food and shelter for pollinators, birds, and animals. It is an anchor for all ecosystems.

This stunning aster has a yellow center and vivid blue-purple flowers. It makes a remarkable statement in the landscape from late spring to mid fall and emits a minty-scented perfume. The cultivar received top ranking from the Chicago Botanic Garden for disease and pest resistance, winter hardiness, cultivated adaptability and flower production. ‘Raydon’s Favorite’ requires minimal maintenance and attracts desirable bees, beneficial insects, and birds. This aster prefers sun to partial shade and dry soil. Named by Allen Bush after the plantsman, Raydon Alexander, of San Antonio, Texas. The cultivar is believed to be originally from Lookout Mountain, TN. Hardy in USDA Zones 3 to 9.

Polemonium reptans is notable because it is thought to be the best variegated Jacob’s Ladder ever introduced. This native variety is vigorous and heat-tolerant. It forms low mounds of medium-green fern-like leaves that are broad, bold, and cream colored. The leaf will take on a pink tinge in direct sun or cool weather so that the plant is showy in an autumn garden. Clusters of lightly fragrant lavender blue bell-shaped flowers rise about the foliage in the mid to late spring and attract insects and butterflies. This plant is ideal for edging a shady path or growing in a pot.  It requires average to moist soil conditions and is root hardy in USDA Zones 3 to 8.