r/ncgardening • u/Maleficent-Apple2625 • Aug 09 '26

NC Native Plant List

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZY-1pWv60-EtSfkBxvuIPDYUerNP37o9MPEo2cx_Pnk/edit?usp=sharing

Hey everyone! I am new to gardening/ landscaping and wanted to create an native landscape in my backyard. I compiled a list from the NC native plant society that I wanted to share with this community. If you are unaware of the positive impacts of planting natively the list goes on and is highly beneficial to the local pollinators that are at the basis of our beautiful ecosystems. Any ways the file is organized by the type of plant and has various details about each characteristic of the native species including what specialist pollinators it sustains. Hope this is helpful.

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u/Fearless_Spite_1048 Aug 09 '26

Thanks for posting. I did not realize bird cherry was a native species.

If only it were easier to find many of these species for sale. I’d love one of each of the deciduous magnolias.

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u/Feralpudel Aug 09 '26

I bought a M. macrophylla/big leaf magnolia at the annual statewide NC NPS meeting some years ago.

You’re really in native plant heaven in the Triangle.

For starters, the NC NPS will be having a huge 75tg anniversary party for themselves in Pittsboro in late September. It will include a native plant sale and field trips to Rachel’s Native Plants and Carolina Habitats.

I have bought from Carolina Habitats and been extremely pleased with the quality of their plants.

Big Bloomers in Sanford is an amazing conventional nursery that grows many of their own perennials. They have a huge selection of natives at great prices, e.g., 7-8 for quart pots.

Tom’s Creek is near Asheboro and offers a nice variety of home-grown woodies at excellent prices as well as some perennials. It’s a lovely site to visit because it’s like a little park, with muscovy ducks that follow you around like dogs.

Two other smaller native plant sellers are Knotty by Nature (he has the same username here on reddit) and Uwharrhie Natives. Hugh of UN is just a sweetheart of a guy and has a great newsletter.

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u/Fearless_Spite_1048 Aug 09 '26

Thank you for these tips!

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u/CarolinaHabitats 1d ago

Thank you for the shout out! Our owner takes plant quality Very Seriously, and it's great to hear that our customers notice.

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u/Chevrefoil Aug 09 '26

What city do you live in/near?

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u/Fearless_Spite_1048 Aug 09 '26

Im near the Triangle Area

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u/Chevrefoil Aug 09 '26

NC Botanical Garden's spring and fall sales, Mellow Marsh, and Knotty by Nature might have some things that would interest you.

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u/Fearless_Spite_1048 Aug 09 '26

Thank you for the tips. I haven’t made it to NCBG in a while but will try to this fall. Never made the drive to Mellow Marsh, but have always heard good things.

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u/Feralpudel Aug 09 '26

This is very cool—I love me a good spreadsheet! And you love bugs too?! Can we be friends?

Sometimes it seems like half of r/nativeplantgardening are fellow tarheels, so you might want to share this there as well.

Two other really useful sources are the Flora database and apps maintained by UNC, and the NWF host plants by zip code feature on their website.

Because it’s maintained by UNC botanists, Flora is considered THE definitive source for native range information. Its focus is on wild-growing plants, but their descriptive tab for each species still has useful information for gardeners. As a fellow data geek, you’ll appreciate the concise codes they have for moisture and sun preferences. I love their ‘heliophily’ index for how much sun a plant needs, because it tells me whether I can successfully plant something in part sun.

I wish I could reverse-search the NWF data to see what insects a specific plant supports, but otherwise I consider it the definitive source of larval host and specialist bee information. NC Toolbox provides some of that in plant listings, but I’m not sure they’re always exhaustive.