A few weeks ago, driving north from Florida, we passed mile after mile of waves of lavender-blue flowers gracing the highway shoulders in South Carolina.  We were thrilled to see Lyre-leaf Sage, Salvia lyrata, creating a gorgeous spectacle along an otherwise barren straight stretch of road.

Trailing Arbutus is one of our earliest blooming wildflowers and has been considered a “herald of spring” with its extremely fragrant clusters of pink to white flowers blooming from late February to April in our area.

One of my favorite sights while walking in winter woodlands are the beautiful evergreen leaves of Downy Rattlesnake Plantain, Goodyera pubescens. This eye-catching beauty is one of our most common woodland orchids and instantly recognizable by its exquisitely etched leaves with an intricate network of fine white veins on either side of a broader white midvein.

The January Plant of the Month, Eastern Red Cedar, Juniperus virginiana, goes by many names such as Eastern Juniper, Red Cedar or even Pencil Juniper. This widespread handsome native tree is found from Nova Scotia and Ontario south to northern Florida and Texas and west across the Great Plains and is extremely cold and heat tolerant.

Sassafras, Sassafras albidum, is one of our most distinctive and colorful native deciduous trees. Its brilliance is especially vibrant in fall when its leaves ignite into a glorious kaleidoscope of reds, golds, oranges and even purples. Even in summer, the blue-green leaves of Sassafras are distinctive with three different leaf shapes on a single tree.

Slender Flat-top Goldenrod is a beautiful deciduous, perennial closely related to goldenrods and is an underused but superior pollinator plant. Its nectar-rich flowers bloom over a long period from September into late fall, often lasting into November or even December.

Bushy Bluestem, also called Bushy Bluebeard, is a compact, beautiful native grass often reaching only 2 – 4’ high, with attractive foliage and distinctive dense, feathery inflorescences that glow silvery white with pinkish tints in the fall light.

Spotted Beebalm or Eastern Horsemint is an eye-catcher with plenty of charm when it blooms from late July to September and is easy to fall in love with.  The flowers are not quite as large and impressive as some other Beebalms but they make up for it with intricately beautiful and showy flowers.

Pickerelweed is a standout in any garden pond, or freshwater coastal stream or river when its showy lavender­blue flowers are held above the foliage on tall stems. This perennial grows in shallow water where it tolerates up to 2’ of occasional flooding but prefers less than one foot of water.