EPA Level III Ecoregion
Piedmont
1312 native plants for the Piedmont ecoregion (Atlanta area).
The Piedmont is the rolling upland between the Appalachians and the coastal plain, covering Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, and Greenville. Red clay is the defining feature here: it holds water, drains slowly, and sets up hard, which is why so many conventional plantings sulk through their first summer. Natives such as white wild indigo, heart-leaf foamflower, and sweetbay magnolia are adapted to that clay and to long humid heat.
Conditions: Deep red clay soils, 45–50 inches of rain through the year, hot humid summers, mild winters with occasional hard freezes.
Cities and areas: Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Greenville, Durham.
1312 Native Plants for the Piedmont
HOA-friendly picks listed first. Pet-safety status varies by species; each plant page shows its sourced ASPCA status. Native range data from vouchered herbarium specimen records and regional native plant society lists.
Purple Coneflower
Echinacea purpurea
Little Bluestem
Schizachyrium scoparium
Swamp Milkweed
Asclepias incarnata
Wild Bergamot
Monarda fistulosa
Cardinal Flower
Lobelia cardinalis
Wild Red Columbine
Aquilegia canadensis
Black-eyed Susan
Rudbeckia hirta
Butterfly Milkweed
Asclepias tuberosa
Dense Blazing Star
Liatris spicata
Blue Lobelia
Lobelia siphilitica
Common Yarrow
Achillea millefolium
Rattlesnake Master
Eryngium yuccifolium
Common Sneezeweed
Helenium autumnale
Switchgrass
Panicum virgatum
Golden Alexanders
Zizia aurea
False Sunflower
Heliopsis helianthoides
Lanceleaf Coreopsis
Coreopsis lanceolata
New Jersey-tea
Ceanothus americanus
Perennial Black-eyed Susan
Rudbeckia fulgida
Mallow-rose
Hibiscus moscheutos
Nodding Onion
Allium cernuum
Purple Lovegrass
Eragrostis spectabilis
Blue Woodland Phlox
Phlox divaricata
Brown-eyed Susan
Rudbeckia triloba
Sideoats Grama
Bouteloua curtipendula
Showy Goldenrod
Solidago speciosa
Culver's Root
Veronicastrum virginicum
Inland Sea Oats
Chasmanthium latifolium
Narrowleaf Mountain Mint
Pycnanthemum tenuifolium
Smooth Aster
Symphyotrichum laeve
Whorled Milkweed
Asclepias verticillata
Smooth Spiderwort
Tradescantia ohiensis
Golden Groundsel
Packera aurea
Soft rush
Juncus effusus
Spicebush
Lindera benzoin
American Fox Sedge
Carex vulpinoidea
Sevenbark
Hydrangea arborescens
Indiangrass
Sorghastrum nutans
Red-osier Dogwood
Cornus sericea
Narrowleaf Blue-eyed Grass
Sisyrinchium angustifolium
Spotted Geranium
Geranium maculatum
Scarlet Strawberry
Fragaria virginiana
Virginia Mountain-Mint
Pycnanthemum virginianum
Aromatic Sumac
Rhus aromatica
Coral Honeysuckle
Lonicera sempervirens
Oakleaf Hydrangea
Hydrangea quercifolia
Creeping Polemonium
Polemonium reptans
Ninebark
Physocarpus opulifolius
Showing 48 of 1312. Enter your ZIP for the natives matched to your yard.
Fall care in the Piedmont
What to do right now for plants commonly grown here. Each links to the full regional care guide for that species, with sources.
- Spotted beebalm
In fall, bloom winds down, so tidy spent flowers and keep air moving.
- Dense blazing star
In fall, goldfinches eat the seeds and the stems can stay up for wildlife.
- Common milkweed
In fall, the seed pods split and the seeds blow around.
- Broomsedge bluestem
Fall is when broomsedge shows off its color.
- Bushy aster
Fall is bloom season, with white flowers from August into October.
- Zinnia
Flowers and foliage carry into fall until frost ends the season.
- Common coreopsis
Fall needs little work, and it is a fine time to note which plants got crowded.
- Eastern narrowleaf sedge
In fall the clump settles down and needs little from you.
- Pink turtlehead
Fall brings the deep pink flowers, so keep watering through bloom.
- Creek sedge
Fall is a good planting and seeding window.
Build a plan for the Piedmont
The Pollinator Patch App turns plants like these into a front-yard plan tuned for the soil, climate, and HOA expectations of the Atlanta area.