The 2023 North Carolina Botanical Garden Wildflower of the Year, Cephalanthus occidentalis (Zones 5–9), is a versatile native that can be grown as a large, lush shrub or trained into a unique, small multi-stemmed tree. It stands out for its pincushion flowers—perfectly round, white spheres that look like little satellites. These blooms appear in the heat of mid-summer when many other plants have finished their show. It stays vibrant green all season, eventually producing small reddish fruits that birds love to visit in the winter. If you really, really want to see butterflies, then this is the plant to add to your landscape. The fragrant round flowers act as a perfect landing pad for Tiger Swallowtails and clearwing moths. It is one of the most active pollinator magnets you can find, and because it is a native species, it provides a safe home for several of our most beautiful large silk moths to lay their eggs. Performance & Site Care This is your go-to solution for the wetter spots in your yard. It loves water and is perfectly happy in heavy clay or areas that stay wet after a rainstorm. While it naturally thrives in wetland margins, this species is surprisingly adaptable to the garden border, provided it is sited in moisture-retentive soil that doesn't fully dry out in the summer heat. Placement near a downspout or even a carefully routed HVAC drip line (yes, we've done this) and a good layer of mulch can go a long way here. In the Southeast, it needs plenty of sun to bloom its best. It's a late sleeper in the spring, so don't worry if it stays bare a bit longer than your other plants; once the heat hits, it grows fast. You can leave it to grow into a natural privacy screen or prune the lower branches to show off its small tree structure.
