A curated Coastal Plain native plant collection

Plants with a place-story.

This collection is not just a set of native ornamentals. It is a small map of the southeastern Coastal Plain: sandhill, scrub, pine flatwoods, seepage edges, thickets, hammocks, and acidic woodland margins.

Each plant carries a piece of local ecology into the landscape: food for birds and mammals, nectar for bees and butterflies, structure for shelter, and a visual language that belongs to this region.

The story these plants tell

The collection moves across a moisture and soil gradient rather than staying in one habitat box. Some species belong to dry sandhill and scrub. Others lean toward acidic woodland edges, thickets, terraces, hammocks, or wet-to-mesic pine savanna. Together, they create a layered, wildlife-rich planting that feels rooted in the Gulf Coastal Plain.

3 gallon

Darrow’s Blueberry

Vaccinium darrowii

A low native blueberry of acidic pine flatwoods, sandhills, scrubby flatwoods, and related sandy habitats. Its blue-green foliage, white bell flowers, and small wild blueberries make it feel both ornamental and ecologically specific.

Expect: compact size, spring flowers, small edible berries, native bee activity, colorful new growth, and best performance in acidic sandy soil with sun to light shade.

3 gallon

Chickasaw Plum

Prunus angustifolia

A thicket-forming native plum of open woods, sandy uplands, old fields, prairies, stream edges, and fencerow-like transitions. It is an early-flowering edge plant, tying together pollinators, birds, mammals, and human edible use.

Expect: fragrant early spring bloom, suckering thicket growth, wildlife cover, tart edible plums, and a more natural hedgerow character than a formal ornamental tree.

1 gallon

Sweet Goldenrod

Solidago odora

An aromatic goldenrod with licorice-scented leaves and late-season yellow flowers. It belongs to the longleaf pine, dry woodland, and open sandy soil palette, offering food when many pollinator plants have already finished.

Expect: late summer to fall bloom, pollinator traffic, aromatic foliage, drought tolerance, and a finer, more restrained presence than some aggressive goldenrods.

1 gallon

Scarlet Calamint

Clinopodium coccineum

A small, woody mint of scrub, sandhill, coastal hammock edges, and open sandy habitats. Its red tubular flowers bring hummingbird energy into dry ground where many people assume only tough gray plants can live.

Expect: red flowers, minty foliage, hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, and best results in sunny to lightly shaded, sharply drained sandy soil.

3 gallon

Sparkleberry

Vaccinium arboreum

The big, woody blueberry of the collection: a shrub to small tree of hammocks, woodlands, dry woods, pine canopy edges, and acidic uplands. Its fragrant flowers feed native bees, and its berries feed birds and other wildlife.

Expect: small-tree structure, spring flowers, late-season berries, wildlife value, handsome bark with age, and good tolerance of dry acidic soils once established.

1 gallon

Florida Maple

Acer floridanum

A southeastern sugar-maple relative associated with mesic hardwood hammocks, sloped forests, bottomland forests, and richer woodland settings. It adds the cool, deciduous, hammock-side part of Northwest Florida’s ecology to the mix.

Expect: eventual small-to-medium tree form, shade value, seasonal leaf color, and best results in well-drained woodland soil with some organic matter.

3 gallon

Mosier’s Huckleberry

Gaylussacia mosieri

A Gulf Coastal Plain huckleberry associated with acidic pine savannas, flatwoods, seepage bogs, bayhead edges, and moist woodland margins. It should not be treated as bog-only; it is better understood as a flexible acidic pine-land and seepage-edge shrub.

Expect: blueberry-like flowers and fruit, wildlife value, an uncommon nursery find, and best performance in acidic soil that does not become limed or alkaline.

1 gallon

Myrtle Oak

Quercus myrtifolia

A characteristic evergreen scrub oak of Florida scrub, scrubby flatwoods, scrubby sandhill, and dry coastal dune systems. It is one of the plants that gives scrub its dense, low, ancient-looking structure.

Expect: tough evergreen structure, slow-to-moderate growth, acorns for wildlife, drought tolerance, and a strong sense of Florida scrub identity.

1 gallon

Sand Post Oak

Quercus margarettae

A slow-growing oak of longleaf pine sandhills, sandy uplands, dry bluff forests, and loamy or sandy Coastal Plain soils. It is a patient, long-term plant: not flashy at purchase, but ecologically important over time.

Expect: slow establishment, drought resistance, long-lived structure, acorns, caterpillar value, and the quiet gravity of a true sandhill oak.

3 gallon

Elliott Blueberry

Vaccinium elliottii

A southeastern Coastal Plain blueberry of acidic woods, thickets, woodland edges, riverbanks, sandy terraces, slopes, and bottomland forest margins. It can tolerate moisture, but it should not be described primarily as a moist-flatwoods plant.

Expect: spring flowers, small edible berries, bird and mammal use, red fall color, and best results in acidic soil from sun to part shade.

3 gallon

Coastal Plain St. John’s-wort

Hypericum brachyphyllum

A regional St. John’s-wort of ponds, wet pine flatwoods, and seasonally wet Coastal Plain habitats. It carries the fire-and-water logic of the flatwoods: tough, low, flowering, and adapted to places that are neither conventional garden bed nor permanent swamp.

Expect: yellow summer flowers, compact shrub structure, value in moist acidic sites, and a much more place-specific identity than generic landscape Hypericum.

Dry sandhill & scrub

Myrtle oak, sand post oak, scarlet calamint, sweet goldenrod, Darrow’s blueberry, and sparkleberry tell the story of acidic sand, pine light, fire-shaped openings, and drought-tolerant structure.

Woodland edge & thicket

Chickasaw plum, Elliott blueberry, sparkleberry, and Florida maple bring in the layered edge: fruit, flowers, shade, cover, and the transition between open pine-land and richer woods.

Flatwoods & seepage edge

Gaylussacia mosieri and Hypericum brachyphyllum carry the wet-to-mesic acidic pine-land story: bog edges, moist woodland margins, wet flatwoods, and seasonal water without treating the site as a permanent swamp.