If you ever want basic facts about our native wildflowers – like when they bloom – don’t forget to check the species pages here on this blog. Scroll to the top of this page and click on either Plant List (binomial) or Plant List (common names). From those lists you can click on links that will take you to species pages.

A note on bloom times: “early” means the first of the month to the 10th; “mid” means the 11th to the 20th; “late” means the 21st to the end. Bloom times vary, especially for plants that bloom early in the year, so if you want to see a species blooming, start looking for it at the earliest reported time, or even before.

Be cautious: “observed blooming” means exactly that. No more, no less. If I only saw it blooming in early May one year, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t blooming in mid May or late April. It could mean that I wasn’t around at other times to see if it was blooming or not.

For most of these species, the recorded bloom times were for plants found in the Potomac gorge. Plants may be blooming sooner to the south or in the coastal plain, or later to the north in the Piedmont and in the Blue Ridge.

The pages are within a few days of being up-to-date for 2017.

pictured: one of our native irises, soon to be the subject of an extensive analysis; stay tuned!