Native plants tend to thrive in their home environment, which means they’re adapted to our Knoxville seasons and climate. For us, this means they require less maintenance — less watering and often less weeding.
Native plants also draw pollinators to your yard, and they provide food or shelter to local wildlife. The next time you’re looking for new plants for your Knoxville home, shop for these native plants and give your garden that classic natural look.
And if you want even more options, check out our 24 Best Native Plants for Tennessee.
Table of Contents
1. Butterfly Milkweed
This coarse perennial consists of bright green leaves with brilliant large clusters of orange flowers. While this plant is normally used as an ornamental piece, its bright color is famous for attracting butterflies, especially monarchs.
2. Virginia Bluebells
This beautiful piece of foliage is a Midwest classic and features colors not normally found in the Knoxville area. With light pink bud clusters that open up into light blue trumpet-shaped flowers, this plant has a unique look. This species looks great in clusters and blooms from March until June.
3. Wild Geranium
As an ornamental perennial, the wild geranium shows off its flowers with beautiful shades of pink and lavender. Blooming from March to July, these flowers also attract a great deal of butterflies and other pollinators to an area and perform well in almost any soil conditions.
4. Bottlebrush Buckeye
This round-shaped deciduous shrub can grow between 6- to 12-feet tall. Consisting of long spikes and white feathery flowers, this shrub is more resistant than most buckeye shrubs to diseases and insects — usually maintaining its foliage through the fall.
Its leaves also become very colorful during autumn. Long spikes of flowers attract hummingbirds and many varieties of butterflies.
5. Red/Black Chokeberry
Reaching heights of 6- to 12-feet tall, these shrubs go through beautiful stages every season. During the spring, small clusters of white flowers bloom all over the plant. These give way to deep orange and red leaves in the fall and small red berries which remain until December or January.
During the winter, the light brown bark provides a nice color to any garden landscape. Red/black chokeberry requires plenty of sunlight.
6. Spicebush
Another deciduous shrub that matches the landscape, spicebushes can grow 6- to 12-feet tall and grow dense clusters of tiny yellow flowers. These flowers can be followed by a glossy red fruit which is incredibly fragrant.
As an added benefit of this shrub, a tea can actually be made from its aromatic leaves.
7. Elderberry
This loose shrub features 12-foot long arched branches with white flowers in broad flat clusters that bloom from May to July. Dark, purple berries will also grow around this time. They are in fact edible and can be made into jellies and wines. Elderberries also grow well in partly shady areas.
Hire a Landscaping Pro to Help With Native Plants
Need help preparing or maintaining your landscaping? Visit our Knoxville landscaping page to hire a local landscaping pro. In addition to Knoxville, we provide landscaping services across many Tennessee cities including Nashville, Memphis, Hendersonville, and Smyrna.
Main Image Credit: Abrahami / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.5
