Native Flowers that Grow in Alabama

Bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, Alabama has generally mild winters and hot, humid summers. Annual rainfall averages almost 70 inches in the southern part of the state and 57 inches in the northern part. U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones range from 7a in the north to 9a in the south. With its mild, moist climate, Alabama is home to a wide variety of native plants, from coastal beach habitats to hardwood forests. Areas of limestone soil and bogs are home to uncommon wildflower species.

Pink ladyslipper orchid (Cypripedium acaule), which grows in USDA zones 7 through 11, grows in Alabama's higher elevations. Pink flowers bloom from late spring into summer, with plants preferring dappled shade. Showy orchid (Galeaeris spectabilis), hardy in USDA zones 4 through 7, has white and purple-pink flowers. Native to woodlands, the small plant is 6 to 10 inches tall.

The rare shoals spider lily, also called the Cahaba lily (Hymenocallis coronaria), is an aquatic plant that lives in swift-flowing rivers. It has showy, white, fragrant flowers. Growing in USDA zones 7a through 10b, Cahaba lily blooms in May and June. Yellow trout lily, also called yellow adder's tongue (Erythronium americanum), grows from a corm each spring and dies back in the summer. Inhabiting shaded wooded areas, it grows in USDA zones 3 through 8. The pendulous flowers occur singly on wiry flower stalks that emerge from two tongue-shaped, speckled, basal leaves.

Many plants in the sunflower family or Asteraceae have two types of flower in one flower head. Showy ray petals surround a cluster of disc flowers that provide pollen and nectar to pollinators. An example native to Alabama is brown-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia triloba), with abundant brown-centered, yellow flowers produced over the summer months into fall. It grows in full sun in USDA zones 4 through 8, and will reseed. A plant with colorful lavender to pink ray flowers and a dark purple center, purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) makes a good cut flower and butterfly garden subject in USDA zones 4 through 10. Rising 2 to 4 feet high and spreading 2 to 3 feet wide, it flowers from spring into summer. It can become invasive under some conditions. Both these plants occur in Alabama meadows.

The complex, showy flowers of the purple passionflower or maypop (Passiflora incarnata) appear in summer on 6- to 8-foot-long vines that clamber over fences or nearby trees and shrubs. Hardy in USDA zones 5 through 9, the vines die back to the ground in late fall. Adding color in late winter to early spring, Carolina jasmine (Gelsemium sempervirens) has yellow, fragrant, trumpet-shaped flowers on vines that can grow 20 feet long or more. It grows in USDA zones 7 through 9, and can become invasive. The evergreen vine is widely grown as a landscaping plant. All parts of the plant are poisonous.