Ray Shillito

Ray’s Native Plants

Located in Chapel Hill, NC, I focus on growing plants native to North Carolina and the SE USA from seed.

Now that at least some of us got some healthy rain, and might get more, this weekend is a good time to plant summer grasses.

I will be open 12 noon-4pm on Saturday 11th and 1-6pm as usual on Sunday 12th.

I have Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and Splitbeard Bluestem (Andropogon ternarius), Side Oats Gramma (Bouteloua curtipendula), along with several others.

Looking for plants for shady spots? I have Oval Leaf Sedge (Carex cephalophora), Stout Wood Reed (Cinna arundinacea) and Bottlebrush grass (Elymus hystrix). I also have Heart-leaved Aster, Pennsylvania Sedge, and Phacelia bipinnatifida.

Look at my updated inventory at: https://sites.google.com/view/rayshillito/native-plant-inventory

Grasses and Sedges:

Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) a widely used iconic grass

Splitbeard Bluestem (Andropogon ternarius)

Oval Leaf Sedge (Carex cephalophora) for dry woodlands!

Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pensylvanica)

Stout Wood Reed (Cinna arundinacea) for shade

Bottlebrush grass (Elymus hystrix)

Virginia Wild Rye (Elymus virginicus)

Side-oats Gramma (Bouteloua curtipendula)

Poverty Oat Grass (Danthonia spicata) - low growing grass ground cover

Purple Lovegrass (Eragrostis spectabilis) - 2 left!

Pollinator Garden Perennials:

Eastern Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis )

Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica)

Smooth Blue Aster (Symphyotrichum laeve) (2 left)

Common Evening Primrose (Oenothera biennis) - second year plants

Fernleaf Phacelia (Phacelia bipinnatifida) - a biennial that seeds freely

Downy Woodmint (Blephilia ciliata)

White yarrow (Achillea millefolium)

Yellow Crownbeard (Verbesina occidentalis)

Green and Gold (Chrysogonum virginianum var. australe)

Wild Quinine (Parthenium integrifolium)

Obedient Plant (Physostegia virginiana)

Yellow Avens (Geum aleppicum)

Heart-leaved Aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium)

Late Figwort (Scrophularia marilandica)

Scarlet Rose Mallow (Hibiscus coccineus)

Blue vervain (Verbena hastata)

Hoary vervain (Verbena stricta) - (more of a plains-USA plant but found in Tennessee).

Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) - a few left

Appalachian Cliff Stonecrop (Sedum glaucophyllum) - a few left

Ditch Stonecrop (Penthorum sedoides)

Foxglove Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis)

Coming later:

New York Aster (Symphyotrichum novi-belgii)

New England Aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)

Tall Thimbleweed (Anemone virginiana) - SOLD but more coming!

Cynthia (Krigia biflora) - more coming

and grasses:

Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis)

If you have a specific request we can arrange to sell by appointment.

Registered Nursery NC#9371

Virginia Wild Rye in the Pollinator garden

Monarda punctata (Spotted Beebalm)

Bee on Downy Woodmint (Blephilia ciliata)

Scarlet Rose Mallow (Hibiscus coccineus)

Planting Plants Native to NC provides value to pollinators (like bees, butterflies, flies, dragonflies, native predatory and pollinating wasps, and even midges and beetles), and also to birds and other wildlife. I have seen a range of native bumblebees, carpenter bees, sweat bees, and solitary bees, as well as Monarch and other butterflies on my native plants. Those butterflies need native plants on which to lay eggs that develop into the next generation of butterflies. Leaving the stems in place during the winter provides places for bees and other insects to overwinter.
Having a wide range of native plants in your garden/yard means that pests are less likely to be around. I have had no issue with pests and don't have to use use insecticides at all. There is damage to plants by caterpillars, as that is the purpose of Native plants, but it has never yet reached epidemic proportions. Even if you grow vegetables, having locally adapted plants will encourage pest control and attract pollinators to maximize your yield.

We are located on the East edge of Chapel Hill convenient for Durham, Hillsborough, Pittsboro, Mebane, Burlington, Orange, Alamance and Chatham counties, and the rest of Research Triangle Park (RTP) including Raleigh, Apex and Cary.

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