This herbaceous perennial is most rewarding to grow. From an attractive persistent basal rosette, vigorous, sturdy stems with dark green foliage rise to about 3 feet, terminating in branched panicles of numerous, showy, bright white, 1-inch tubular flowers which last a long time for an early season plant (spring to early summer). The tubular flower structure attracts long-tongued bees and hummingbirds to the garden, and after the spent stems have been cut away, the basal rosette, dark green with accents of red, is a welcome winter groundcover. Only a few counties in the NC mountains report this plant; it is much more common both in the north central and northeast states and just the other side of the Mississippi from Louisiana up to Wisconsin; (mostly absent to states south of us). Indigenous to dry or mesic prairies, savannas, edges and clearings of floodplain or upland forests, it also thrives in disturbed fields and along railroad rights of way. In cultivation, White Beardtongue is easy to grow in full or partial sun, preferring well-drained, acid, loamy and sandy soils. However, it is adaptable and will tolerate clay and high pH as well.
