Boltonia is a genus of herbaceous perennials in the aster family, Asteraceae, that also includes daisy, sunflower and lettuce. The leaves are lance-like and the daisy-like flowerhead are small, carried in clusters, and composed of numerous white to pink or purple ray florets surrounding a yellow center of disc florets. Most are native to the US, are easy to grow, but are too big and lanky to include in a formal garden. At least one very fine cultivar of Boltonia asteroides , ‘Snowbank” is available and popular for formal gardens. The genus name, Boltonia, honors James Bolton (1735-1799), English botanist. Photo Credit: Wikipedia
The environmental conditions in the Southeast have resulted in five species of Boltonia native there but they may be native to other regions also. The Boltonias described here are native to at least one state in the Southeast but may be native to other places too.
Apalachicola Doll’s-Daisy (Boltonia apalachicalensis)
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Erect stems carry small, grey-green leaves and terminal open panicles of small white or lilac flowerheads. Each flower head consists of 20-35 white or lilac ray florets surrounding a center of 80–134 disc florets with yellow anthers
Alternate Name/s: None
Native Range: Endemic to the Pan handle of Florida but has been found in south Louisiana, and Mississippi
Habitat: Floodplains of hardwood forests
Type: Perennial
Height: 48-72″
Bloom Time: Late summer to early winter
Bloom Color: White or lilac
Light: Part shade to deep shade
Soil: Sandy, moist, well-drained
USDA Hardiness Zones: 7-9
White Doll’s Daisy (Boltonia asteroides
Stem are usually branched and carry linear gray-green leaves up to 5″ long. Flowerheads are borne in large, loose panicles. Each flowerhead is .75-1.25″ across and consist of 20-60 white to bluish ray florets, sometime pink tinged or violet, surrounding a center of yellow disc florets. White doll’s daisy is generally considered too large, floppy and weedy for inclusion in a formal garden but desirable in a wildflower garden for its abundant bloom late in the season.
Alternate Name/s: False chamomile, false aster
Native Range: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Florida as well places on the Pacific Coast, and in the Rocky Mountain area, Southwest, Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and New England
Habitat: Floodplains, wet prairies, wet meadows, thickets, marshes, stream banks, shorelines and pond edges
Type: Perennial
Height: 16″ to 78″
Bloom Time: Late summer to frost
Bloom Color: White to pink tinged or violet
Light: Full sun to part shade
Soil: Average, medium moist to dry, well-drained
USDA Hardiness Zones: 3-10
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
Carolina Doll’s Daisy (Boltonia caroliniana)
Bushy plants have waxy smooth erect or ascending stems and narrow, waxy gray-green leaves 3-3.5″ long. One inch wide flowerheads are carried in loose panicles and are made up of 25-36 white to lilac ray florets surrounding a center of yellow disc floret. Flowerheads are attractive to butterflies and other pollinators.
Alternate Name/s: None
Native Range: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and possibly Mississippi
Habitat: Moist soils of floodplain forests, sandy wooded bottomlands, alluvial woods, swales, swamp forests, margins of impoundments, damp clearings
Type: Perennial
Height: 4-6′
Bloom Time: Late summer into fall
Bloom Color: White to lilac
Light: Full sun; tolerates some shade
Soil: Average to fertile , moist, well drained
USDA Hardiness Zones: 7-9
Photo Credit: Alistair Glen, Wildflowersearch.org
Smallhead Doll’s Daisy (Boltonia diffusa)
Erect spindly stems are branched and carry linear leaves less than 1″ long and flowerheads about 1/2″ wide. The flowerheads are carried in very loose panicles and consist of 20-40 white to lilac ray florets surrounding a yellow center of 50-135 disc florets. The flowerheads are attractive to pollinators and the plants are suitable for native plant, wildflower, pollinator, and wetland gardens.
Alternate Name/s: None
Native Range: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Florida as well as places in the Southwest and Midwest.
Habitat:
Type: Perennial
Height: 12″- 6′
Bloom Time: Summer to fall
Bloom Color: White
Light: Full sun
Soil: Average, medium moist, well-drained
USDA Hardiness Zones: 5-9
Photo Credit: Wikipedia
Mountain Doll’s Daisy (Boltonia montana)
Branched stems carry linear leaves and loose clusters of flowerheads composed of 20-60 white to lilac ray florets surrounding a yellow center of 50-400+ disc florets. Little information is available on this rare plant.
Alternate Name/s: Valley doll’s daisy
Native Range: Virginia as well as places in the Mid-Atlantic
Habitat: Sinkhole ponds
Type: Perennial
Height: 3-5′
Bloom Time: Mid summer into fall
Bloom Color: Pink, lavender
Light: Full sun
Soil: Seasonal, wet to dry
USDA Hardiness Zones: 6-? (Guesstimate based on native range)
Photo Credit: Gary P Fleming, vaplantatlas.org
The Southeast includes Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Florida. Most of these states are characterized by hot, humid summers and cool to mild winters, with Florida’s tip being tropical. Summers are generally hot and humid throughout the entire region. Precipitation is abundant in the area and comes mostly in the form of rain.