White Turtlehead
Chelone glabra
Crisp white late-summer blooms for moist shade, and the host plant for the Baltimore Checkerspot. Hummingbirds and bumblebees work it until frost.
Typically 1 pint–1 gal · $9–$30 · final price at pickup
- Thu, Aug 138 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Aug 148 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Aug 158 AM – 2 PM
The sole host plant for Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly caterpillars. irreplaceable if you want that species in your garden.
White Turtlehead is the species turtlehead: crisp white flowers with a hint of pink at the lips, blooming in late summer over dark, lance-shaped leaves. It's found naturally along stream banks, pond margins, and woodland edges throughout the eastern US, and that tells you exactly what it wants in the garden: consistent moisture and at least partial shade. In those conditions it's completely reliable, self-sufficient, and wildlife-rich. This species is the primary host plant for the Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly, which lays its eggs exclusively on Chelone and a few related plants. If you're growing milkweed for monarchs, White Turtlehead is the companion plant you should be growing for Baltimore Checkerspots. The plant is also a favorite of hummingbirds in their fall migration, and bumblebees work the flowers until the frost.
A nursery-grown plant, ready for the ground.
Healthy, container-grown white turtlehead propagated on-site at Hill House from regional genetics. Includes a one-page care card. We make every effort to supply plants as listed; occasionally we substitute a similar species of equal value.
- Sun
- Part sun
- Water
- Average
- Mature size
- 2–3 ft · 18–24 in wide
- Bloom time
- Late summer to early fall
- Bloom color
- White
- USDA zones
- 3–8
- Family
- Plantaginaceae
- Native range
- Eastern North America, from Newfoundland south to Georgia, west to Minnesota
Care notes for white turtlehead.
Plant in part shade to full shade in consistently moist to wet soil. Stream banks, rain garden margins, and wet woodland edges are ideal. Does not tolerate drought. Cut back in early spring. Spreads slowly by rhizomes. Divide every 3-4 years in spring if clumps become dense.
Pairs well with these.
Same light, same soil, same wildlife. Janet's picks to plant alongside white turtlehead.
Or skip the guesswork.
Curated packages bundle complementary species for an instant habitat. One reservation, one pickup day, a printed layout map.
Short on Space Package
For gardeners who have an abundance of passion but are short on space, this package features tidy, upright, clump-forming natives that behave and function well in small spaces.
Shade Bed Package
Ferns, sedges, and woodland natives that thrive under existing trees.
Birder’s Paradise Package
For the avid bird watchers and budding ornithologists in our community, the Birder’s Paradise Package consists of species that Hill House Nursery staff and longtime native plant advocates such as Doug Tallamy consider ‘premier bird garden plants’.