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, Sep 248 AM – 4 PM
- Fri, Sep 258 AM – 4 PM
- Sat, Sep 268 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.
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