Nodding Ladies'-tresses
Spiranthes cernua
The most garden-tolerant native orchid, and the easiest place to start. Small white flowers spiral up the stem in autumn, vanilla-scented, when almost nothing else is opening. It accepts ordinary moist garden soil, which the rest of the family will not.
- Family
- Orchidaceae
- Type
- wildflower
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 1.5–1.5 ft
- Spacing
- 0.75–1 ft apart
- Light
- sun
- Soil moisture
- moist, wet
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral
- Bloom
- July, August, September, October, November
- Bloom colors
- white
- Wildlife value
- pollinators
- Landscape uses
- border, naturalizing
- Native states
- AL, AR, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, MS, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, VA, VT, WI, WV
Related native plants
More Spiranthes species
- Spring Ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes vernalis)
- Northern Slender Ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes lacera)
- Fragrant Ladies'-tresses (Spiranthes odorata)