# @ahs_gardening on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DXpSjrNkwlz
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/64874367-ahs-gardening-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/d97f1e3e2c.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-04-27T18:27:51.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** American Horticultural Society | American Gardener Magazine (@ahs_gardening) — https://gondola.cc/ahs_gardening

## Caption

*NATIVE PLANT OF THE WEEK*⁠
Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica, Zones 4–9)⁠
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Petite but packed with charm, this ephemeral perennial can frequently be found covering forest floors for a few weeks in spring before going dormant until the following year.⁠
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Native Habitat⁠
Despite its botanical name, spring beauty has a wide natural range, growing in meadows and moist woodlands in the eastern half of North America from the Midwest to the East Coast.⁠
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Why Grow It⁠
• Small flowers have five petals that are generally white with pink to dark pink veining⁠
• Blooms in late winter/early spring or mid-spring to late spring/early summer, depending on region⁠
• Flowers open on sunny days⁠
• Dark green, grasslike, succulent leaves⁠
• Grows to 6 inches tall⁠
• Early source of nectar for pollinators, especially native bees such as mason bees, bumblebees, and andrenid bees⁠
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Growing Tips⁠
• Part shade⁠
• Rich, moist soil⁠
• Best grown from corms⁠
• Allow foliage to die naturally after flowers fade⁠
• May naturalize given favorable conditions, creating a groundcover⁠
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Design Tips⁠
• A natural for woodland gardens, with other native spring ephemerals such as large-flowered trilliium (Trillium grandiflorum), yellow trout lily (Erythronium americanum), foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia), and Virginia bluebell (Mertensia virginica)⁠
• Tuck into crevices of in rock gardens⁠
• Naturalize in lawns⁠
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Did You Know…⁠
Spring beauty is sometimes known as fairy spud because its small edible corms can be cooked and treated like mini potatoes, although their taste has been described as chestnut-like. They were a food source for Native Americans and early European colonists. Unfortunately for gardeners, squirrels and other wildlife may also find the corms tasty.⁠
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#nativeplants⁠
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Photos⁠
Plant portrait by imgraf, iNaturalist⁠
Flower closeup by tghtx, iNaturalist⁠
Flower with pollinating bee by Tony Iwane, iNaturalist⁠
Flowers in field by Sandy Wolkenberg, iNaturalist⁠
Corm by John D. Byrd, Miaaissippi State University, Bugwood.org⁠

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## Tags

nativeplants

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