Skip to content
625+ native nurseries Find a native nursery near you Type your zip and we’ll sort them by how close they are.

Nurseries by state

More ways to get plants

Pink turtlehead, hooded pink flowers atop leafy stems

Beginner’s guide

Turtleheads

Chelone genus

Shady rain garden favorite with big personality.

Part sunFull shade
Native near you?

Highlights

It’s a strange common name, but once you see the shape of their individual flowers—you can’t unsee the tiny turtle head blooms. Turtleheads bloom for a very long time—4-6 weeks!—giving pollinators lots to snack on. They get 1-3 feet tall and thrive in areas that are consistently moist. Because they happily grow in a wide range of light—full sun to part shade—turtleheads are a perfect flower for beginner gardeners. Learn more and explore different colors below.

Said another way, without turtleheads, there would be no Baltimore checkerspot butterflies.

Where are turtleheads native?

The turtlehead with the largest native range is white turtlehead (Chelone glabra). Each of the three native turtlehead species above has different native ranges (click on their Latin names to see their range).

What are the benefits of planting turtlehead flowers?

Planting native plants makes our yards and spaces gorgeous while helping the birds, butterflies, and animals (and helping save us time!) Here are three reasons why planting native is worth it:

  1. Without native plants, iconic animals like monarch butterflies and songbirds won’t have the food or homes needed to survive
  2. Native plants save time and money: after the first year of getting established, native plants are happy with rain
  3. Native plants are gorgeous! Turtleheads are a perfect example of how beautiful and resilient native plants are—they are always the best choice for our gardens.
Baltimore checkerspot butterfly with black, orange and cream wings, on a leaf
GORGEOUS, right?

Turtleheads are host plants for Baltimore checkerspot butterflies

If you need one more reason to plant turtleheads, here you go—turtleheads are also the host plant for the iconic Baltimore checkerspot butterfly.

The name ‘host plant’ describes a plant that a butterfly or insect lays its eggs on. Some of our most treasured butterflies—like Baltimore checkerspots and monarchs—only lay their eggs on specific plants. Said another way, without turtleheads, there would be no Baltimore checkerspot butterflies.

Types of native turtleheads

There are a handful of native species of turtlehead found in North America, each with different flower colors and slightly different native ranges.

White turtlehead, a patch of hooded white flowers over narrow leaves
Almost any garden in the eastern half of the US and Canada can plant white turtlehead

White turtlehead

Chelone glabra

White turtleheads have a huge native range, from the eastern Canadian provinces all the way south to Georgia and west to Illinois. They can sometimes have slight pink coloring on the edges of their flowers.

Pink turtlehead flowers up close, puffy pink hoods
Pink turtleheads in bloom

Pink turtlehead

Chelone lyonii

Pink turtlehead is made for the eastern seaboard. Its native range extends from the east coast of the US, from Maine south to Mississippi.

Red turtlehead, a large clump of rosy pink hooded flowers
Red turtleheads—which are honestly more pink than red!—in bloom

Red turtlehead

Chelone obliqua

The ted turtlehead is the turtlehead for the Midwest. Its flowers are more pink than red, but it’s a different species based on its different name range from pink turtlehead.

What are good pairings for turtleheads?

Great pairings for turtleheads include other native plants that thrive in consistently wet areas. Some great ideas include:

See all 207 profiles →

Where can I buy turtleheads?

First, the bad news: finding specific native plants can sometimes be challenging, especially at conventional nurseries. Although we hope this changes, most traditional plant stores mainly sell non-native plants.

And now, the good news. You can find native plants if you know where to look! Here are four ideas to help you find turtleheads in your area:

Now you’ve met the native turtleheads of North America! You can see from their wide native ranges that there is a native turtlehead flower for any Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, or southern garden. Do you have a spot that consistently gets water? Plant a patch of turtleheads and watch the pollinators go crazy. Where to next? How about our Best Native Plants for Rain Gardens? Happy planting!

Sources

Similar plants

Emily Lessard standing among white coneflowers in a garden

Written by

Emily Lessard

Founder & Editor, The Plant Native

Emily Lessard is the founder and editor of The Plant Native, the site that helps homeowners across North America get started with native plants. She holds a Sustainable Landscapes certificate through the Pennsylvania Landscape & Nursery Association, is finishing a Native Perennial Garden Design Certificate at Temple University, and is the author of Plant Native: A Practical Guide to Over 100 Native Plants of North America (Quarto, March 2027). She gardens outside Philadelphia in the 8.3 Southeastern Plains ecoregion.

Meet Emily

Updated Find more: Pink White Flower Summer Part Sun Full Shade Rain Garden Moist

The ads on this site help pay real native plant nerds to research and write these guides.

Garden notes

Notes from people who’ve grown it

Tips, wins, and the occasional disaster. If you’ve grown turtleheads, share the advice you’d give to a neighbor.

Add a note

Your first note is read by a person before it appears. After that, your notes post right away.

No notes yet. Yours could be the first.

Grown turtleheads? Tell the next person what you wish someone had told you.

In this guide About · Highlights

Welcome to the helpful part of the internet

All FAQs