Beverly Rounds June 2026
Gardening along the North Carolina coast is a little different from anywhere else. Salty air, sandy soil, punishing summer sun, and the occasional fierce wind — it's not exactly a forgiving environment. But here's the thing: once you stop fighting the coast and start working with it, a whole world of beautiful, resilient plants opens up.
These five are among my favorites. They're not just survivors — they're showoffs. And every one of them will reward you with far more beauty than the effort you put in.
1. Wax Myrtle (Morella cerifera)
If I could only recommend one plant for a coastal Carolina garden, wax myrtle might be it. This fast-growing native evergreen shrub is an absolute workhorse — it tolerates salt spray, thrives in poor sandy soil, and shrugs off drought once established. Plant a row of them and you have a dense, attractive privacy screen in just a few seasons. Birds absolutely love wax myrtle, using it for nesting cover and feeding on its waxy blue-gray berries through the winter months. It's a plant that earns its space every single day of the year.
2. Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria)
Don't let the Latin name put you off — yaupon holly is one of the toughest and most versatile native shrubs we have. It handles salt spray, sandy soil, and dry spells better than almost anything else you can plant. Female plants produce vivid red berries in winter that persist on the branches for months, providing a welcome burst of color when the rest of the garden has gone quiet. Yaupon comes in a range of sizes and forms — from compact, mounding varieties to large multi-stemmed specimens — making it adaptable to almost any spot in the landscape.
3. Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris)
If you want drama without the fuss, plant muhly grass. For most of the year it's a tidy, unassuming clump of fine-textured foliage — but come September and October, it erupts into a cloud of rose-pink plumes that seem to glow in the afternoon light. It's one of the most striking fall plants on the entire coast, and it couldn't care less about our sandy, low-nutrient soil. Give it full sun, good drainage, and almost complete neglect, and it will perform beautifully year after year.
4. Sea Oats (Uniola paniculata)
There is no plant more evocative of the Carolina coast than sea oats. Their graceful, nodding seed heads swaying in the ocean breeze are as iconic as any postcard image of our shoreline. Beyond their beauty, sea oats are critical for stabilizing sandy soil and preventing dune erosion — their deep, spreading root systems hold the ground against wind and wave. They thrive in full sun and pure sand, and they ask almost nothing in return. A note for gardeners: sea oats are a protected plant in North Carolina, so be sure to purchase from a reputable nursery rather than collecting from wild dunes.
5. Yarrow (Achillea spp.)
Yarrow is one of those plants that almost seems to enjoy difficult conditions. Heat? No problem. Wind? Bring it. Drought? It barely notices. This tough perennial produces flat-topped flower clusters in shades of white, yellow, and coral that bloom over a remarkably long season — and pollinators find them irresistible. Yarrow spreads gradually to fill in bare spots, it cuts beautifully for fresh or dried arrangements, and it comes back reliably year after year with minimal attention.
Choosing plants that are naturally suited to our coastal environment is the single best thing you can do for your garden. You'll spend less time struggling and more time simply enjoying what you've planted. The coast can be tough — but it can also be extraordinarily beautiful, and so can the gardens we grow here.
Happy planting from the coast! 🌿