Geum canadense (white avens)
 
Meet White Avens (Geum canadense), the unassuming "hitchhiker" of our native woodlands that definitely deserves a spot in your garden. While you might know it best for the clingy, burr-like seeds that love to catch a ride on your socks or your dog’s fur, there is so much more to this resilient perennial than its travel habits.
 
In early summer, it sports dainty, five-petaled white flowers that are a favorite for small native bees, flies, and beetles. Even better? Its semi-evergreen basal foliage forms a lush, strawberry-like groundcover that looks great year-round, even when everything else has gone dormant.
 
It’s tough as nails, deer-resistant, and remarkably shade-tolerant, making it the perfect "filler" for those tricky, dry-shade spots under established trees where little else wants to grow.
 
photo by Ayotte, Gilles