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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
Geum canadense (white avens)
type: perennial sun needs: part shade to shade
water needs: dry to moist soil height: 2' plant spacing: 1/sq ft bloom time: May-July bloom color: white Can grow in a container Can be used as a lawn alternative, can handle being mowed.
Groundcover
