Common Blue Curls
Trichostema dichotomum
We are thrilled to offer common blue curls (Trichostema dichotomum) as the 2025 North Carolina Wildflower of the Year. This is a first for the NC Wildflower of the Year program, as we have never featured an annual in the 43-year history of the program. An annual is a plant species that completes its life cycle (from germination to flowering and subsequent seed production) within one growing season. Also known as forked bluecurls, this lovely species is found across eastern North America in dry, open woodlands and roadsides and is fairly common in North Carolina, particularly in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain, but less common in the Mountains.
A member of the mint family (Lamiaceae), common blue curls has square stems with opposite leaves that are slightly lemony-mint scented when crushed. The plants are unassuming when not in bloom but explode with color during their long bloom period, which begins in mid to late summer and lasts through late fall. Small but elaborate bluish-purple flowers with long, curled stamens (hence the species’ common name) open at the tips of the branched stems. Although they are dainty and diminutive, these flowers are an important nectar source for pollinators, especially native bee species. As the bees are foraging for nectar and crawling into the flowers, the curled stamens brush pollen onto their backs, and the bees then transport the pollen to adjacent flowers, aiding in pollination. Individual flowers are only open in the morning and close by the afternoon, but each plant produces many flowers over the course of the season. This means that each individual plant can produce hundreds, if not thousands, of seeds each year, allowing it to readily self-sow and persist over time.
Gardening with common blue curls
Common blue curls thrives in open sunny sites with dry to average, well-drained soil, and will often flourish in poor, sandy soils where other plants may struggle. It will tolerate a little bit of shade but will decline in deep shade or in soils that remain too wet. It does not like competition, so give it a little space to grow and self-seed, and over time you will be rewarded with a bountiful stand of delightfully graceful plants.
Bring common blue curls home!
Want to try your hand at growing common blue curls from seed? You can pick up a free seed packet from our exhibit hall or send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:
North Carolina Botanical Garden
UNC–Chapel Hill
Attn: NCWFOY 2024
CB 3375
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3375
Note: We limit our seed distribution to a 12-state region of the Southeast, from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Gulf of Mexico north to Kentucky, West Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. If you live outside this area, we may be able to help you find sources of native seeds in your region.
About the NC Wildflower of the Year
The North Carolina Wildflower of the Year program is managed by the North Carolina Botanical Garden with some financial support from the Garden Club of North Carolina, Inc. Each year since 1982, a showy native perennial has been chosen and seeds of that wildflower are distributed to interested gardeners.
Read more about the Wildflower of the Year program
Illustration by Dot Wilbur-Brooks