19 Kinds of PINK Wildflowers in West Virginia (w/Pics)
Did you find a PINK wildflower in West Virginia?
If so, I’m sure you’re wondering what type of wildflower you found! Luckily, you can use this guide to help you identify it. 🙂
Please be aware that today I’m ONLY listing and focusing on the most COMMON pink wildflowers. There are so many species, varieties, and subspecies that it would be impossible to name them all. But if you want to dive deeper into all the pink wildflowers in West Virginia, check out this field guide!
Today, we will look at 19 different PINK wildflowers found in West Virginia.
#1. Swamp Milkweed
- Asclepias incarnata
Also known as: Pink Milkweed
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-11
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 24-72 in (61-183 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Swamp Milkweed is a native pink wildflower in West Virginia.
It grows in wet meadows and along lakeshores. Look for its clusters of deep pink flowers to identify it.
If you want a variety of pollinators to visit your garden, Swamp Milkweed is the ideal wildflower to plant. Its clusters of fragrant flowers are attractive to hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies. The leaves are an incredibly important food source for Monarch caterpillars.
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RELATED: 29 Types of BUTTERFLIES in West Virginia! (ID Guide)
#2. Spreading Dogbane
- Apocynum androsaemifolium
Also known as: Fly-trap Dogbane, Bitterroot
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 2-9
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 24-60 in (61-152 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Summer
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Full Shade
As you might have guessed from its name, Spreading Dogbane is a prolific grower, which is why you’ll find it widespread across both North America and Europe. It’s called “dogbane” because it is highly poisonous to dogs (and humans too).
Spreading Dogbane has small, pink bell-shaped flowers and a scent similar to lilac. Look for this pink wildflower in West Virginia in the sandy soil of streambanks.
#3. Crown Vetch
- Securigera varia
Also known as: Purple Crownvetch, Crownvetch
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 12-72 in (30-183 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Even though the large, pink clover-like blooms of Crown Vetch are beautiful, this plant is invasive in North America. Native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, Crown Vetch was introduced locally to be used as a groundcover in controlling soil erosion.
This pink wildflower grows in West Virginia on sunny, sandy banks where it can push out less hardy plants.
If you plant Crown Vetch on your property, choose an isolated location far away from flower gardens. Don’t forget to control its growth so it doesn’t spread to other areas and invade native species and ecosystems.
#4. Common Milkweed
- Asclepias syriaca
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3–9a
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 36-96 in (91-244 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Summer
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun
If you’re looking for a fragrant pink wildflower to attract pollinators in West Virginia, look no further than the Common Milkweed. About 450 species of insects feed on the Common Milkweed, including beetles, butterflies, moths, bees, wasps, ants, and flies.
Interestingly, Common Milkweed can push out and smother other plants.
If you decide to use it in your garden, plant it in an isolated spot where it has little to compete with.
In the wild, Common Milkweed grows in nearly every habitat. Look for its pinkish-purple blooms in abandoned fields, forest clearings, and roadside ditches.
#5. Sweet Joe Pye Weed
- Eutrochium purpureum
Also known as: Purple Joe Pye Weed
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 24-96 in (61-244 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Full Shade
It’s no surprise that Sweet Joe Pye Weed is a favorite of gardeners and pollinators. This stunning ornamental plant has huge, dome-shaped pink flowers and smells like vanilla!
In addition to making your garden more beautiful, it will attract butterflies, moths, and native bees. Overwintering birds also eat the seeds of this flower once the blooms have died back.
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Look for this pink wildflower in West Virginia in meadows near ponds and streams.
#6. Trumpetweed
- Eutrochium fistulosum
Also known as: Joe-Pye Weed, Queen of the Meadow
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-10
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 24-144 in (61-366 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Full Shade
This pink wildflower in West Virginia grows naturally in prairies, wet forests, and roadside ditches.
With its impressive height, Trumpetweed, which is also known as Joe Pye Weed, is also a perfect accent plant along your garden’s borders.
This vanilla-scented wildflower is an important source of nectar for butterflies and honeybees. You can also expect songbirds to eat the seeds of Trumpetweed.
#7. Springbeauty
- Claytonia virginica
Also known as: Virginia Springbeauty
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 2-16 in (5-41 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Spring
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade
When spring comes, this pink wildflower in West Virginia explodes with color!
Springbeauty paints the landscape with patches of pink, white, and yellow blooms. Looking closely, you’ll notice that each star-shaped flower is intricately lined with dark pink veins.
Springbeauty is especially attractive to native bees, which love eating the nectar inside.
#8. Wild Mint
- Mentha arvensis
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-8
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 3.9-39 in (10-99 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Late Spring to Early Summer
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Light Shade
Wild Mint is a native wildflower with dense clusters of lavender, pink, or white bell-shaped flowers. Like other species of mint, the fragrance is most potent when the leaves are damaged.
Look for this pink wildflower in West Virginia in wetlands with partial sunlight. It grows best on stream and river banks.
#9. Pink Lady’s Slipper
- Cypripedium acaule
Also known as: Pink Moccasin Flower
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-8a
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 4-24 in (10-61 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Spring to Summer
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade
Pink Lady’s Slipper is one of the most beautiful pink wildflowers in West Virginia!
This hardy orchid has long stalks, bearing a single deep pink or magenta flower.
It’s relatively rare because it doesn’t propagate as well as other wildflowers. Pink Lady’s Slipper can take years to grow from seed to maturity, so if you see it growing in the wild, please don’t pick its flowers. It doesn’t transplant well and is very difficult to grow in gardens.
#10. Fireweed
- Chamerion angustifolium
Also known as: Willow Herb
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 2-8
- Life Cycle: Annual or Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 18-120 in (46-305 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Late Spring and Summer
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade
True to its name, Fireweed is a resilient plant that will be the first to grow in clearings recently devastated by forest fires. In fact, Fireweed was seen growing throughout Washington State one year after Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980.
To find Fireweed, look for striking spikes of purplish-pink flowers covering a landscape. Hummingbirds, moths, and butterflies like to feed on this pink wildflower in West Virginia.
#11. Deptford Pink
- Dianthus armeria
Also known as: Grass Pink
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-8a
- Life Cycle: Annual or Biennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 12-30 in (30-76 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Spring to Fall
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade
The blooms of the Deptford Pink may be tiny, but they make up for their small size with their gorgeous coloring. A closer look at the petals will reveal an intricately dotted pattern of pink, white, and purple.
Deptford Pink is native to Europe, but this pink wildflower is a naturalized species in West Virginia. It grows so well that it can take over roadsides, ditches, and fields.
Although the nectar is attractive to butterflies, skippers, and bees, Deptford Pink is a self-pollinating plant that doesn’t rely much on these insects.
#12. Virginia Meadow Beauty
- Rhexia virginica
Also known as: Handsome Harry
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-8a
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 6-36 in (15-91 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Summer
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade
The Virginia Meadow Beauty puts on one of the most spectacular displays of purple, pink, and blue flowers in the summer. The seed capsules, stems, and leaves are just as showy in the fall, all turning red after the blooming season.
Bees, moths, and butterflies are attracted to the Virginia Meadow Beauty, but only bumblebees are capable of pollinating this pink wildflower in West Virginia.
You can find this native species abundantly growing in wetlands, bogs, sandy areas, and open fields recently disturbed by fires.
#13. Carolina Rose
- Rosa carolina
Also known as: Pasture Rose, Prairie Rose
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 3-9a
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 12-72 in (30-183 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Spring to Summer
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade
The Carolina Rose is one of the most popular pink wildflowers in West Virginia.
The fragrant, bright pink blooms are not only pretty to look at but also bring a diverse variety of wildlife to your area. Bees, beetles, and hoverflies visit the flowers and use the plant parts as nesting material. The leaves feed Apple Sphinx Moth caterpillars. The rose hips are eaten by songbirds, quails, and small mammals. Even wild turkeys, elk, and deer are attracted to the Carolina Rose!
Be careful of the thorny stems and the hairy leaves of the Carolina Rose that can be irritating to the skin.
#14. Showy Evening-Primrose
- Oenothera speciosa
Also known as: Showy Primrose
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-9
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 10-24 in (25-61 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Late Spring to Early Fall
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade
The Showy Evening-Primrose is one of the most striking pink wildflowers in West Virginia. It can paint entire landscapes pink and white, and its fragrant blooms open in the evening, as its name suggests.
You can raise Showy Evening-Primrose as an ornamental in your garden, but you might want to contain it in pots because it grows fast and can quickly become invasive. In addition, the flowers are a favorite of moths, while finches eat the seeds.
#15. Everlasting Pea
- Lathyrus latifolius
Also known as: Perennial Pea, Perennial Peavine
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-9
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 60-120 in (152-305 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade
The Everlasting Pea is a frost-hardy vine that requires little care and grows like a weed when not controlled. It is native to Europe but has been naturalized in North America since the 1700s. Look for this pink wildflower in West Virginia on sunny banks with clay-rich soil.
The long tendrils and purplish-pink flowers of the Everlasting Pea look beautiful when climbing trellises or fences in your garden. You can also use it as a sprawling groundcover for banks and slopes.
Butterflies and bees find the pea-shaped blooms attractive. The vibrant colors will fade to white as the Everlasting Pea matures.
#16. Obedient Plant
- Physostegia virginiana
Also known as: Obedience, False Dragonhead, Virginia Lions-heart
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 2-10
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 24-48 in (61-122 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade
The Obedient Plant is named for the flowers that will stay in position if you push or bend them to one side. Look for the blushing pink or lilac flowers clustered along stiff stems, which grow to about four feet high.
This pink wildflower in West Virginia grows in prairies, meadows, and unused fields. Plant it in your garden beds and borders to attract butterflies and hummingbirds. As its species name Virginiana hints, the Obedient plant is native to Virginia and other nearby states.
#17. Rose Gentian
- Sabatia angularis
Also known as: Rosepink
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 5-9a
- Life Cycle: Annual or Biennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 12-39 in (30-99 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Summer
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade
If you spot fragrant, pink or white star-shaped flowers with a yellow center in open fields, you might be looking at Rose Gentian.
Rose Gentian grows in woodland borders, marshes, and thickets and attracts butterflies and other pollinators. However, because of its bitter taste, this pink wildflower is avoided by most herbivores in West Virginia.
#18. Maryland Meadow Beauty
- Rhexia mariana
Also known as: Pale Meadow Beauty
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 6b-10b
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 12-30 in (30-76 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Summer to Fall
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Partial Shade
You can easily recognize the Maryland Meadow Beauty by its pink flowers that contrast with yellow-orange stamens. It’s perfect for landscaping and roadside planting because it is not an aggressive grower.
The Maryland Meadow Beauty is primarily pollinated by bumblebees, but it will also attract other bees and butterflies to your garden.
You can help preserve this native species by not picking the flowers when you see them growing in bogs, pond areas, and roadsides.
#19. Mountain Laurel
- Kalmia latifolia
Also known as: Calico Bush, Mountain Ivy, Kalmia
Growing Information:
- USDA Hardiness Zone: 4-9a
- Life Cycle: Perennial
- Approximate Mature Size: 48-384 in (122-975 cm) tall
- Bloom Time: Late Spring to Early Summer
- Sun Exposure: Full Sun to Full Shade
Mountain Laurel blooms are difficult to mistake for other pink wildflowers in West Virginia.
As you can see, the blooms are distinctively geometric, with fused petals that form small cups. The petals are white or pale pink and have bright pink dots.
Dense thickets of this native shrub naturally blanket forest floors, but you will commonly see it cultivated as a small tree in gardens and parks.
Butterflies and hummingbirds are attracted to the pink and white bell-shaped blooms.
Which of these pink wildflowers have you seen before in West Virginia?
Leave a comment below!
