You may know Maine for its picturesque landscapes and lighthouses, but there are also many wildflowers in Maine, making its land colorful and interesting. From the bloodroots of steep slopes to the marigolds of marshes and swamps, they’ll undoubtedly bring beauty to the hidden corners of this enchanting state.
13 Wildflowers in Maine
Let’s dive into 13 wildflowers found in Maine, from ground-creepers to impressive blooms.
1. Yellow Forest Violet
- Scientific Name: Viola pubescens
- Zone: 3-8
- Where to see: Statewide
Season: April – June
You can find the yellow forest violet across North America in rich woodlands and sometimes meadows, and it’s one of the wildflowers you might see around Maine. During the growing season, it produces two different kinds of blooms: one that’s distinguishable by the yellow blossoms it bears, and another that doesn’t open and is only used to pollinate itself.
2. Bloodroot
- Scientific Name: Sanguinaria canadensis
- Zone: 3-8
- Where to see: Statewide except for Region 8
- Season: late March to April
If you saw a white wildflower in Maine, it could be a bloodroot. This clump-forming plant has enormous basal leaves with wavy lobes that span up to 8 inches across. In spring, white flowers bloom with 8 to 12 petals, and yellow centers emerge on stalks above the leaves.
The bloodroot is named after its reddish-orange root, which has blood-red sap. You can find them in forests, rocky slopes, and woodlands.
3. Foamflower
- Scientific Name: Tiarella cordifolia
- Zone: 4-9
- Where to see: Statewide
- Season: May – June
If you want to find a pretty wildflower in Maine, you can check out the foamflower. The plant has glossy heart-shaped leaves that are around 4 inches wide and have three to five lobes. They form a basal mound and can turn reddish-bronze in winter, remaining evergreen in mild winters.
Tall flower stalks, 6 to 12 inches tall, rise above the foliage in the spring and bear white or light pink star-shaped blooms. It’s great for covering the ground in shady areas like woodlands, rock gardens, perennial borders, or near streams.
4. Obedient plant
- Scientific Name: Physostegia virginiana
- Zone: 3-9
- Where to see: Throughout the state except Downeast and Acadia
- Season: late summer into fall
The obedient plant is a fall wildflower with spike-like clusters of pink to lavender tubular blooms. Each flower has five triangular lobes comprising the upper and lower lips. The plant spreads through creeping rhizomes and does well in damp, fertile soil with some sunlight.
This wildflower is attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies, making it a great addition to perennial borders, wildflower gardens, or butterfly and hummingbird gardens.
5. Blue Iris
- Scientific Name: Iris spuria
- Zone: 3-10
- Where to see: Statewide
- Season: early June
In Maine, you can also find a flower called blue iris. It has stunning deep blue to purple flowers that can sometimes be white. Native Americans valued this plant for its medicinal properties, using it externally for burns, wounds, swellings, and sores, and internally for liver and kidney ailments.
You can find them in human-made environments like marshes, meadows, fields, and along the edges of rivers or lakes.
6. Spotted Joe-Pye Weed
- Scientific Name: Eutrochium maculatum
- Zone: 4-8
- Where to see: Along Maine beaches and bays
- Season: July – September
The spotted Joe-Pye weed earned its name due to the purple spots often found on its stems. This type of Joe-Pye weed is native to Maine and grows well in wet areas like marshes, meadows, fields, river or lake shores, swamps, and wetland edges.
This plant has simple whorled leaves with toothed edges, and the flower heads are purely disk flowers with no strap-shaped blooms. You’ll also notice that it attracts hummingbirds, butterflies, and other insects that help with pollination.
7. Harebell
- Scientific Name: Campanula rotundifolia
- Zone: 3-6
- Where to see: Statewide
- Season: June – August
You can find the Harebell, also called the Scottish bluebell, among the wildflowers in Maine. This herbaceous perennial can be found throughout the northern hemisphere’s temperate regions and is distinguished by its violet-blue, bell-shaped flowers that bloom in late summer and autumn.
Harebells are noted for their capacity to colonize crevices in walls, cliff faces, and sturdy dunes, and they thrive in dry, nutrient-poor grasslands and heaths.
8. Red Columbine
- Scientific Name: Aquilegia canadensis
- Zone: 3-8
- Where to see: Statewide
- Season: spring through early summer
Red columbine is an erect, branching plant that produces delicate bell-like flowers in shades of red and yellow, which gracefully nod from the branch terminals. It’s ideal for wildflower meadows, butterfly and hummingbird gardens, and forests with filtered shade. They grow in full sun to partial shade and prefer slightly alkaline, well-drained soils.
9. Bluebead-lily
- Scientific Name: Clintonia borealis
- Zone: 2-7
- Where to see: Statewide
- Season: May – June
The bluebead lily is a small plant that grows every year and does well in the forests of eastern Canada and the northeastern United States. It features curved, succulent leaves and clusters of yellow flowers arranged in small umbels.
This wildflower’s most noticeable characteristic is its tiny blue round fruit, which is why it’s called “bluebead.” This slow-growing plant reproduces through seeds or underground rhizomes, often forming large colonies.
10. Marsh marigold
- Scientific Name: Caltha palustris
- Zone: 3-7
- Where to see: Statewide except Downeast and Acadia
- Season: April – June
Marsh marigold is a gorgeous spring flower that you can find in Maine. This perennial herb, also referred to as cowslip or kingcup, grows well in moist areas, including marshes, fens, ditches, wet forests, and swamps. Hoverflies are common pollinators of the brilliant yellow blooms, which emerge from mid-April through June.
11. White turtlehead
- Scientific Name: Chelone glabra
- Zone: 3-9
- Where to see: Throughout the state
- Season: July to September
You might spot white turtlehead blooming between July to September in the state. It’s a type of wildflower that develops terminal clusters of pink-tinged white snapdragon-like blooms, resembling a turtle’s head.
This plant uses rhizomes to spread, and it favors damp to wet soil as well as some shade. Additionally, it grows near the edges of marshes, damp meadows, seepage zones, and stream banks.
12. Dog’s-tooth-violet
- Scientific Name: Erythronium americanum
- Zone: 4-9
- Where to see: Statewide
- Season: early to mid-spring
The Dog’s-tooth-violet is a perennial plant that forms in colonies and thrives in woodland habitats across North America. It’s also called “trout lily” because its gray-green leaves have brown or gray spots that look like brook trout coloring.
The tall stem of the flower has a drooping, yellow flower with curved petals that bloom early in the spring when there is plenty of sunlight and nutrient-rich soil before trees grow leaves.
13. New York Aster
- Scientific Name: Symphyotrichum novi-belgii
- Zone: 4-8
- Where to see: Statewide
- Season: late summer to late fall
You might come across the New York aster wildflower if you’re in Maine. It can grow in many places like salty marshes, forests, meadows, fields, and rivers or lakes.
You can recognize it by its flower heads that have tube-shaped flowers in the middle and flat, strap-shaped flowers in colors like blue, purple, pink, red, or white.
Louise writes about a wide variety of topics including wildlife, animals, and nature. She’s developed a growing interest in animal biology and categorization due to her fascination with how they interact with one another and with their surroundings.