Here you go!

Here is a link that might be useful: Native Plants for Wildlife/Conservation Landscaping in Maryland

I have good success with mediterranean-type plants (hot, dry), and the following: Salvia, coreopsis, baby's breath, all of the sedums, liatris, many of the campanula, hosta, daylilies and lots of other lilies, persicaria, scabiosa, lavender.

G'Day!
- i agree, start with natives. They must like it here or they wouldn't be natives!
- my favorite, locally easy perennials include strawberries, coneflowers, strawberries, black eyed susans, strawberries, shasta daisies, monarda / bee balm, irises, daylilies, crepemyrtle, lilacs, buddleia, strawberries, purple clover, native ferns, sedums, basic daffydils (not sure how persistant / spreading the fancies will prove to be), muscari / grape hyacinth, star-of-bethlehem, forsythia, cane / ribes fruits, and, um, strawberries.
i've had some annuals self-sow prolifically, such as cosmos and purple podded pole beans.
"Hardy" perennials i have had no luck with here include rosemary and lavender.
i look forward to reading others' suggestions. Happy Gardening,
-vlad

Wait a minute -- I have clerodendrum bungeii coming out of my ears and sending suckers out my nose, so to speak -- in a sheltered location beneaath my bedroom window the thing has spread from one small stick to a three-foot thicket in two years, and it blooms for more than a month! If anyone wants me to bring a potted sucker of this sweet-scented pink-and-cream-blooming monster to the swap, I can certainly oblige!

Other prolific plants that like it hot and humid:
- maypops (passiflora/passionfruit vine),
- sweet autumn clematis (these two vines are lovely together, though be sure to keep the passiflora in a solid-bottomed pot so it doesn't send runners up 30 feet away),
- daylilies,
- phlox do OK, but get mildewed in our climate
- Japanese anemone,
- closed gentian (gentiana andrewsii)
- trycirtis (toad lily)

and lots more!

LynnT

I'm surprised no one mentioned Black Eyed Susans (rubeckia). they bloom for a couple of months, and don't seem to have any pests or diseases.

Verbena bonariensis, V. rigida, and V. 'Snowflurry' like hot , humid weather and are hardy here.

rudbeckia or lantana would be my 1st two choice, a little more southern then some of you but my lantana does perennial, and when it does the 3rd and 4th year plants are over 4 feet tall and 4 feet wide. full sun very little water

Our black-eyed Susans get powdery mildew. It's extremely humid here.

The foliage looks best on my: salvias, asiatic lilies, daylilies, sedum, purple hyacinth bean vine, cardinal climber vine, alyssum, hostas, foxgloves, hydrangeas, ladyferns. Peonies and hostas have fended off the powdery mildew with a little help from baking soda (Cornell formula), so I guess they are susceptible but slightly resistant.

Good luck!

Oh I"ve also heard amaranthus tricolor loves heath and humidity anyone tried it ???? ARe there many culttivars ???????

The mail-order nursery Sunlight Gardens (located in eastern Tennessee) has one of the best selections of native wildflowers, ferns, vines, perennials, and shrubs of the southeastern US. You will find many plants that thrive in hot, humid summers. Descriptions and pictures are on their web site, which has a "search" page with many options. Or you can download a (PDF) catalog, or request a paper catalog.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sunlight Gardens, mail-order nursery, southeast US native plants

I'm bumping this up since we are starting to plant and there is some good info here.