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New This Week
June 8, 2026
Pollinator Plant Spotlight
Late Figwort
Late Figwort (aka Simpson’s Honeyplant)
Scrophularia marilandica
The saying “good things come in small packages” doesn’t relate to the size of late figwort, but it does relate to the blooms! While the plant can stretch up to 10 feet tall (though average height is 4-5 feet) the clusters of blooms are so small you’d barely notice them. If you grab a hand lens on a sunny day you can truly appreciate the small jewel-like flowers ranging in color from yellow, green, purple, brown, maroon and even bright red. It’s what’s on the inside of the bloom that has Xerces Society list figwort as one of the top 100 best plants to feed the bees.
According to Xerces Society, figworts are some of the most prolific nectar producers in the plant kingdom and is a high valued late-summer food source for pollinators. While blooming June through September you will see a variety of pollinators visiting—native bees, wasps (especially beneficial predatory wasps), butterflies, and hummingbirds. The sugar content of figwort’s nectar measures between 18-35%! The nectar is secreted into two drops at the base of the flower’s ovary. When a pollinator laps up the nectar, the nectar drops reappear only moments later. This all-you-can-eat buffet for pollinators had beekeepers thrilled in the late 1880s when an Illinois beekeeper James A. Simpson wrote about using S. marilandica as bee pasturage and it was noted a single acre of late figwort could produce 400 to 800 pounds of honey that was prized for being light, clear, and aromatic.
Not only does late figwort have the abundance of nectar, but it’s also a plant that can tolerate a wide range of soil and sunlight conditions. Late figwort can handle up to 70% shade to full sun, and enjoys moist soil, but can tolerate dry, well-drained soil. This perennial returns year after year from thickened underground roots and does not become weedy in the garden. The acrid foliage makes late figwort deer and rabbit resistant. This is an all-in-one pollinator plant!
Family:
Figwort (Scrophulariaceae) family includes a range of small herbs to shrubs. Species in this family feature tube-shaped flowers highly adapted to pollinators. Notable members of the family include butterfly bushes, foxgloves, and mulleins.
Name:
The family’s Latin name originates from the one-time use of this family for scrofula, a bacterial infection in the lymph nodes of the neck. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the Doctrine of Signatures was popular – the philosophical concept which claims a plant or animal’s appearance can be used as clues to their medicinal uses. Now comes the stretch…some species of Scrophularia had swollen roots that looked like figs (fruit), figs resembled hemorrhoids, so the plant was believed to cure hemorrhoids, hence the common name. Today scrofulous means morally corrupt. I’m starting to like the common name “Simpson’s Honeyplant” much more!
Native Range:
Native to Quebec and west to Minnesota, south to Florida and west to Texas. It is found in our mountains of North Carolina.
Fun Fact:
Flowers are protogynous meaning its female reproductive parts mature before its male parts. This mechanism ensures cross-fertilization by allowing the flower to receive pollen from another plant before releasing its own pollen.
Growing Conditions:
Soil: Does best in fertile, moist, sandy loam but is adaptable if the soil is well-drained. Does well along the margins of streams, ponds, and woodlands.
Sunlight: Prefers partial shade, but will also tolerate full sun.
Height/Width: It will grow 4-10 feet tall and 3-6 feet wide.
Zones: 4-8
References:
https://xerces.org/blog/plants-for-pollinators-figwort
https://www.honeybeesuite.com/fun-with-figworts-the-sticky-scrophularia/
