It’s a little early by about 5 months, but mark your calendar in July to look for the beautiful, Swamp Rose Mallow. It’s a native perennial wildflower found on Pocosin Lakes Refuge as well as all of the regional national wildlife refuges. It only occurs in saturated soil areas with full sunlight. The flowers attract large numbers of bees and butterflies. Most plants have white flowers, but a few have pink. The flowers mature into a seed pod that opens up and looks like a crown with seeds inside (a food source for birds in the fall and winter). If you walk the boardwalk behind Pocosin Lakes Refuge’s office in Columbia, you’ll find these seed pods. The above-ground part of the plant goes dormant in the winter and regrows from the perennial roots every spring.