My North Creek Nurseries Wish List

We have grown this select form anonymously for many years and have deemed it worthy of a name. It is shorter than the species and has deep dark shining mahogany stems. It came our way from Canyon Creek Nursery, via Roger Rache, then of the Berkley Botanic Gardens's Eastern US section. Originally collected from coastal Rhode Island.

Plant this muhlygrass for a show-stopping autumnal display! An aura of reddish mauve flower spikes bloom late summer into fall and will stop you in your tracks—a performance that intensifies when backlit by the rising or setting autumn sun. Striking when planted en masse, or lovely as an accent mixed into a perennial border. The clouds of flowers dry after frost and persist to provide winter interest. This warm season grass’s fine-textured, soft green foliage forms a tidy, well-behaved mound. Heat and drought tolerant, long-lived and low maintenance.

While not as showy as some others, this fern makes up for it with its neat habit, easy culture, and its lustrous, nearly evergreen leaves. Often used in Christmas floral arrangements because it is still attractive in December. It is a wonderful companion for spring blooming bulbs. Found in acidic to neutral soils on shaded slopes and well drained flats.

A new introduction from Brent Horvath of Intrinsic Perennials, this Rudbeckia is covered in blooms! A domed and shorter orange coneflower, it is perfect planted in masses or in the perennial border, hiding spent blooms to provide uniform color as it blooms for weeks on end. Due to its thinner, hairier leaves, it is found to be resistant to septoria leaf spot.

From the gardens of Mt. Cuba Center, North Creek is delighted to introduce this tough native groundcover. Easily identified by trailing stems and delicate lavender flowers, 'Silver Gem' forms a dense, tidy mat of attractive silver foliage. Flowers appear in March and persist into autumn. Our plant trials have proven 'Silver Gem' to be exceptionally drought tolerant and happiest in part to full shade. Pot in quarts or gallons for early spring sales.