Green to bright chartreuse flowers appear in clusters above scalloped, grey-green foliage from late spring through summer. Robust and vigorous, Alchemilla mollis 'Auslese' prefers full sun to part shade and has a wonderfully uniform habit.
Delicate, nodding white flowers bloom early to mid spring atop lustrous dense, green foliage. A low maintenance groundcover for bright shade! Easy to grow in containers, overwinters well in cold frames if protected from heavy rain and snow melt.
One of the most widespread species of Carex in North America, growing in wet meadows, prairies, swamps and marshes. The seedheads mature in late summer and resemble fox tails, hence the common name.
Helenium 'Mardi Gras' produces a festival of multicolored blooms to jazz up the garden for six to eight weeks in mid to late summer. Yellow petals are lavishly edged with bright orange-red, aging to clear red edged in gold, all surrounding deep chestnut cones. Gorgeous in a pot! Great as a cut flower, its long stems are sturdy and vase life is long. Heleniums are naturally resistant, even toxic, to deer and rabbits. An early pinch back helps promote branching.
A wonderful pot plant with long retail shelf life and rewarding garden and landscape performance. It loves heat and humidity and breezes through a drought like a champ. Single, one inch, pale blue, daisy-like flowers on a compact mound of green all summer. Resembles Felicia or Brachycomb - but it's hardy! Very popular in Europe and deserves much more recognition here. Many thanks to Ewald Hügen for introducing us to this gem!
Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii 'Little Goldstar'
Common Name: orange coneflower
This knee-high performer is a knockout in the landscape! Selected for copious floral display and dwarf habit with increased manageability, this variety has excellent branching and forms a tidy, compact clump. A bit more floriferous than 'Goldsturm', flowers are held high above rich green foliage and bloom from July into October.
Delightful, compact and easy to grow, Silene 'Short and Sweet' is an excellent choice for bright shade or full sun. It is covered in deep pink flowers in late spring. Very reliable for us through wet and dry seasons, and in a cool spring it seems to bloom forever—one year we tracked 8 weeks of full bloom! A great native substitute for Dianthus, this Silene has similar appearance and bloom time, but tolerates a wider variety of garden situations. Silene 'Short and Sweet' is a fantastic plant for naturalizing, yet it can hold its own as a specimen in a container or patio garden as well.
Brilliant yellow flowers bloom in spring atop blue-green, pinnately lobed foliage. Leaf underside has a silvery cast. An easy-to-grow native that will self sow and form a dense shade groundcover. Tolerates all but the driest conditions. Beautiful paired with Mertensia virginica, Aquilegia canadensis, Aruncus dioicus, and Phlox divaricata.
Growing under 2' tall, Tricyrtishirta Miyazaki Hybrids bear purple-speckled flowers along gently arched stems—with more gently arching stems than the straight species and a clumping nature unlike other rhizomatous toadlilies on the market. Miyazaki Hybrids are best showcased along a pathway or near a seating area in the garden, as their unique flowers are certain to draw attention. A wonderful addition to the fall shade garden.