My North Creek Nurseries Wish List

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.

Named by Klaus Jelitto of Jelitto Staudensamen (Perennial Seeds) in Germany, for Swedish nurseryman Magnus Nilsson, who carefully selected for ten years, looking for fine form, dark hue, and very horizontal petals. A tall, coarse plant with large, dark green leaves and a large, 3-4" flower with broad hot pink to purple petals that surround a brown/bronze cone. Plants are tough and heat and drought tolerant once established. Their roots have famous medicinal qualities, they make great, long lasting cut flowers and attract numerous butterflies and small birds.

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.