My North Creek Nurseries Wish List

This native classic is best known as a food of larval monarch butterflies (along with its cousins A. incarnata and A. tuberosa). Robust, yet beautiful with deep pink clusters of fragrant flowers in June and July followed by lovely pods of silky seeds in October.

This member of the Wood's Aster group has the typical low rounded habit and profuse blooming associated with all three. 'Wood's Blue' has perfectly clean foliage, and in the early fall it is covered with clear, medium blue flowers with gold centers. Bred for compact habit, long bloom period and heavy flowering, all of the Wood's Asters are outstanding pot crops and should be used far more often as a sturdy perennial alternative for mums.

A dark pink fall-blooming aster with a tidy habit and smothered in flowers? Oh man, we think we may have developed a crush. A 'Pink Crush' that is. An introduction from Walters Gardens, this New England aster is a shorter variety that doesn't splay in the late season like other aster cultivars. 

Handsome crowns of feathery fronds are typical of this genus. Delicate and lacy with arching fronds and dark red stems at maturity. Strong-growing and dependable, lady ferns are great garden plants. Tough and easy to grow, this beauty is the right choice for perennial borders and woodlands alike. A breathtaking flush of new fronds appears in the spring, with new leaves appearing throughout the season for a continuously fresh look. Found in swamps, thickets and damp woods east of the Rockies.

A tall and lovely prairie native with long spikes of pure white flowers from May to Mid-June.  Easy and long-lived, it is native from New York to Minnesota, Texas to Mississippi.

One of the most popular garden grasses in the world, 'Karl Foerster' is known for its ease of culture, tidy vertical habit and beautiful feathery blooms. In mid summer flowers open a creamy white tinged with pink. As they age they become narrow plumes of golden straw and last well into winter.

This beautiful selection has narrow (1/4") leaves with white margins, giving it a very fine texture overall. Rhizomatous, forming thick silvery clumps. A bright addition to the shade palette!

A bright groundcover for a shady spot, 'Ice Dance' has long shiny leaves trimmed in bright white. It spreads slowly to fill in and make a tidy cover that discourages weeds. Deer and disease resistant, it is long-lasting and easy to grow!

According to Plantipp, the motto of this stunning Caryopteris is big, blue & beautiful! We found that to be true in our own trial gardens here at North Creek. Its powdery grey-green foliage is the perfect skirting to present the long wands of stacked deep blue flowers. The flowers are bigger than other Caryopteris that we have trialed with long wands lasting weeks on end. It is a wonderful addition to the landscape or container garden and excellent for cut flowers. Superior low growing habit. 

Spikes of elegant white flowers top shiny green foliage in late summer and early fall. Grows best in moist meadows, stream banks, and swamps. Favorite breeding site for the Baltimore Checkerspot Butterfly.

A uniform plant both in production and the garden. Extremely tolerant to heat & humidity with superior winter survival and hardiness to Zone 5 - this lavender has been tested in several locations in Minnesota and Michigan with excellent results. Also resistant to common root and foliar diseases. Blooms best after vernalization. Developed & introduced by Peace Tree Farm. Required breeder tags must ship with all orders.

Huge powder-blue leaves make up 2' to 3' of basal foliage that is effective all during the growing season. In June and July, towering flower spikes explode with large, deep gold, drooping ray flowers with a black center. A must-have for the butterfly and bird lover! Reliable and deer proof.

From Beate Zillmer of Zillmer Pflanzen in Uchte, Germany. Imagine 'East Friesland' with violet blue flowers and glowing purple stems. Incomparable! Its tidy upright habit makes an excellent companion for Geranium, yellow Baptisia, and purple Heuchera.

We’re thrilled to offer Chris Hansen’s breakthrough new Sunsparkler® series! Selected for compact growth habit, attractive foliage, large flower heads, and brilliant bloom color…'Cherry Tart' does not disappoint! Masses of brilliant pink, 5" diameter flower clusters explode above cherry-red leaves from late summer into early autumn. Perfect for the landscape or container garden.

An east coast native that is useful for dune restoration projects, stormwater management, roadside, and habitat plantings.

'Sweet Kate' is an easy-to-grow perennial that produces a profusion of unusual deep-blue flowers from summer to fall. An eye-catching accent for the border, the vibrant golden-yellow foliage is the perfect foil for its bloom and a bright companion for purple-foliaged plants.

One of the few varieties of Tricyrtis with variegated leaves that is a good, tough garden plant with clean foliage! Green leaves with creamy, almost gold edges are topped in fall with lily-like flowers of purple with dark purple spotting with yellow throats. Best admired from close by, it is lovely planted near a patio or sitting area mixed with other shade perennials.

The tall, thin spikes of Blue Vervain grace the wet meadows of the US in July and August. Verbena hastata is a short-lived perennial that readily self sows where happy. A great plant for pond's edge where it seeds in between sedges and rushes and cheerfully holds its own.

This selection of the Arkansas native comes to us from Dr. Allan Armitage's trials at the University of Georgia. It has lovely fine foliage like Amsonia hubrichtii and is a compact, well-branched and vigorous plant. In late summer it is covered with true purple flowers that attract plenty of butterflies. Found in rocky flood plains, Vernonia lettermannii is very tolerant of hot, dry locations, yet can withstand brief periods of inundation.