An upright, clump-forming perennial native to parts of the upper Midwest and Great Plains region. Lavender to purple flowers are densely packed along showy, cylindrical, terminal spikes mid to late summer. Medium green, lanceolate foliage remains clean throughout the season and carries a refreshing anise scent, attracting hummingbirds and butterflies.
Large leaves (to 2') emerge in the spring and provide a bold backdrop for earlier blooming perennials. In the fall, numerous flower stalks rise to 4 or 5 feet and each is covered with 1" sky blue daisy-like flowers. Flowering is later than many other asters and this species often provides brilliant color until frost. Found by Rick Darke and Skip March at the Jindai Botanical Gardens. This cultivar is shorter than the species and less likely to require staking.
Blue spikes of pea-shaped flowers resemble the tall racemes of lupines in May and early June. A slow to mature, but very rewarding native garden perennial. Found in open woods, river banks and sandy floodplains, New York to Nebraska to Georgia.
Selected by Steve Lighty while at The Conard-Pyle Co., this dimunitive Joe Pye has the vivid color of 'Gateway' at a height more appropriate for small gardens. 'Little Joe 'is also more compact in a container too.
Joe Pye weed is a robust, upright perennial with hollow purple stems accented by huge, rounded, tight clusters of pink or purplish-mauve flowers. It is an important pollen and nectar plant and attracts butterflies (particularly the swallowtail butterfly) and other pollinators by the dozens. Its height makes it an excellent background plant in border perennial beds, but is also majestic standing alone. Flower color is darker in cooler weather.
Heliopsis helianthoides var. scabra 'Burning Hearts'
Common Name: smooth oxeye
A seed selection by Jelitto Perennial Seeds, Heliopsis helianthoides 'Burning Hearts' stands 4' tall with dark red purple foliage and abundant contrasting yellow daisy-like flowers with orange centers. Plant begins blooming in its first year and blooms from June to mid-October.
A superb intro from Charles Oliver of the Primrose Path, this is a native late-flowering groundcover. This has much shinier, almost lacquered looking foliage vs. H. villosa 'Purpurea'. Like its cousin 'Autumn Bride', 'Bronze Wave' is sturdy, perhaps an 18", or a bit larger, clump. September-October flowering spikes of small tan flowers. Excellent shade groundcover that can happily compete with tree roots and come out looking good.
Perhaps this should win the prize for easiest plant to grow. It loves heat and humidity and breezes through a drought like a champ. Single, one inch, white daisy-like flowers on a compact mound of green all summer. Very unusual and attractive. Great in the landscape and in containers. Essential for the butterfly gardener!
The short stature, continuous sunny bloom, and deep wine coloring of this native plant make Lysimachia lanceolata'Burgundy Mist' a new favorite groundcover, winning over our Gardens Department by how it keeps weeds at bay and is a carefree plant.
An early season bloomer with light blue flowers and deep purple calyxes, Nepeta × faassenii 'Purrsian Blue' is a wonderful addition to your garden. Stands out from the crowd with its low and tidy appearance, this selection from Walters Gardens has us taking notice.
Meaning "many eyelashes," polyblepharum describes the fuzzy stems of this glossy deep green garden fern. Dependable and hardy, it lends elegance to the shade border and combines well with Carex, Heuchera, and other ferns. Evergreen in warmer zones.
A garden classic with bold texture and upright habit. Bright gold petals with a deep brown cone highlight the garden in late summer. Each flower may last up to two weeks! Makes a wonderful and long lasting cut flower. Provides seeds in the winter for birds and nectar for butterflies. Beautiful and versatile, outstanding in mass plantings as well as perennial borders, meadows and prairie gardens.
Rudbeckia triloba 'Prairie Glow' has our attention! With brightly colored flowers of yellow with a bright red eye fading to a glowing orange to bronze, this native beauty brings fire to the sunny border. Its multi-branching habit provides dense flower cover, more so than the straight species, and its late blooming time, starting in July and flowering right through to October, makes this a valuable pollinator plant.
A vigorous running groundcover with red speckled, deeply dissected heart shaped foliage, Tiarella 'Running Tapestry' produces a plethora of white flower spikes in spring. Discovered by Jim Plyler of Natural Landscapes Nursery, West Grove, PA, the irrepressible grower of native trees and shrubs. A Cornell University All Star Groundcover!