My North Creek Nurseries Wish List

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.

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.

Shiny, dark purple-red ruffled leaves with faint silvery marbling between the veins accented by attractive, delicate heads of pink flower clusters held aloft by tall, thin stems in early and mid summer. Fast growing with a tidy, mounding habit. Very popular!

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. 

The non-reseeding progeny of 'Walker's Low'. This low-growing, compact catmint packs a punch of lavender-blue flowers from late spring through summer over aromatic blue-green foliage. Its tidy habit is ideal for mixed containers, the perennial border, and along paths and walkways. A Star Roses & Plants introduction.

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.

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!