Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Nepeta parnassica

Family: (Lamiaceae)

(P) to 5′.  Tall Greek Catmint.  Albania and Greece.  Truly the biggest and most impressive Catmint we have ever seen.  Although native to the dry, rocky meadows of the Balkan Peninsula it seems to luxuriate and thrive in our fertile garden soil.  The strong, upright stems bear fragrant, greyish green foliage and produce dense whorls of rich lavender-blue flowers in crowded, elongated spikes.  This is a “sturdy item,” that does not need to be cut back halfway through the season.  Blooms mid-summer onwards and will add stature, colour, and fragrance to the late summer garden.  Sun, well-drained soil.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Nicandra physalodes ‘Black Pod’

Family: (Solanaceae)

(A) to 4′. Shoo-fly Plant, Apple of Peru. A sturdy, free-flowering, wide-spreading annual with pale blue, bell-shaped flowers with a white central ring and a deep purple, five-pointed star at the very centre. Blooms throughout the summer. Decorative, papery, five-winged, green with black pods are great for drying. Sun. 4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Nicotiana sylvestris

Family: (Solanaceae)

(A) to 6′. Flowering Tobacco. This tobacco plant adds boldness to the flower border. Slender, pendulous, scented trumpets make this another indispensable Nicotiana. The heavenly evening fragrance invites you back into the garden. Self-sows. Sun. 4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Nigella damascena 'Miss Jekyll Blue'

Family: (Ranunculaceae)

(A) to 18″.  Love-in-a-Mist.  South Europe.  Soft, many-petalled, sky blue flowers are surrounded by curved, feathery bracts.  Upright stems covered with delicate, fern-like foliage make the blossoms appear to be floating on a misty green bed.  Fawn-coloured, inflated, papery seedheads are attractive when dried.  Sun.  3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Oclemena acuminata (syn. Aster acuminatus)

Family: (Asteraceae)

Native perennial to 2′.  Whorled Wood Aster.  The sharply toothed leaves of this pretty woodland native alternate in a tight spiral on hairy stems, giving a whorled appearance, hence the common name.  Terminal clusters of one inch, daisy-like flowers comprised of white-tinted-purple ray florets that surround a central mass of yellow disc florets that turn reddish with age.  The ray florets are not straight like other asters, but rather twisty and free-form.  Seedheads are clusters of tan cypselae, each cypsela has a pappus of white, silken bristles, aiding its dispersal.  Colonizes beautifully in a woodland setting.  Blooms June to October.  Shade to part shade and humus-rich, woodland soil.  3 & 6 & ∆

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Oenothera elata subsp. hirsutissima

Family: (Onagraceae)

(P) to 4′.  Hairy Evening Primrose.  Western North America.  From a basal rosette of leaves, reddish flowering stalks arch up and have grey-green, lance-like, hairy leaves with white veins. The unbranched inflorescence bear flowers that open from the bottom up. The beautiful two-to four-inch-wide fragrant, yellow flowers open about an hour before sunset and wither the next morning.  Each flower has four large, heart-shaped petals, four smaller sepals that appear fused in pairs, and a prominent X-shaped stigma that extends out beyond the petals and eight stamens. Pollinated particularly by Hawk or Sphinx Moths during the night. Sun.  3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Paeonia ostii

Family: (Paeoniaceae)

(P) to 5′. Osti’s Tree Peony. China. Named for Dr. Gian Lupo Osti, President of the International Dendrological Society. This woody peony is very floriferous with six-inch wide, sweetly fragrant, pure-white flowers with ruffled edges. In the centre of the flower is a cluster of pistils with prominent red stigmas surrounded by a mass of stamens with yellow anthers and pink filaments. When the petals drop, the big, fleshy receptacle is exposed with a green, drooping calyx and fat fruits/carpels with the still-prominent red stigmas, all together resembling a court jester’s hat. The attractive, medium green foliage is deeply divided into oval to lance-shaped leaflets on red petioles and is good-looking throughout the season. A real show-stopper in our Order Beds. Sun/partial shade. 3 & 6A

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Papaver atlanticum

Family: (Papaveraceae)

(P) to 2′.  Moroccan Poppy.  Soft orange, two-inch, single, tissue paper blooms with yellow anthers are followed by club-shaped pods.  Pale green, silken, jagged basal leaves.  Self-sows beautifully.  Sun.  4, D & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Papaver somniferum Mix

Family: (Papaveraceae)

(A) to 3.5′.  Southeast Europe, West Asia.  We are lucky to have a number of showy variants of the classic Opium Poppy that self-sow each year in the Flower Garden.  Stems and leaves are a glaucous, greyish-green and sparsely covered with coarse hairs.  Jaggedly incised and toothed leaves clasp the upright stems at the base.  Tissue paper-like flowers are typically four-petalled, but often double, vary widely in colour and can have dark makings at the petal bases.   Flower centres feature many attractive stamens arranged in multiple whorls.  The beautiful and persistent fruits are hairless, rounded, many-seeded capsules opening by pores just below the apex.  Whilst we cannot promise specific colours, we can assure you great satisfaction in establishing these self sowers in your full sun garden.  Best sown in situ upon receipt.

This year’s colours include: 

Pink, Peach, Red, Orange and Blue. 

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Parthenium integrifolium

Family: (Asteraceae)

(P) to 3′.  Wild Quinine.  Eastern United States. Tiny clustered, almost ball-like, white flowers in broad, branching, flat-topped corymbs.  The tapering leaves are coarsely toothed and decrease in size up the stems, with the upper leaves often absent or clasping the stem.  Both the leaves and stems are rough and covered in short bristly hairs.  Well-drained soil.  Sun.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Patrinia monandra

Family: Caprifoliaceae

(P) to 4′.  Golden Lace.  China to Taiwan.  A showy, clump-forming perennial with five-petalled, yellow-green flowers borne on dense, upright, branched, flat-topped clusters.  As the flowers fade, the bleached, flat seed heads provide an extended period of interest lasting through late summer.  Basal, dark green, lobed foliage with crenate margins.  An uncommon, stunning species great for the flower garden.  Sun to part shade.  3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Patrinia scabiosifolia

Family: (Caprifoliaceae)

(P) to 4′. Gold Lace. A great “see-through” plant with open, airy cymes of sweetly scented, dainty, star-shaped chrome-yellow flowers in summer. Attractive glossy dark green leaves that turn yellow in autumn. Long bloomer. Sun/partial shade. 3 & T2 & Δ

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Penstemon digitalis

Family: (Plantaginaceae)

(P) to 3′. Foxglove Beard-Tongue. Eastern and Southeastern US. A very pretty, clump-forming Penstemon with basal, bronze foliage. Panicles of white flushed rosy-pink, two-lipped, tubular blooms with purple nectar guides. Flowers in mid-summer. Comes true from seed. Sun. 3 & 7 for 4 weeks, then T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Penstemon hirsutus

Family: (Plantaginaceae)

(P) to 2′.  Hairy Beard-Tongue.  A very hardy Penstemon that is native to eastern North America.  Lovely, dusky, pale purple flowers with white lobes add a subtle presence to the spring garden.  Leaves are lanceolate and acute.  Both leaves and stems are covered by very fine hairs.  Sun/partial shade. 3 & 6 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Perilla frutescens Green Leaf

Family: (Lamiaceae)

(A) to 4′.  Shiso.  Himalayas to East Asia.  A selection of superb, iridescent foliage plants.  Try one, or all of them in the flower border.  Easy to move around the garden to “fill in” when you need a good block of colour.  Self-sows.  Sun.  Best sown in situ or 4 & T2