Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Eupatorium hyssopifolium

Family: (Asteraceae)

(P) to 3′.  Hyssop-leaf Thoroughwort.  A plant of sandy soils and coastal areas from New England to Florida.  Large, flat-topped inflorescences of white flowers up to one foot across.  Fine textured foliage of narrow, whorled, grey-green leaves.  Easy and a good late summer bloomer.  Well-drained soil.  Sun.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Eryngium yuccifolium

Family: (Apiaceae)

(P) to 4′.  The Rattlesnake-Master of North America.  Greenish, prickly, thistle-like flowers on a towering branched stalk.  Broad, blade-like, blue-grey serrated leaves form large striking rosettes.  Well-drained soil.  Sun.  3 & 6 & Δ

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Deschampsia cespitosa

Family: (Poaceae)

(P) to 3′.  Tufted Hair Grass.  North America.  This semi-evergreen grass forms a dense clump of narrow, dark green leaves up to 18 inches long.  In early summer, finely textured, arching flower stalks rise to 3 feet.  Spikelets (flower clusters) are single at the tips of slender branchlets with hair-like awns and are greenish-silver to purple-tinged.  As the season progresses the spikelets bleach to tawny and remain attractive, persisting well into winter.  Bonus:  Larval food plant for several butterflies in North America including the Umber Skipper.  Sun/partial shade.  4 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Echium vulgare

Family: (Boraginaceae)

(B) to 3-½’.  Viper’s Bugloss.  Europe.  Rosettes of slender, bristly foliage from which arise many stout flowering spikes with funnel-shaped flowers along their length.  The buds start off pink, then the five-petalled flowers turn the most exquisite shades of intense blue to violet with five protruding red stamens.  As the flowers fade, they become tinged with crimson. Viper’s Bugloss is one of the best plants to attract bees to your garden by producing nectar throughout the day unlike most plants which only produce nectar for a short period of time.  Sun.  3 & T1

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): Stewartia pseudocamellia

Family: Theaceae

Hardy tree to +30′.  Japanese Stewartia.  Perhaps the perfect tree for all seasons.  Large, white, open flowers with orange anthers appear in July.  Dark green, elliptic leaves turn a rich autumn colour of yellow, red, and dark purple.  As the tree grows, the bark develops an exquisite, exfoliating texture, coloured shades of dove grey, orange and cinnamon, giving it excellent winter interest.  For a sheltered position in open woods.  Moist, leafy soil.  Sun/partial shade.  3 & 6

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Aethionema schistosum

Family: (Brassicaceae)

(P) to 6″.  Turkish Stone Cress.  Turkey and Lebanon.  Erect, woody stems with narrow, blue-green foliage produce rounded heads of rosy lilac, four-petalled flowers in early summer.  Interesting multi-coloured, flat seed capsules follow and persist.  A welcome self-sower.  Sun.  3 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Verbena stricta

Family: (Verbenaceae)

(P) to 4′.  Hoary Vervain. North America.  This clump-forming, showy native has opposite leaves to 3 inches in length that are pointed at the tip, coarsely toothed, covered with dense hairs, and stalkless. Stems are square and covered in long white hairs with a flush of reddish colour at the base.  The upper stems terminate in hairy floral spikes to eight inches long and are densely crowded with ½-inch purple to blue-violet flowers. The flowers have 5 petals fused at the base forming a short tube. The petal lobes are slightly unequal in size, the 2 lateral lobes largest and the lower lobe notched at the tip. Hidden inside the tube are 4 stamens and a short style. The spike elongates as the plant matures with flowers blooming from the bottom up and fruit forming below.  Prefers sandy soil.  Sun.  3 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Papaver rupifragum

Family: (Papaveraceae)

(P) to 20″.  Spanish Poppy. Solitary, crepe-like, four-petalled, soft orange flowers are 1-½ inches across and held on wiry stems.  The flowers appear to float above the basal rosettes of sparsely hairy, grey-green, pinnately lobed leaves.  Long-blooming.  Well-drained soil.  Sun.  4 & T2, cover and keep dark

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Dianthus knappii

Family: (Caryophyllaceae)

(B/P) to 16″.  A unique, yellow flowered Dianthus native to scrubby hillsides and dry, grassy meadows in the Western Balkans.  Dense, terminal clusters of soft lemon yellow flowers on slender, nodding stems.  Loose, grassy clumps of narrow, pale green foliage.  A short-lived perennial that often dies after blooming, best treated as biennial.  Blooms in midsummer.  Well-drained soil.  Sun/partial shade.  4 & T2