Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Tiarella cordifolia

Family: Saxifragaceae

(P) to 12″.  Foam Flower.  North America.  A creeping groundcover with attractive, rich green, maple-shaped leaves heavily puckered and creased along the main veins.  Racemes of small, starry, fluffy white flowers rise above the foliage.  Partial shade/shade.  4 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Eupatorium sp.

Family: Asteraceae

(P) to 10′.  Wow.  A late summer giant looming up against the blue sky with clusters of purple-mauve flowers.  Foliage coarsely serrated, arranged in whorls on a dark purple stem.  A statement-making “must-have.”  Sun.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Campanula latifolia Mix

Family: Campanulaceae

(P) to 5′. Great Bellflower. Europe. A mix of tall, open spikes of large, violet-blue and pure white bells adorn very upright stems. Blooms in June and July. Beautiful and reliable. Sun/partial shade. 4 & 7 for 2 weeks, then T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Salvia argentea

Family: Lamiaceae

(B) to 3′.  Silver Sage.  Southern Europe, Portugal to Bulgaria.  This biennial or short-lived perennial is grown mostly for its two to three-foot wide silver basal rosettes of woolly, wrinkled foliage in its first year.  However, the two to three foot tall spikes of tubular, hooded, white flowers are attractive too, but the main appeal are the rosettes.  May self-sow gently.  Excellent for gravel gardens and drought-resistant plantings.  Blooms spring to summer.  Full sun.  Average, well-drained soil.  4 & T3

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Tanacetum vulgare

Family: (Asteraceae)

(P) to 3′.  Tansy.  Europe.  Button-like yellow flowers with absent or inconspicuous rays appear in compact, flat-topped clusters.  Fern-like green leaves up to eight inches long are pinnately divided, strongly-scented, and somewhat reminiscent of Yarrow. Dating back to ancient Greece and Rome, this plant has a long history of use as a folk medicine remedy, the foliage has been used as an insect repellant, and the flowers have been used in funeral shrouds and wreaths. Summer bloomer.  Well-drained soil.  Sun to part shade.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Solidago canadensis

Family: (Asteraceae)

(P) to 5′.  Canadian Goldenrod.  This North American native with its rhizomatous growth is perfect for the meadow.  Central stems are clad with many narrow, alternate, lance-shaped, sharply-toothed, leaves with conspicuous lateral veins.  The leaves are hairless above but hairy beneath and tapered at each end. Stems are topped in late summer to fall with large horizontally branched, terminal pyramidal panicles containing one-sided recurving branches filled with masses of tiny yellow flowers, each to 1/8″.  A magnet for pollinators, beneficial insects, and birds.  Average soil.  Full sun.  4 &T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Silene virginica

Family: (Caryophyllaceae)

(P) to 18″.  Fire Pink.  Eastern North America.  A lovely wildflower that features brilliant, two-inch, scarlet red flowers, each with five spreading, notched-at-the-tip petals plus sepals which are united into a long sticky tube. Flowers bloom in spring atop slender, downy, and sticky stems clad with narrow, lance-shaped, green leaves. Ruby-throated hummingbirds are the principal pollinator of Silene virginica.  Flowers also provide nectar for native bees, butterflies, and nocturnal moths. Well-drained soil.  Part sun to part shade. 3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Fagopyrum esculentum

Family: (Polygonaceae)

(A) to 3′.  Common Buckwheat.  Asia.  Cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop, Buckwheat is also a great plant for the meadow at Stonecrop.  It is somewhat erect but has a tendency to sprawl in the absence of support. The stems become ribbed and reddish green with maturity. The alternate, cordate leaves are up to four-inches long and 3-inches across with a slightly undulated edge. One or two racemes of flowers develop from the axils of the upper leaves; some of these racemes may be terminal. The racemes are one to three inches long, and densely crowded with whorls of flowers. Each flower is up to ½-inch across, consisting of five petal-like, white sepals that become green toward the throat of the flower. Long bloom period and a pleasant floral scent. Each flower is replaced by a winged achene with three sides. Primarily bees and ants visit the flowers for their abundant nectar. When honeybees visit the flowers of Common Buckwheat in fields, they produce a distinctive honey.  Self-sows.  Prefers moist, rich soil.  Direct sow or 3 & 7 for 3 weeks then T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Cichorium intybus

Family: (Asteraceae)

(P) to 4′.  Common Chicory.  Europe.  Attractive, stalkless, typically clear blue flowers to 1”, clasp rigid, nearly leafless stems in a long procession of bloom from May to October. Rays are typically blue but occasionally white or pink, and usually close by noon. Lower lance-shaped, dandelion-like, basal leaves up to 6″ long are variously toothed, cut or lobed and have rough-hairy surfaces. Upper stem leaves are smaller with clasping bases. The deep fleshy taproot exudes a milky sap when cut. Chicory can be found along roadsides, and is now common in North America, China, and Australia, where it has become widely naturalized. Many varieties are cultivated for salad leaves, chicons (blanched buds).  Chicory roots (var. sativum), which are baked and ground, were used as a coffee substitute by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War and also used in the United Kingdom during the Second World War, where Camp Coffee, a coffee and chicory essence, has been on sale since 1885 and still popular today. 4 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Achillea millefolium

Family: (Asteraceae)

(P) to 2-½’.  Common Yarrow.  Native to Europe, Asia and introduced to America in colonial times and has since naturalized throughout the U. S. The leaves are hairy, deeply dissected, fern-like and aromatic.  Tiny, long-lasting, white flowers appear in dense, flattened, compound corymbs up to 3″ across.  Blooms throughout the summer.  Great flower both fresh-cut and dried.  Average, well-drained soil.  Sun.  4 & T1