Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Boehmeria spicata

Family: (Urticaceae)

(P) to 4′.  False Nettle.  Discovered in Korea by Dan Hinkley of Heronswood Nursery.  We love it in our Woodland, arching out of Pachysandra terminalis.  Bold, nettle-like, jagged-edged leaves have pinkish red, thread-like, elongated flower clusters emerging from the leaf axils.  A real curiosity.  Summer blooming.  Partial shade.  3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Amsonia tabernaemontana

Family: (Apocynaceae)

(P) to 3.5′.  Common Blue Star.  Southeast United States.  A lovely addition to the flower border bearing starry, forget-me-not blue flowers in late spring and early summer.  Large, carefree plant and surprisingly shade-tolerant.  The foliage turns golden yellow in autumn.  Sun/partial shade.  3 & 7

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Allium flavum var. minus

Family: (Alliaceae)

Hardy bulb to 4″.  Central Europe to West Asia.  Lilliputian form of Allium flavum.  Loose umbels of sulphur-yellow flowers in early summer.  Grey glaucous foliage.  Loves a hot dry location.  Great in a rock crevice.  Sun.  3 & 6

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Antennaria plantaginifolia

Family: (Asteraceae)

(P) to 10″.  Ladies’ Tobacco.  North American native.  Mat forming, with ovate-elliptic, deeply veined, grey-green foliage that is sparsely woolly above, silver-grey and extremely woolly below.  The flowers are in dense, terminal clusters, white to pale pink, resembling “Pussy-Toes.”  Male and female parts are produced on different heads on different plants, with the female flowerhead often fluffier and the male flowers typically appearing on shorter flower stalks.  This “Pussy-Toe” packs a punch.  Blooms early spring.  Sun.  3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Mirabilis jalapa Yellow

Family: (Nyctaginaceae)

(TP) to 2.5 ‘.  A sunshine yellow version of the Four o’Clock.  Sun/partial shade.  4 & T3

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Tellima grandiflora

Family: (Saxifragaceae)

(P) to 2′.  Fringe Cups.  Western North America.  Racemes of lime-green, bell-shaped, filigreed, fragrant flowers turning delicate pink with age.  Basal leaves are softly hairy.  Partial shade.  4 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Phyteuma cordatum (syn. Phyteuma balbisii)

Family: (Campanulaceae)

(P) to 4″.  An Italian native.  Palest blue, globular flowers with a five-part corolla made up of petals that appear to open in the middle and unite again at the tip.  They suspend on wiry stems above broadly ovate, heart-shaped leaves.  Summer bloomer.  Interesting and fun.  Well-drained soil. Sun.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Dicentra cucullaria

Family: (Papaveraceae)

Native perennial to 12″.  Dutchman’s Breeches.  This easily recognized spring ephemeral typically occurs on forest floors, slopes, ledges, valleys and along stream banks, emerging in March and flowering in early April.  Foliage is greyish green and deeply-cut with a fern-like appearance.   Racemes of waxy, white (infrequently tinged with pink), yellow-tipped flowers have two inflated spurs that suggest the legs of tiny pantaloons with the ankles facing upward.  Flowers are borne in pairs, drooping from leafless stems arching above the foliage.  Self-sows when happy and enjoys part to full shade in humus-rich, woodland soil.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Staphylea pinnata

Family: (Staphyleaceae)

Hardy Tree to 15′.  European Bladdernut.  An erect, branching, shrub-like tree with shiny, dark green, finely toothed, 5 to 7 pinnately compound, opposite leaves.  Drooping panicles of fragrant, white, bell-shaped flowers are comprised of five red-tipped sepals and five separate petals that form a tube.  The pale green, two to three lobed, membranous, three-inch seedpods are inflated, bladder-like and persist into fall.  Very attention-grabbing.  A good understory tree that blooms from late spring to early summer.  Moist, well-drained soil.  Shade/partial shade.  3, 6A & Δ

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Gymnaster savatieri

Family: (Asteraceae)

(P) to 3′.  Eastern Asia.  A choice and uncommon perennial with powdery blue, Aster-like flowers with small yellow centres.  Lively, angular foliage that always looks perfect.  Covered in an exuberance of bloom from September onwards.  Simply a “must” for the fall garden.  Moist, well-drained soil.  Sun.  3 & T1