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): 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 filipendulina

Family: (Asteraceae)

(P) to 4′.  Fern-leaf Yarrow.  Native to the Caucasus, Iran, and Afghanistan.  Deeply dissected, hairy, fern-like, aromatic (spicy) green leaves up to 10″ long are divided into many pairs of linear-lanceolate toothed segments and form an attractive basal clump of foliage. Tiny, long-lasting, bright golden flowers (yellow rays and yellow discs) appear in dense flattened plate-like compound corymbs up to 4″ across on stiff, erect stems rising above the foliage.  Blooms throughout the summer.  The genus name Achillea refers to Achilles, hero of the Trojan Wars in Greek mythology, who used the plant medicinally to stop bleeding and to heal the wounds of his soldiers.  Great flower both fresh-cut and dried.  Average, well-drained soil.  Sun.  4 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Lepechinia salviae

Family: (Lamiaceae)

Tender subshrub to 3′.  Chile.  A more compact form of Lepechinia hastata with large, blue-green, arrow-shaped leaves that are highly pebbled and pleasantly aromatic.  The flowers are magenta in colour, however in combination with the dark calyx and deep pinkish flower stem they have an overall smokey hue to the magenta. burgundy flowers, held in dark calyces on deep pinkish stems. Sun.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Eriophyllum lanatum

Family: (Asteraceae)

(P) to 18″.  Oregon Sunshine.  W. North America.  This compact perennial forms a low cushion of silvery leaves up to 3 inches long that are irregularly divided into narrow lobes.  Both stems and leaves are covered with white hairs.  Brilliant golden-yellow daisy-like flowers rise on long, grey stems. Blooms freely in summer and attractive to bees and butterflies.  Great in perennial borders, rock gardens and embankments.  Well-drained soil.  Full sun to part shade.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Anemone hupehensis var. japonica

Family: (Ranunculaceae)

(P) to 2-½’.  Japanese Anemone. Native to China, Japan.  Basal foliage clump to 12 inches tall is comprised of 3-parted, dark green leaves on long petioles. Each leaf has large-toothed margins and is softly pubescent beneath. Long, upright, wiry, graceful, branching flower stems rise well above the foliage clump bearing single, cup-shaped, apetalous, two-to-three-inch flowers. Each flower contains five to seven showy, rounded, pinkish-white to pale rose-mauve tepals with a contrasting green, button-like center containing a ring of yellow stamens. Flowers from midsummer to autumn. This hardy perennial is beautiful in the woodland garden or border and planted in masses.  Moist, fertile, humusy soil in sun or partial shade. 3 & 6 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Hibiscus moscheutos subsp. palustris White

Family: (Malvaceae)

(P) to 7′.  Swamp Rose Mallow.  Eastern US.  A lovely white version of the above with a dark pink centre.  Late summer bloomer.  1 & 2B, then 3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Hibiscus moscheutos subsp. palustris Pink

Family: (Malvaceae)

(P) to 7′. Swamp Rose Mallow. Eastern US. It is hard to believe this robust, lush-foliaged plant with incredible saucer-sized, rose-pink, crepe-paper blooms is in fact a hardy native. Late to emerge in spring, but once they do, they grow quickly and so require a moist fertile soil to really thrive – the edge of a pond or marsh, rich in organic matter is ideal. Late summer bloomer. 1 & 2B, then 3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Calamintha nepeta

Family: (Lamiaceae)

(P) to 2′.  Calamint.  Europe and Asia.  Loose mounds of deliciously aromatic foliage are literally covered from August until frost with dainty, lavender, and white, hooded flowers with a tri-lobed lower lip.  The soft, mid-green leaves are attractive too, and in a well-drained, sunny pot it makes the perfect edge to path or border.  Sun.  3 & T1