Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Deutzia crenata var. nakaiana

Family: (Hydrangeaceae)

Perennial shrub to 2′, spreading to 4′.  Japan, Southeast China.  Dwarf Deutzia.  A pretty compact, shrub with rich green leaves, turning purple-red in autumn. Panicles of star-shaped white flowers.  Perfect for the rock garden or front of the border.  Blooms June to July.  Full sun. Very hardy.  4 & 6 & T3

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Blephilia ciliata

Family: (Lamiaceae)

(P) to 3′.  Downy Wood-Mint.  A charming native plant found from Kansas to New England in open woods, glades, and along roadsides.  Dense clustered whorls form along sturdy stems.  Each whorl bears many small, pale lavender, tubular lipped blooms with purple spots nestled inside hairy, fringed bracts.  The rough, downy basal foliage is pleasantly aromatic.  May to August.  Moist, well-drained soil.  Partial shade.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Allium karataviense

Family: (Alliaceae)

(P) to 6″.  Central Asia.  One of the first ornamental onions to bloom, and one of the most spectacular.  Baseball sized, spherical flowerheads of pale, purple-pink stars appear in late spring.  The short, sturdy stems hold the blooms just above the wide, glaucous, blue, recurving, ribbed foliage.  Always attracts admiring comments in our Flower Garden.  Sun.  3 & 6

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Viburnum setigerum ‘Aurantiacum’

Family: (Adoxaceae)

Hardy Shrub to 12′ tall and 8′ wide.  Tea Viburnum.  C & W China.  This rounded, multi-stemmed, upright-arching, deciduous shrub has three to five-inch pointed, slightly toothed, blue-green leaves that were once used to make tea.  Small white flowers appear in terminal, flat-topped, two-inch cymes in spring.  The real show begins in late summer with copious cluster of bright orange, ovoid berries that persist well into early winter.  Berry production is often so abundant that it causes the stems to arch downward from the weight.  In fall the leaves turn reddish brown to deep purple and nicely complement the orange berries.  Sun and high shade.  3 & 6 (64-72° for 8 weeks then 25-39° for 12 weeks), then T1 until germination-can take up to 18 months to germinate.

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Sibiraea laevigata

Family: (Rosaceae)

Hardy shrub to 7′.  China.  Grown for its beautiful sea green foliage and deep red-brown shoots.  Dense, terminal panicles of small, five-petalled, white flowers with numerous stamens in late spring and early summer.  The older bark is furrowed and interesting.  Sun.  3 & T2 & Δ

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Asclepias syriaca f. leucantha

Family: (Apocynaceae)

(P) to 5’. White Milkweed. Eastern North America. A unique and striking form of the Common Milkweed.  Many umbellate cymes of fragrant, five-petalled flowers.  The petals are light green with white margins, the bright white corona consists of five hoods with beaks. Discovered this season colonizing in a relatively undisturbed border. This beauty is equally as supportive to pollinators as the more common pink form. Blooms June to August.  Sun.  4 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Saxifraga x apiculata

Family: (Saxifragaceae)

(P) to 4”.  The earliest plant to bloom outside at Stonecrop and a welcome sight it is, too.  Tight cushions of bright green, closely packed, narrow leaves are studded with an abundance of Primrose yellow flowers.  Sun.  4 & 7

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Campanula carpatica Mix

Family: (Campanulaceae)

(P) to 8″.  Tussock Bellflower.  Carpathian Mountains.  This seed is a lovely mix of blue, white and purple colours yielding large, solitary, five-petalled, up-facing, bell-shaped flowers.  Most welcome, as it flowers when other Campanula blooms are over.  A long bloomer but deadhead to keep the show going.  Sun.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Erysimum helveticum

Family: (Brassicaceae)

(P) to 6″.  Mountain Wallflower.  C & E Europe.  Tufted clumps of linear, dark grey-green leaves are a great foil to the flat heads of purple tinted buds which open to clusters of fragrant, bright yellow, four-petalled flowers.   A beautiful alpine and extremely long-blooming, from spring well into the summer months.  Sun.  3 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Scabiosa ochroleuca

Family: (Caprifoliaceae)

(P) to 2′.  Cream Pincushion Flower.  Europe, West Asia.  Dainty, soft yellow, pincushion-like flowers.   A delightful plant whether grown alone or in the company of pastels.  Foliage is dissected and glaucous green.  Blooms from midsummer to frost.  A carefree plant preferring leaner soils and full sun. 3 & T2 & Δ