Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Calamagrostis epigejos

Family: (Poaceae)

(P) to 5′.  Wood Small-Reed.  Eurasia.  Linear, silver-green foliage becoming purple-bronze as the season progresses.  Flowers are erect and foxtail-like, emerging green-grey and becoming auburn as they mature.  This grass receives so many compliments in our Flower Garden.  We started it from seed ourselves many years ago.  Sun.  4 & T1

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): Tricyrtis macropoda

Family: (Liliaceae)

(P) to 3′.  Japanese Toad Lily, Yama-hototogisu.  China, Japan.  Shining, deeply veined, dark, heart-shaped leaves on erect, arching stems that branch into loose terminal and axillary clusters of upward pointing, orchid-like buds and flowers.  Flowers are a more delicate pale-pink or white, featuring small, reddish-purple spots with stamens and stigma that protrude far above the six splayed petals.  August to September.  Moist soil.  Sun/partial shade.  3 & 6

 

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Mirabilis longiflora

Family: (Nyctaginaceae)

(TP) to 3.5′.  Sweet Four o’Clock, Angel’s Trumpets.  Texas, Arizona and Mexico.  Extraordinary, six-inch long, very slender, white trumpets are borne in great profusion on mounds of sticky, bright apple-green foliage.  The flowers release a sweet orange-blossom fragrance in the evening.  These unusually long flowers need a special pollinator with an extended proboscis, such as the Hawkmoth.  The Hawkmoth is similar to the Hummingbird in that they hover in place and unfurl their proboscis and drink the sucrose-rich nectar they require, thus creating a mutually beneficial relationship.  Lift and store the swollen tubers over winter as you would a Dahlia.  Blooms midsummer to fall.  Sun/partial shade.  4 & T3

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): Dianthus barbatus – Darkest of All

Family: (Caryophyllaceae)

(B/A) to 18″.  Sweet William.  South Europe.  Long-lasting, dark maroon to almost black, clove-scented flowers bloom in flat-topped cymes.  Attractive dark foliage too.  Sun.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Corydalis paczoskii

Family: (Papaveraceae)

(P) to 4″.  Ukraine to Central Asia.  Rare species with short racemes of spurred, tubular purple flowers over small tufts of delicate, finely dissected green leaves.  Spring blooming.  Sun/part shade.  4 & T1