Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Rumex sanguineus var. sanguineus

Family: (Polygonaceae)

(P) to 12″. Bloody Dock. Europe. A fantastic foliage plant with pointed, oblong, medium green leaves, veined blood red to maroon. Reddish brown flowers froth in panicles. If you want a striking foliage plant at the front of the border, this is your plant. Sun/partial shade. 4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Rudbeckia triloba

Family: (Asteraceae)

(P) to 5′. Brown-eyed Susan. Central eastern United States. Actually, the “eyes” are black to purple button discs which accent the yellow-orange ray petals. Good colour for the garden throughout the summer. Excellent cut flower and a mainstay in our bouquets. Sun. 4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Rubia tinctorum

Family: (Rubiaceae)

(P) to 2′. Dyer’s Madder. East Mediterranean to Central Asia. The roots of this plant have been used since ancient times as a red dye for leather, wool, cotton and silk. Early evidence of dyeing comes from India where a piece of cotton dyed with madder has been recovered from the archaeological site at Mohenjo-daro (3rd millennium BCE). The red coats of the British Redcoats were dyed with madder, after earlier being dyed with cochineal. The foliage resembles sweet woodruff or bedstraw with whorled lanceolate leaves that are leathery, rough and prickly. The mostly five-petalled flowers are tiny in loose, many branched, leafy cymes, yellow-green to honey coloured. Round, shiny black, berry-like fruit follow. Summer flowering. Sun. 3 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Phlomis tuberosa 'Amazone'

Family: (Lamiaceae)

(P) to 5′. Central and southern Europe. Numerous stems with many dense whorls of rosy purple blooms, each with a long upper lip. Whorls can have from 14 to 40 flowers each. Attractive clumps of large, arrow-shaped, slightly hairy, textured leaves. Late spring to early summer. Robust and floriferous. Moist, well-drained soil. Sun. 4 & T1 & Δ

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Patrinia scabiosifolia

Family: (Caprifoliaceae)

(P) to 4′. Gold Lace. A great “see-through” plant with open, airy cymes of sweetly scented, dainty, star-shaped chrome-yellow flowers in summer. Attractive glossy dark green leaves that turn yellow in autumn. Long bloomer. Sun/partial shade. 3 & T2 & Δ

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Paeonia ostii

Family: (Paeoniaceae)

(P) to 5′. Osti’s Tree Peony. China. Named for Dr. Gian Lupo Osti, President of the International Dendrological Society. This woody peony is very floriferous with six-inch wide, sweetly fragrant, pure-white flowers with ruffled edges. In the centre of the flower is a cluster of pistils with prominent red stigmas surrounded by a mass of stamens with yellow anthers and pink filaments. When the petals drop, the big, fleshy receptacle is exposed with a green, drooping calyx and fat fruits/carpels with the still-prominent red stigmas, all together resembling a court jester’s hat. The attractive, medium green foliage is deeply divided into oval to lance-shaped leaflets on red petioles and is good-looking throughout the season. A real show-stopper in our Order Beds. Sun/partial shade. 3 & 6A

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Myrrhis odorata

Family: (Apiaceae)

(P) to 5′. Sweet Cicely. Europe. Grown for its anise-scented, fern-like foliage. Flowers bloom midsummer and are small, white, flat, compound umbels. Well-suited to naturalizing in woodlands and flower borders where it is an admirable foil for withering bulb foliage. Important for any herb garden for both culinary and medicinal uses. Chew the leaves and young stems for their anise flavour or chop and add the leaf stalks to acid fruits to reduce the amount of sugar required in cooking. Moist soil. Sun/partial shade. 3 & 6

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Mentha longifolia Buddleia Mint Group

Family: (Lamiaceae)

(P) to 2′. Buddleja Mint. Eurasia. Narrow, soft grey leaves and long, lilac-purple flower spikes. This lovely herbaceous plant resembles a miniature Butterfly Bush. An essential part of our Flower Garden beds for both colour and texture. Long blooming. Well-drained soil. Sun. 3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Lunaria rediviva

Family: (Brassicaceae)

(P) to 3′.  Perennial Honesty.  Europe.  Sweetly scented, four-petalled, pale lilac flowers.  Elliptical, slightly tapering seedpods mature to silvery, translucent cases used in dried floral arrangements.  Tough and durable with large, handsome, pale green, cordate leaves.  Partial shade.  3 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Ligularia stenocephala

Family: (Asteraceae)

(P) to 4′. Native to Japan and northern China. With these variable plants, expect rounded or triangular jagged leaves, light or dark foliage and stems, and spikes of yellow florets. You can’t go wrong. Summer. Moist soil. Sun/partial shade. 4 & T2