Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Verbascum chaixii Mix

Family: (Scrophulariaceae)

(P) to 4′.  Europe and Russia.  A delightful blend of yellow and white Nettle-leaved Mullein. Grey-green, felted, and corrugated leaves form basal rosettes from which rise spire-like, unbranched stems with terminal racemes of five-lobed, flattish, one-inch, yellow or white flowers with violet stamens.  Very versatile.  Mid-summer. Sun.  4 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Verbascum phlomoides

Family: (Scrophulariaceae)

(B) to 6′.  Woolly Mullein.  Southern Europe.  Grown by Gertrude Jekyll for its branched spikes of bright yellow flowers with white woolly stamens.  Attractive foliage, dense basal rosettes of large woolly grey leaves.  Miss Jekyll loved it, and so do we.  Blooms mid to late summer.   Sun.  4 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Papaver rupifragum ‘Flore Pleno’

Family: (Papaveraceae)

(P) to 18″.  Double Spanish Poppy. This charmer made its first appearance on our Order Beds this year.  Many-petalled, rich orange, three-inch flowers on wiry stems float above rosettes of downy, grey-green, pinnately cut, oblanceolate leaves.  Long-blooming.  Well-drained soil.  Sun.  4 & T2, cover and keep dark

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Yucca smalliana

Family: (Asparagaceae)

(P) to 4′.  Bear Grass Yucca. Southern North America.  This Yucca is similar in many ways to the more popular Adam’s Needle (Yucca filamentosa), however smaller in stature.  Also, the leaves are finer, flatter, and narrower with smoother leaf margins, except for the occasional thread-like fibres.  The flowers are opalescent white and may at times have a light pink-tinge.  Yuccas will form a small colony over time from basal offsets.  Well-drained soil.  Sun.  3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Digitalis trojana

Family: (Plantaginaceae)

(B/P) to 3′.  Helen of Troy Foxglove.  Turkey.  This beauty makes an evergreen rosette with gleaming, dark green lanceolate leaves with fine, grey-haired margins.  Flower spikes of furry, tightly set, silver buds open to caramel-coloured blossoms, featuring intricately patterned golden yellow and brown throats, and a conspicuous creamy-white lower lip.  Long blooming and more drought tolerant than other Digitalis and happiest in a cool, somewhat shady setting.  A fairly new summer bloomer in our Gravel Garden.  Sun/partial shade.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Digitalis mariana

Family: (Plantaginaceae)

(B/P) to 3′.  Spain, Portugal.  A rare Foxglove with glowing, grey-green felted leaves that form a loose mound two feet high and wide. In late summer, multiple flower spikes are adorned with pinky-purple, nodding, tubular blossoms marked with white interiors and speckled with darker pink, irregular spots.  Sun/partial shade.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Cenolophium denudatum

Family: (Apiaceae)

(P) to 3′.  Baltic Parsley.  Europe and Asia.  A lovely, hardy, Queen Anne’s Lace relative.  Abundant, five-inch, flat-topped umbels of creamy white flowers on branching red stems, float atop mounds of dark-green, fern-like foliage.  Blooms mid-summer to mid-autumn.  Attractive to many beneficial insects, especially butterflies.  Adds a delicate airiness to the summer border.  Full sun and well-drained soil.  3 & T1

This seed is either sold out or unavailable

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker Red’

Family: (Plantaginaceae)

(P) to 3′.  A pretty Penstemon with basal bronze foliage and spikes of white, rosy tinged blooms.  Flowers in midsummer.  Comes true from seed.  Sun.  3 & 6 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Lathyrus latifolius Mix

Family: (Fabaceae)

(P vine) to 6′.  Everlasting Pea.  Europe.  A lovely perennial pea with short racemes of 4 to 11, unscented flowers produced from the axils of the alternating, blue-green leaves.  We are offering a delightful mix of white and opalescent, pale pink blooms from our Order Beds.  They are growing too close together now to offer separate colour selections.  Long blooming throughout the summer.  Sun.  2B & 3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Iris sibirica

Family: (Iridaceae)

(P) to 2′.  Siberian Iris.  Europe and Central Asia.  This creeping rhizomatous perennial forms a dense clump of green, grass-like leaves which are ribbed and can sometimes have a pink tinge at the base of the leaf.  The hollow, slender, flowering stems bear two to five violet-blue flowers in late spring and early summer.  The flowers are comprised of six perianth segments – three outer, large, reflexing sepals (falls) and three inner, smaller, upright and incurved petals (standards).  At the base of the falls (haft) are yellow-brown markings.  The wide central part of the falls (blade) is white with dark blue to violet veining.  In autumn, the foliage turns yellow and then dies back in winter, to re-emerge in the spring.  A gardener’s “must-have” for a moist, sunny spot.  3 & T1