Category: Seminum | Sub-Category: Perennials for Sun
Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Eupatorium cannabinum
Family: (Asteraceae)
(P) to 4′. Hemp Agrimony. An easy grower with dense, terminal panicles of fuzzy, warm pink flowers that bloom from July to September. The foliage looks like Cannabis. Much loved by butterflies. Moist soil. Sun. 4 & T2
Category: Rarium | Sub-Category: Perennials for Sun
Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Amsonia illustris
Family: (Apocynaceae)
(P) to 3.5′. Central US. Handsome shiny, leathery, lance-shaped leaves with a terminal cluster of pale, starry blue flowers. Foliage turns bright yellow in fall. Sun/partial shade. 3, 7 for 4 weeks, then T2
Category: Seminum | Sub-Category: Perennials for Sun
Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Gymnaster savatieri
Family: (Asteraceae)
(P) to 3′. Eastern Asia. A choice and uncommon perennial with powdery blue, aster-like flowers with small yellow centres. Lively, angular foliage that always looks perfect. Covered in an exuberance of bloom from September onwards. Simply a “must” for the fall garden. Moist, well-drained soil. Sun. 3 & T1
Category: Rarium | Sub-Category: Perennials for Sun
Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Teucrium scorodonia
Family: (Lamiaceae)
(P) 18″. Wood Germander. A tough, shrubby perennial native to dry, open, pine woods, scrub, heaths and sandy acidic soils throughout Western Europe. Aromatic, notched and puckered, sage-like, wrinkled green leaves adorn dense clumps of stiff, branching, woody stems. Masses of tiny, greenish yellow lipped blooms cover, short, loose spikes in mid to late summer. Dry, lime free soil. Sun. 3 & T2
Category: Rarium | Sub-Category: Perennials for Sun
Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Digitalis lanata (syn. Digitalis lamarckii)
Family: (Plantaginaceae)
(P) to 3′. Native of Turkey. Wonderful pubescent spikes of quietly dramatic, hairy, pale beige, helmet-shaped flowers with maroon netting inside, tinged with mustard. A large, exaggerated, white lower lip adds to the drama. Partial shade. 4 & T2
Category: Seminum | Sub-Category: Perennials for Sun
Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Aquilegia vulgaris Mix
Family: (Ranunculaceae)
(P) to 3′. Columbine. Europe. The common name Columbine is derived from the Latin word for “dove” in reference to the resemblance of the inverted flower to five doves clustered together – a most descriptive image indeed. The intricate flowers can be nodding or horizontal and consist of five sepals and five petals to 1-½ inches long and come in a wide variety of colours, often developing dorsal hooked spurs. Interesting five, fused seed follicles follow. Each follicle has a long thin beak and holds many small, shiny, black seeds and persists until fall. The bushy, clump-forming plants have branched, thinly hairy stems and pinnate leaves, with the basal leaflets trifoliate. One of the most beloved plants appearing in an array of colours, sizes and forms, thanks to natural hybridization in the garden. In 2021 we collected from plants described below. Perhaps you will get an even more exciting variant. Sun to part shade. 4 & T2
– Single White – Single Lavender
– Single Clear Pink – Single Tall Purple
Category: Rarium | Sub-Category: Perennials for Sun
Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Platycodon grandiflorus 'Perlmutterschale'
Family: (Campanulaceae)
(P) to 3′. Mother of Pearl Balloon Flower. A lovely, delicate pale pink version of the above with spidery, dark pink veins. Blooms from mid-summer and into the autumn when flowers are dead-headed. Sun. 4 & T2
Category: Seminum | Sub-Category: Perennials for Sun
Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Opuntia humifusa
Family: (Cactaceae)
Native perennial to 18″ spreading to 3′. Eastern Prickly Pear/Devil’s Tongue. The segmented pads of Opuntia are actually swollen stems partially inserted in the ground from which 1 to 2 sessile pads may develop from its upper curved margin. Each pad is 2 to 7 inches long, obovoid and somewhat flattened. Pad surfaces are medium green to bluish green with areoles (air pores) scattered in diagonal rows across the surface. The areoles have small tufts of brown barbed bristles (glochids) from which a hardened spine, up to four inches long, emerges. One or more greenish and fleshy flower buds up to two inches long can develop along the upper curved margin of each pad. The buds open to reveal two to three-inch flowers of satiny, yellow tepals in whorls. The inner most whorl is orange-red at the base. A ring of showy, yellow stamens surround a single pistil, the style is held above the stamens and at the apex is a ring of stigmas resembling a crown. Striking reddish-coloured, edible fruit follows. Young pads are also edible. This species has adapted to cold winters by withdrawing most of the water from their pads in autumn so that they become shriveled to avoid freeze damage, giving them a wrinkled appearance. Full sun, dry well-drained soil. 2B & 4 & T3
Category: Rarium | Sub-Category: Perennials for Sun
Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Datisca cannabina
Family: (Datiscaceae)
(P) to 7′. False Hemp. An imposing herbaceous plant from India with graceful arching stems and finely divided foliage. A midsummer bloomer with ornamental tassel-like yellow flowers in racemes. This herb yields a yellow dye often used for silks. We have enjoyed it in a pot and now love it in the garden. Sun. 3 & T2
Category: Rarium | Sub-Category: Perennials for Sun
Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Amsonia ciliata
Family: (Apocynaceae)
(P) to 20″. Narrow-Leaved Bluestar. This native of open sandy woodland and prairies from North Carolina to Missouri resembles a petite, more refined version of the Arkansas Bluestar (Amsonia hubrichtii) with five-petalled, starry, periwinkle-blue flowers in early summer. The narrow, almost needle-like foliage turns a brilliant golden yellow in the fall. Dry, well-drained soil. Sun. 3 & 7 for 12 weeks, then T2