Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Verbena hastata

Family: (Verbenaceae)

(P) to 5′.  Simpler’s Joy.  Eastern North America.  Tall, erect stems with a branched inflorescence of tiny, tubular, purplish pink blooms in dense terminal panicles.  The lance-shaped, toothed foliage is rough textured and somewhat coarse in appearance, making this a better candidate for informal plantings.  Blooms July to September.  Sun.  Moist soil.  Sun.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Eupatorium hyssopifolium

Family: (Asteraceae)

(P) to 3′.  Hyssop-leaf Thoroughwort.  A plant of sandy soils and coastal areas from New England to Florida.  Large, flat-topped inflorescences of white flowers up to one foot across.  Fine textured foliage of narrow, whorled, grey-green leaves.  Easy and a good late summer bloomer.  Well-drained soil.  Sun.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Eryngium yuccifolium

Family: (Apiaceae)

(P) to 4′.  The Rattlesnake-Master of North America.  Greenish, prickly, thistle-like flowers on a towering branched stalk.  Broad, blade-like, blue-grey serrated leaves form large striking rosettes.  Well-drained soil.  Sun.  3 & 6 & Δ

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Oenothera elata subsp. hirsutissima

Family: (Onagraceae)

(P) to 4′.  Hairy Evening Primrose.  Western North America.  From a basal rosette of leaves, reddish flowering stalks arch up and have grey-green, lance-like, hairy leaves with white veins. The unbranched inflorescence bear flowers that open from the bottom up. The beautiful two-to four-inch-wide fragrant, yellow flowers open about an hour before sunset and wither the next morning.  Each flower has four large, heart-shaped petals, four smaller sepals that appear fused in pairs, and a prominent X-shaped stigma that extends out beyond the petals and eight stamens. Pollinated particularly by Hawk or Sphinx Moths during the night. Sun.  3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Agastache nepetoides

Family: (Lamiaceae)

(P) to 5′.  Yellow Giant Hyssop.  South Canada to Southeast US.  Whorls of tiny, greenish-yellow flowers closely packed into five-inch terminal spikes appear on stiff, square stems. Toothed, arrowhead-shaped leaves are up to five inches long. Whilst the leaves lack the strong smell like other species in the mint family, the bitterness of its leaves make it deer resistant.  Tolerant of summer heat and humidity, this late summer bloomer is a favourite of bees, butterflies, and other pollinators.  Grows best in rich, open woodlands. Sun/partial shade.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Triodanis perfoliata (syn. Specularia perfoliata)

Family: (Campanulaceae)

Native Annual to 18″.  Venus’ Looking Glass.  A charming wildflower that appears in waste places, disturbed sites, pastures, prairies, roadsides and railroads across a broad native range spanning from Canada to Central America.  Purple, five petalled, open bell-shaped blooms are ½-inch wide and arise stalkless from the leaf axils along the flowering spike.  Throats of the flowers are whitish and reveal a prominent white pistil.  The lower flowers never open and are cleistogamous, with self-pollination occurring in the closed flower.  Small, ¾-inch long leaves clasp and surround the heavily grooved stem (perfoliate), are broadly ovate, shiny green and alternately arranged.  Leaf margins are coarsely serrate to crenate.  Perfect for an open meadow with well-draining soil.  Sun.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Elephantopus carolinianus

Family: (Asteraceae)

(P) to 3′. Elephant’s Foot.  US, West Indies.  Valued for its late summer to fall bloom and large, attractive lower leaves, which inspire the common name.  Bloom consists of many small, tubular, pale lavender disc florets which are arranged in compound inflorescences.  Although a member of the composite family, the flowers of Elephant’s Foot are not daisy-like in appearance because each flower head contains only disc flowers.  Similar in appearance and closely related to the ironweeds (Vernonia).  Forms a nice groundcover in dry to medium moisture soils.  Sun/partial shade.  3 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Abutilon theophrasti

Family: (Malvaceae)

(A) to 3′.  Velvet Leaf, China Jute.  A Native of southern Asia whose specific epithet commemorates the ancient Greek botanist-philosopher, Theophrastus.  Velvet Leaf has been grown in China since around 2000 BCE for its strong, jute-like fibre.  The alternately arranged leaves are light green, cordate, pubescent and up to eight inches long and wide.  A solitary flower about ¾-inch across emerges from the axils of the upper leaves. Each flower consists of five petals that are yellow to orange-yellow, five light green, pubescent sepals, and numerous stamens with golden yellow anthers that surround the pistil in a loose cluster. The flowers are followed by interesting fruit that is initially light green, but quickly turns brown or black with maturity. This fruit (schizocarp) is a circular cup-shaped disc of 9 to 15 carpels, each with a beak on the margin of the disc.  Blooms July to August.  Well-drained soil.  Sun/partial shade.  3 & T3

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Lobelia inflata

Family: (Campanulaceae)

(A) to 3′.  Indian Tobacco.  Another great native North American plant for the flower border!  Spikes of small fan-shaped light blue flowers with a bearded lower lip are followed by fat balloons filled with seeds.  Long blooming from summer to frost.  The alkaloid Lobeline, was used until recently to appease nicotine cravings.  Sun.  3 & 6A

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Verbesina virginica

Family: (Asteraceae)

(P) to 6′.  Frostweed, Virginia Crownbeard.  Southeastern US.  From a distance, the many loose, open corymbs of small flowers look like white “daisies.”  On closer inspection the flowers are comprised of up to five oblong and notched, pistillate ray florets and many white central disc florets with five prominent, exserted, purple anthers.  The pubescent, winged stems are interesting with their up to six-inch long, downy, alternate, oblong-lanceolate leaves with serrated margins.  Each stem has soft, fleshy green flanges running longitudinally down its length. When winter weather brings ice, the stems exude water that freezes into fascinating shapes, hence its common name.  Blooms late summer.  Often seen along roadsides and open places.  An important late season nectar plant for pollinators.  Well-drained soil.  Sun/partial shade.  4 & T1