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): 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): Echinacea purpurea

Family: (Asteraceae)

(P) to 3.5′.  Purple Coneflower.  North America.  Large, warm rose-purple daisies with slightly reflexed petals blooming from July into September.  A beautiful native wildflower that is at home in the garden.  Well-drained soil.  Sun.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Corydalis sempervirens

Family: (Papaveraceae)

(B) to 12″.  Rock Harlequin.  North America.  Open panicles of tubular pink flowers with conspicuous yellow tips.  Attractive glaucous green, fine-cut foliage.  Biennial, but will self-seed.  Awesome en masse.  Sun/partial shade.  4 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Lychnis flos-cuculi

Family: (Caryophyllaceae)

(P) to 2′.  Ragged Robin.  Europe.  Erect, branching stems hold a long succession of shaggy, soft lavender-pink blooms.  The flowers have five narrow petals; each deeply divided into four lobes giving the flower an untidy, ragged appearance, hence its common name.  The leaves are paired, with the lower leaves spoon-shaped, stalked and forming a basal rosette.  The middle and upper leaves are linear-lanceolate with pointed apexes and entire margins.  The stems have barbed hairs pointing downward and these hairs make the plant rough to the touch.  Blooms from May through August.  A sight to behold en masse.  Full sun with moist, but well-drained soil.  4 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Hypericum hirsutum

Family: (Hypericaceae)

(P) to 3′.  Hairy St. John’s Wort.  Found in parts of Europe, the Middle East and Asia, this downy plant has erect stems and opposite pairs of un-toothed, elongated oval leaves with translucent glandular dots.  The loose cylindrical to narrowly pyramidal inflorescence has many pale yellow flowers of five pointed sepals with interesting black glands along the margins.  The five petals are narrowly elliptic with translucent glands and sometimes veined red.  The many long, showy stamens are in bundles and fused at the base, surrounding the green pistil of three fused carpels.  The fruit is a many-seeded, three-part capsule that appears at the same time as flowers.  Grows happily on our Rock Ledge in full sun and well-drained soil.  3 & T1

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Aster shortii (syn. Symphyotrichum shortii)

Family: (Asteraceae)

(P) to 3′.  Short’s Aster.  This native Aster is named after Charles Wilkins Short (1794-1863), a physician and botanist in Lexington, KY who taught at Transylvania University.  An attractive inhabitant of grasslands and dry woodlands producing clouds of airy blooms.  Leafy stems terminate in 12-inch, rounded panicles of compound flowers comprised of 10 to 20 pale blue-violet ray florets surrounding as many yellow disc florets which turn a brick red colour after pollination.  Sun to part shade, average garden soil.  Blooms late summer through October, attracting an array of pollinators and seed eaters.  3 & 6 & ∆

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Rudbeckia subtomentosa

Family: (Asteraceae)

(P) to 6′. Sweet Black-eyed Susan. Tallgrass Prairie. A host of two-inch, bright yellow-petalled, dark-eyed daisies. Bushy clumps of downy, sweet scented, grey-green leaves; the lower leaves being three cleft. Blooms in late summer. Moist to well-drained soil. Sun. 3 & T2

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Gillenia trifoliata

Family: (Rosaceae)

(P) to 4′. Bowman’s Root. A native of eastern North America and a favourite of ours whether planted in our Woodland or Flower Garden. In mid-summer, sprays of starry, white, five-petalled flowers adorn wiry red stems enhancing the finely serrated green foliage. Attractive red calyces persist after petals fall. Sun/partial shade. 3 & 6

This seed is either sold out or unavailable

Scientific Name (Genus/Species): Hibiscus moscheutos subsp. palustris

Family: (Malvaceae)

(P) to 7′. Swamp Rose Mallow. Eastern US. It is hard to believe this robust, lush-foliaged plant with incredible saucer-sized, rose-pink, crepe-paper blooms is in fact a hardy native. Late to emerge in spring, but once they do, they grow quickly and so require a moist fertile soil to really thrive – the edge of a pond or marsh, rich in organic matter is ideal. Late summer bloomer. 1 & 2B, then 3 & T2