Our best selection of plants for the 2022 season is here now! Even though record numbers of customers have poured in this month and left with record numbers of great plants and products, we STILL have tons and keep bringing out more!
We thought you might like to know more about some of the great but less familiar plants we have in stock right now, so we’ve put together some Plant Portraits for you here.
Achillea x kellereri
A star performer in the sunny xeriscape garden, Keller’s Yarrow is a wonderful semi-evergreen groundcover with perfect manners. The attractive finely divided grey foliage stays neat and low to the ground, and with deadheading, the large white flower clusters bloom all summer atop 6” stems. Keller’s Yarrow spreads slowly to make a mat about 12-18” wide and will not become aggressive. Its flowers, which provide a nectar source for many species of butterflies, are sterile and will not self-sow. And the drought-resistant plant is reportedly flame-resistant!
Coreopsis auriculata nana
Also known as Dwarf Tickseed, this Coreopsis is a perennial wildflower native to the Southeastern region of the US. Low growing to only 6-9 inches high, Dwarf Tickseed will spread slowly to 2 feet by underground stems. The bright, showy golden orange flowers appear in May and June, and are long blooming if kept deadheaded. The dark green, spreading evergreen foliage turns burgundy in fall. Perfect for edging borders, mixing in meadows and naturalistic plantings, and filling in around taller plants. It has the advantages of being drought tolerant once established, attractive to butterflies, and deer resistant.
Dianthus barbatus Hollandia Mix
Dianthus barbatus, known as Sweet William, is a centuries-old, sweetly scented, easy to grow favorite, especially for cutting to make the most charming, long-lasting bouquets, and providing edible flowers. Sweet William is normally a biennial, but Hollandia is special, blooming the first year. Hollandia produces very large, solid flower clusters in shades of crimson, white, scarlet, pink, purple and bicolor throughout the summer. The 20” to 32” tall plants have strong stems and are tough and generally pest-free. See a photo here.
Echinacea pallida
Pale Purple Coneflower grows up to 3′ feet tall and has a distinctive character, its pale purple to pink flowers sporting long, narrow drooping petals beneath large red-orange central cones. It blooms in early summer when only a few of the sun loving plants are in bloom and provides nectar for hummingbirds and butterflies, and the leaves provide food for the larva of Ottoe Skipper butterflies. Pale Purple Coneflower is easy to establish and should be planted in well-drained soil in full to partial sunlight. Most Coneflowers dislike soil that is excessively moist or has poor drainage. Once the taproot is established, it is very drought-tolerant and needs little care. In the past, all the Purple Coneflowers were used as medicinal plants by the Native Americans and there is still a market for the roots, which are used to make herbal medicines and tonics.
Engelmannia peristenia
Engelmann’s Daisy is tough, showy, native wildflower enjoyed for its summer-long display of golden-yellow flowers that are visited by many butterfly and bee species. A resilient perennial that thrives in a wide range of climates and growing conditions, it is particularly useful in hot, poor soil planting conditions where it thrives with minimal care. It appreciates supplemental watering during dry spells and will re-seed itself and naturalize when happy. It grows to 18-36” tall and 15-18” wide, and is resistant to deer and rabbits. Engelmann’s Daisy was introduced to commerce by Plant Select®.
‘Harlequin’s Silver’ Teucrium
Selected by Harlequin’s Gardens, this beautiful, low, dense mat of “ever-silver” narrow foliage thrives on minimal water and looks great year-round. The soft foliage is pineapple-scented, and the tight clusters of little rosy-purple, honey-scented flowers almost cover the wide cushion, delighting bees and butterflies with their nectar. Use singly, or en-masse as a very handsome, weed-suppressing ground cover providing excellent textural and color contrast without being an aggressive spreader. Height/Width 4-8” x 24-36”. (Also pictured at top of this article.)
Scutellaria suffrutescens
Cherry Skullcap is considered marginally hardy on the Front Range, but its beauty and its value to hummingbirds make it worth planting even if it may not overwinter in your garden. The small evergreen sub-shrub forms a low mound of bright green foliage 4” to 8″ tall and up to 2′ wide. Waves of vibrant pink snapdragon-like flowers cover the plant from late spring to mid-summer, bringing hummingbirds to your borders or containers. No wonder it was chosen as a Plant Select® introduction! The plant has a tidy mounding habit that makes it a wonderful perennial for the front of the garden or along the edge of paths and patios. A xeric native of northern Mexico, hardy to Zone 6, plant it in fast draining soils where it gets plenty of sun and heat.
Seseli gummiferum (Moon Carrot)
Photo credit: Plant Select®
Plant Select® found this unique and little-known plant that had been minimally in the trade but underused in local gardens. Moon Carrot is easy to grow, adaptable, very drought-tolerant, and full of character. The foliage is silvery-blue and lacy, with pink and purple tones emerging in winter. As is typical with biennials, the plant remains in a basal rosette the first year. The second year, one or more 12” to 30”- tall, usually much-branched flower stalk arises bearing many pale pink flowers clustered in large, slightly domed umbels. Blooms are continuous and generous from midsummer through fall and attract gazillions of pollinators and beneficial insects. Try planting Moon Carrot in a ‘white garden’ where the moon’s reflection will highlight the foliage as well as the flowers or use it as an accent plant to add a sculptural surprise to your garden. Moon Carrot is easy to grow in either full sun or part shade and is not fussy about soils. It can adapt to moderate or low watering regimes. Allow the seeds to ripen and fall to assure future generations. Hardy to USDA Zone 5.
Solidago ‘Crown of Rays’
A robust, medium-sized, easy-care, hardy perennial Goldenrod with deep green foliage and large, showy sprays of vibrant golden-yellow flowers, perfect for adding sunny color to a xeriscape border or naturalized garden. Blooming in late summer, this goldenrod will attract and support an incredible number of pollinators and beneficial insects. For many years, Goldenrod was wrongly blamed for aggravating ‘hay fever’, when in fact, the real culprit was Ragweed. Crown of Rays is long-lived and forms a bushy mound with strong 24-30” tall stems that do not require staking.
Zizia aptera
Known as Heartleaf Alexanders, these pretty native prairie wildflowers are some of the earliest members of the Apiaceae (Parsley) family to bloom, supporting numerous beneficial insects and pollinator species. In spring and early summer, flower stems rise 2-3’ tall above glossy heart-shaped basal leaves, bearing showy flat-topped clusters (umbels) of small lemon-yellow florets. Each umbel averages 2-3” across and contains 70-300 florets that are about 1/8” wide. Zizia aptera flourishes in sun or part sun with moist or dry soil. Plants tolerate clay loam, rocky or gravelly soil, and alkaline pH and are cold hardy to USDA Zones 3. Considered a short-lived perennial, it has persisted in our gardens so far for 4 years. It can also self-sow in the garden.