This introduction is a very long-blooming perennial, forming a spreading mound of bright-green ferny leaves. Small butter-yellow daisies appear in succession from early summer to late fall, each petal delicately serrated at the tips. Shear plants lightly in August to encourage renewed blooming. Great for the front of a sunny border, or planting in mixed containers. Tolerates heat and humidity. Plants will flower best in a sunny location. Blooms are larger, and flower colour is darker than the older selection ‘Moonbeam’. From Blooms of Bressingham®. USPP#16096: unlicensed propagation prohibited.
Purple Dome New England aster is a refined plant for the garden border with its symmetrical, compact mounded form reaching only 2’ tall. In early autumn, it is covered with dense clusters of purple, daisy-like, semi-double flowers.
Asclepias tuberosa is a species of milkweed native to eastern North America. It is a perennial plant growing to 0.3–1 metre tall, with clustered orange or yellow flowers from early summer to early autumn. The leaves are spirally arranged, lanceolate, 5–12 cm long, and 2–3 cm broad.
This introduction is long-blooming and compact in habit. It forms a low mound of green willow-like leaves, bearing clusters of dark-blue buds that open into starry soft-blue flowers in early summer and last for several weeks. Plants are long-lived, idea for massing or growing near the front of the sunny border. Leaves turn buttery gold in the autumn. Easy and carefree. Flower colour is the deepest shade of blue yet found in any Amsonia species or selection. Discovered in a seedling block of Amsonia tabernaemontana at White Flower Farms, but suspected to be a hybrid.
Allium ‘Summer Beauty‘ (syn. A. angulosum ‘Summer Beauty‘). More often appreciated for its glossy deep green foliage in the spring and lilac flowers in the summer, A. ‘Summery Beauty’ can add tremendous color and texture to the winter garden. The straw-brown color and strong vertical nature of remnant flower stems topped with remains of the hemispherical flower umbel, now collapsed and pendulous, reflect what was once from the summer. A member of the Amaryllidaceae, this native of central Europe to northern Asia–from France and Italy to Siberia and Kazakhstan–is at home in the Midwestern perennial garden.
Allium ‘Summer Beauty‘ produced leaves up to 10 in. long with flowering stems of up to 20 in. tall. Plants work well as mass plantings, although individual plants can be slow to establish and take up to three years to begin spreading. A. ‘Summer Beauty‘ also works well in inter-planted combinations with numerous other full-sun perennial plants such as Sesleria autumnalis (prairie dropseed), Salvia nemorosa cultivars, and Stachys officinalis ‘Hummelo’ (betony). ‘Summer Beauty‘ is a sterile cultivar, so unwanted spread by seed-in is not a concern.
Roy Diblik of Northwind Perennial Farm developed A. ‘Summer Beauty‘ based on plant material collected from a Chicago area garden. The cultivar is now widely planted throughout the Midwest and Northeastern regions due, primarily, to its resiliency to diseases and pests and, additionally, to its great value as a source of pollen and nectar for honeybees, bumble bees, native bees, and butterflies.
Alchemilla mollis, the garden lady’s-mantle or lady’s-mantle, is a herbaceous perennial plant native to southern Europe and grown throughout the world as an ornamental garden plant. It grows 30 to 45 cm tall, with leaves that are palmately veined, with a scalloped and serrated margin. The stipules are noteworthy in that they are fused together and leaf like. The chartreuse yellow flowers are held in dense clusters above the foliage. This plant, together with a similar but dwarf variety, A. erythropoda, has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.
Good-looking, compact, bushy and heat loving, Achillea millefolium ‘Pomegranate‘ is a stunning Yarrow with its masses of long-lasting clusters of rich velvety red flowers which immediately catch the eye. Its pleasantly aromatic, semi-evergreen, green fern-like foliage is disease resistant and nicely compliments the cheerful flat umbel flowers.
Best blue-gray foliage frosted with silver highlights. This classical selection produces dense sulfur-yellow flower heads. “Moonshine” is still one of the most popular garden varieties today. Combines well with other garden selections especially when used in sharp contrast with Cranesbill Geranium. This hybrid does not spread.
