Perennials

Perennials

Our enthusiastic and extremely knowledgeable perennials team is here to answer your questions and help you choose the best perennials for your situation. There’s always something in bloom for sun, shade, butterflies, birds or deer resistance  as well as a variety of bulbs for your space.

Stroll through our time-tested favorites and introduce yourself to the newest varieties. We garden with perennials too; we love them and it shows!

Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmatian Purple'

Lavender blooms on spires. Self-seeding biennial. Toxic. USDA 4-9

Digitalis purpurea 'Dalmatian Rose'

Plant Height: 3 feet

Flower Height: 4 feet

Spacing: 14 inches

Sunlight: full sun, partial shade

Hardiness Zone: 4a

Group/Class: Dalmatian Series Description:
Exciting rose-purple tubular flowers with white interiors and dark purple spots; tall spikes rise above attractive green lance-shaped leaves; a biennial that's happiest in part shade with adequate moisture

Ornamental Features:
Dalmatian Rose Foxglove features bold spikes of rose tubular flowers with violet overtones and deep purple spots rising above the foliage from late spring to mid summer. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its pointy leaves remain green in color throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes:
Dalmatian Rose Foxglove is an herbaceous perennial with a rigidly upright and towering form. Its medium texture blends into the garden, but can always be balanced by a couple of finer or coarser plants for an effective composition.

This plant will require occasional maintenance and upkeep, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting hummingbirds to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration:
-Self-Seeding

Dalmatian Rose Foxglove is recommended for the following landscape applications:

- Vertical Accent
- Mass Planting
- General Garden Use
- Container Planting
- Planting & Growing

Dalmatian Rose Foxglove will grow to be about 3 feet tall at maturity extending to 4 feet tall with the flowers, with a spread of 18 inches. When grown in masses or used as a bedding plant, individual plants should be spaced approximately 14 inches apart. It tends to be leggy, with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and should be underplanted with lower-growing perennials. It grows at a fast rate, and tends to be biennial, meaning that it puts on vegetative growth the first year, flowers the second, and then dies. However, this species tends to self-seed and will thereby endure for years in the garden if allowed. As an herbaceous perennial, this plant will usually die back to the crown each winter, and will regrow from the base each spring. Be careful not to disturb the crown in late winter when it may not be readily seen!
This plant does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America, and parts of it are known to be toxic to humans and animals, so care should be exercised in planting it around children and pets.

Dalmatian Rose Foxglove is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.

Clematis 'Crystal Fountain'

Height: 10 feet

Spread: 24 inches

Sunlight: full sun, partial shade

Hardiness Zone: 4a

Group/Class: Early large-flowered

Description:
Spectacular large, early double lavender-blue flowers with some violet undertones and white, spiky centres, are produced on a vigorous vine, a great plant for the novice and expert gardener alike

Ornamental Features:
Crystal Fountain Clematis features showy lavender star-shaped flowers with violet overtones and white centers at the ends of the branches from late spring to early fall. It has green deciduous foliage. The compound leaves do not develop any appreciable fall color.

Landscape Attributes:
Crystal Fountain Clematis is a multi-stemmed deciduous woody vine with a twining and trailing habit of growth. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance woody vine. It is a Type 2 clematis, which means it will bloom primarily on old wood of the previous season, with a second flush later in summer. Dead and weak vines should be removed in late winter, and remaining vines should be trimmed back to the first buds that are seen to remove dead stems. It is a good choice for attracting bees and hummingbirds to your yard. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Crystal Fountain Clematis is recommended for the following landscape applications

- Accent
- Hedges/Screening
- General Garden Use
- Container Planting
- Planting & Growing

Crystal Fountain Clematis will grow to be about 10 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches. As a climbing vine, it tends to be leggy near the base and should be underplanted with low-growing facer plants. It should be planted near a fence, trellis or other landscape structure where it can be trained to grow upwards on it, or allowed to trail off a retaining wall or slope. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 20 years.

This woody vine does best in full sun to partial shade. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in both summer and winter to conserve soil moisture and protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid.
Crystal Fountain Clematis makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Because of its spreading habit of growth, it is ideally suited for use as a 'spiller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the edges where it can spill gracefully over the pot. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.

Hibiscus x 'Cranberry Crush'

Dark red blooms. Purple toned foliage. Rounded habit. USDA 4-9

Hibiscus 'Cherry Choco Latte'

White dinner plate sized flowers with deep pink veining and a large eye. USDA 4-9

Hibiscus 'Ballet Slippers'

Large white ruffled flowers with a red center and blush pink edges. Upright, shrub-like. USDA 4-9

Achillea millefolium Desert Eve? Deep Rose

Carefree, compact, early-flowering yarrow with vibrant blooms and fern-like foliage. USDA 4-9

Achillea millifolium Desert Eve? Yellow

Compact with fern-like foliage and lemon to mustard yellow blooms. Blooms early summer to early fall. USDA 4-9

Festuca glauca 'Boulder Blue'

Height: 8 inches

Spread: 10 inches

Sunlight: full sun

Hardiness Zone: 3a

Other Names: Festuca ovina var. glauca

Description:
Heat and Drought tolerant once established, this selection produces beautiful bushy mounds of blue-gray grass-like foliage with tan colored spikes rising above in the summer; excellent performance in containers, borders and garden beds; low maintenance

Ornamental Features:
Boulder Blue Fescue is primarily valued in the garden for its interestingly mounded form. Its attractive grassy leaves remain steel blue in color throughout the year. The tan seed heads are carried on spikes from mid summer to late fall.

Landscape Attributes:
Boulder Blue Fescue is an herbaceous evergreen perennial grass with a mounded form. It brings an extremely fine and delicate texture to the garden composition and should be used to full effect.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Boulder Blue Fescue is recommended for the following landscape applications:

- Rock/Alpine Gardens
- Border Edging
- General Garden Use
- Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens
- Container Planting

Planting & Growing:
Boulder Blue Fescue will grow to be about 8 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 10 inches. Its foliage tends to remain low and dense right to the ground. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 8 years. As an evegreen perennial, this plant will typically keep its form and foliage year-round.

This plant should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers to grow in average to dry locations, and dislikes excessive moisture. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for a low-water garden or xeriscape application. It is not particular as to soil type or pH. It is highly tolerant of urban pollution and will even thrive in inner city environments. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America. It can be propagated by division; however, as a cultivated variety, be aware that it may be subject to certain restrictions or prohibitions on propagation.

Boulder Blue Fescue is a fine choice for the garden, but it is also a good selection for planting in outdoor pots and containers. It is often used as a 'filler' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination, providing a canvas of foliage against which the thriller plants stand out. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.