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!

Coreopsis grandiflora 'Early Sunrise'

Height: 12 inches

Spread: 18 inches

Sunlight: full sun

Hardiness Zone: 3b

Description:
Early blooming with excellent drought tolerance, this variety features beautiful semi-double blooms in golden yellow, rising above mounded, green ferny foliage; excellent addition to borders, cottage gardens or fresh-cut arrangements

Ornamental Features:
Early Sunrise Tickseed is smothered in stunning gold daisy flowers at the ends of the stems from early summer to early fall. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Its ferny leaves remain emerald green in color throughout the season.

Landscape Attributes:
Early Sunrise Tickseed is an open herbaceous perennial 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 is a good choice for attracting butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Early Sunrise Tickseed is recommended for the following landscape applications:

- Mass Planting
- Rock/Alpine Gardens
- Border Edging
- General Garden Use
- Container Planting

Planting & Growing:
Early Sunrise Tickseed will grow to be about 12 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 18 inches. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. 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 should only be grown in full sunlight. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in poor soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid. 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.

Early Sunrise Tickseed 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 mass of flowers 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.

Nassella tenuissima

Height: 24 inches

Spread: 24 inches

Sunlight: full sun, partial shade

Hardiness Zone: 5b

Other Names: Stipa tenuissima, Needle Grass

Description:
An extremely delicate looking grass that provides gentle movement and sound in even the most delicate of breezes; a textural feast in the hands of a creative garden designer

Ornamental Features:
Mexican Feather Grass features airy plumes of gold flowers rising above the foliage in mid summer. Its attractive threadlike leaves are green in color. As an added bonus, the foliage turns a gorgeous harvest gold in the fall. The gold seed heads are carried on showy plumes displayed in abundance from late summer to late winter.

Landscape Attributes:
Mexican Feather Grass is a dense herbaceous perennial grass with an upright spreading habit of growth. 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. Gardeners should be aware of the following characteristic(s) that may warrant special consideration:

- Self-Seeding

Mexican Feather Grass is recommended for the following landscape applications:

- Mass Planting
- Rock/Alpine Gardens
- Border Edging
- General Garden Use

Planting & Growing:
Mexican Feather Grass will grow to be about 20 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches. Its foliage tends to remain dense right to the ground, not requiring facer plants in front. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 20 years. 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 prefers dry to average moisture levels with very well-drained soil, and will often die in standing water. 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 somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This species is not originally from North America. It can be propagated by division.

Helictotrichon sempervirens

Blue-green foliage with long fronds. Compact, bushy habit. USDA 4-8

Nepeta faassenii 'Cat's Meow'

Dense purple blooms. Fragrant. Tolerates deer, dry & poor soils. USDA 3-8

Salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna'

Blue-violet flowers. Fragrant foliage. Long bloomer. Upright and clumping. USDA 4-8

Salvia nemorosa 'Schneeh?gel'

Showy white blooms. Fragrant foliage. Tolerates deer & drought. USDA 4-8

Verbena bonariensis 'Lollipop'

Dense clusters of small, violet flowers. Long bloomer. Toothy dark green leaves. USDA 7-11