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!

Dryopteria australis

Height: 4 feet

Spread: 3 feet

Sunlight: partial shade, full shade

Hardiness Zone: 4b

Description:
This tall fern is a great vertical accent; has graceful, arching fronds; keep evenly moist, provides habitat and shelter for birds and bees.

Ornamental Features:
Dixie Wood Fern is primarily valued in the landscape or garden for its cascading habit of growth. Its tiny ferny compound leaves remain green in color throughout the year.

Landscape Attributes:
Dixie Wood Fern is an herbaceous evergreen fern with a shapely form and gracefully arching fronds. 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 should be cut back in late fall in preparation for winter. Deer don't particularly care for this plant and will usually leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Dixie Wood Fern is recommended for the following landscape applications:

- Mass Planting
- General Garden Use
- Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens

Planting & Growing:
Dixie Wood Fern will grow to be about 4 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 3 feet. 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 15 years. As an evegreen perennial, this plant will typically keep its form and foliage year-round. As this plant tends to go dormant in summer, it is best interplanted with late-season bloomers to hide the dying foliage.

This plant does best in partial shade to shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is particular about its soil conditions, with a strong preference for rich, acidic soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone over the growing season to conserve soil moisture. This particular variety is an interspecific hybrid, 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. 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.

Muhlenbergia capillaris

Pink Muhly Grass | Airy pink blooms. Fine, threadlike foliage. Native. USDA 5-9

Panicum virgatum

Height: 5 feet

Spread: 3 feet

Sunlight: full sun partial shade

Hardiness Zone: 2b

Ornamental Features:

Switch Grass features airy plumes of rose flowers rising above the foliage in mid summer. The brick red seed heads are carried on showy plumes displayed in abundance from late summer to mid fall. Its grassy leaves are green in color. The foliage often turns yellow in fall.

Landscape Attributes:

Switch Grass is an herbaceous perennial grass with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its relatively fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.

This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cut back to the ground in late winter before active growth resumes. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Switch Grass is recommended for the following landscape applications:

- Accent
- Mass Planting
- General Garden Use

Planting & Growing:

Switch Grass will grow to be about 4 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 3 feet. 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 medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 15 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 is very adaptable to both dry and moist locations, and should do just fine under typical garden conditions. 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, but has a definite preference for alkaline soils, and is able to handle environmental salt. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This species is native to parts of North America. It can be propagated by division.

Panicum virgatum

Green foliage. Pink blooms. Upright clumping. Native. USDA 5-9

Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah'

Red tipped foliage. Red blooms. Compact clumping. Native. USDA 5-9

Muhlenbergia capillaris

Airy pink blooms. Fine, threadlike foliage. Native. USDA 5-9

Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah'

Red tipped foliage. Red blooms. Compact clumping. Native. USDA 5-9

Panicum virgatum 'Northwind'

Prefers average, medium to wet soils; tolerant of poor soils. Moisture and drought tollerant. Golden blooms in fall. Strong, upright, clumping habit. USDA 5-9

Muhlenbergia capillaris

Airy pink blooms. Fine, threadlike foliage. Native. USDA 5-9

Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah'

Red tipped foliage. Red blooms. Compact clumping. Native. USDA 5-9

Lobelia cardinalis 'Black Truffle'

Red blooms. Purple-black foliage. Native. Tolerates wet sites. USDA 5-9

Chrysogonum virginianum 'Superstar'

Showy yellow blooms spring through summer. Clumping groundcover. Prefers moist soils. Native. USDA 5-9