Perennials & Biennials
Showing 81–88 of 484 results
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Bistorta officinalis syn. Persicaria bistorta; Polygonum bistorta Snakeroot Z 3-7
Erect rose-pink bottle brush spikes made of many tiny flowers bloom atop straight-up, leafless stems, one flower spike per stem, all growing out of a basal clump of leaves in June – July and sometimes later.
Erect rose-pink bottle brush spikes made of many tiny flowers bloom atop straight-up, leafless stems, one flower spike per stem, all growing out of a basal clump of leaves in June – July and sometimes later.
Size: 24” x spreading
Care: full sun to part shade in moist or moist well-drained
Native: Europe, Siberia and Japan
Wildlife Value: Attracts Bronze copper butterflyFresh, young shoots food, a vegetable and ingredient in spring pudding. Roots, technically rhizomes which are underground stems, were used to tan leather, as well as medicine to remedy mouth sores and diarrhea. Grown in the Eichstätt Garden, the garden of Johann Konrad in 1634. Also grown by Tradescant the Elder (1570’s-1638) near London c. 1630. Tradescant collected plants and was employed as the gardener of King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria. Grown at America’s 1st botanic garden, Elgin Botanic Garden 1811.
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Bletilla striata syn. B. hyacinthina Chinese ground orchid Z 5-9
Racemes of pinkish-purple flowers on scapes above dark green, upright, lance-shaped leaves, April-May
Five to 7 flowers, about 2” across grow toward the top of a stem ladder-like. Each flower has 6 lobes, 3 on the upper half and two on the lower half. These lobes, purplish, red, or pink, are elongated-oval in shape. A rectangular lobe with undulating surface, like an open accordion, protrudes from the center, hanging down.
Size: 12-18” x 12”
Care: Part shade in moist, well-drained soil.
Native: China, Japan
Wildlife Value: Attracts bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Deer & Rabbit resistant.
Awards: Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden MeritProtect with thick winter mulch, may not reliably survive Zone 5 winters.
Spreads slowly by rhizomes and seeds in optimal conditions.
‘Bletilla’ honors Louis Blet, a Spanish apothecary in Algeciras who also had a botanic garden at the end of the 18th century. Collected before 1784 by Thunberg. -
Boltonia asteroides False starwort, Bolton’s aster Z 4-9
“Bloom profusely” majestic, white daisies cover imposing, cheerful plant, August – September
“Bloom profusely” majestic, white daisies cover imposing, cheerful plant, August – September
Size: 5-6' x 3'
Care: full sun to part shade in moist well-drained soil.
Native: Maine to Florida, west to Texas and north to North Dakota and all areas in between
Wildlife Value: Supports over 40 bee species, moths, butterflies, and wasps.Named in honor of 18th century English botanist, James Bolton. Asteroides means resembling as aster. Species introduced in 1758. Recommended for fall blooms in Wisconsin State Horticultural Society Annual Report, 1911.
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Bouteloua curtipendula Sideoats grama Z 4-8
Narrow, blue-green leaves tinged purple or red in fall when golden oat-like seeds hang down one side of each leaf, eye-catching.
Narrow, blue-green leaves tinged purple or red in fall when golden oat-like seeds hang down one side of each leaf, eye-catching.
Size: 2-3' x 1'
Care: Sun in well-drained to moist well-drained soil, drought tolerant
Native: most of US, incl. Wisconsin
Wildlife Value: nesting material for butterflies and bees; larval host for some Skipper butterflies,
Awards: state grass of TexasKiowa natives who had killed an enemy in battle with a lance wore this. Collected and described by French planthunter André Michaux (1786-1802) who scoured Eastern North America west to the Mississippi over 11 years.
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Brunnera macrophyllum syn. Anchusa myosotidiflora syn. Myosotis macrophylla Siberian bugloss Z 3-7
Panicles of robin’s egg blue forget-me-not- type flowers in May and June, contrasts with its bold, heart-shaped foliage. One of the best spring flowers.
Panicles of robin’s egg blue forget-me-not- type flowers in May and June, contrasts with its bold, heart-shaped foliage. One of the best spring flowers.
Size: 12" x 12"
Care: part shade to shade in moist to moist well-drained soil
Native: Caucasus & Siberia
Wildlife Value: deer resistant
Awards: Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden MeritNamed for Swiss botanist Samuel Brunner (1790-1844). Collected by Russian botanist Johann Friedrich Adam (1780-1838) in Siberia c. 1806.
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Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta syn. Clinopodium nepeta ssp. nepeta Lesser calamint Z 4-9
Profuse violet blooms on mint-scented, gray-green foliage gives frosty image, June-October
Profuse violet blooms on mint-scented, gray-green foliage gives frosty image, June-October
Size: 18-24” x 8-12”
Native: Europe and Mediterranean
Wildlife Value: attracts bees, butterflies and hummingbirdsThis subspecies 1st described by Linnaeus in 1753. Genus name comes from Greek kalos meaning beautiful and minthe meaning mint. It is not, however, a mint and is not invasive.
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Callirhoe digitata Finger poppy mallow Z 5-8
Purple-red cups wave atop leafless stems all summer.
OUT OF STOCK – EMAIL FOR AVAILABILITY
Purple-red cups wave atop leafless stems all summer.
Size: 1-3’ x 1’
Care: full sun in moist well-drained soil
Native: Missouri and Kansas to Arkansas & TexasCallirhoe is named for the goddess Callirhoe, daughter of Hermocrates, the Greek river god. Digitata means shaped like an open hand (digits = fingers). First collected by Englishman Thomas Nuttall, trained as a printer, turned extraordinary plant hunter who looked for plants from the east coast throughout the Midwest, Arkansas, Florida, to the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii (1786-1859).
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Callirhoe involucrata Wine cups, Prairie poppy mallow Z 3-9
Magenta-purple up-facing cups with white centers, June - October
Magenta-purple up-facing cups with white centers, June – October
Size: 6" x 12-24"
Care: Full sun in well-drained soil.
Native: Missouri to Texas
Wildlife Value: host for larva of Gray Hairstreak butterfly and nectar source for many different butterflies.
Awards: Missouri Botanic Garden Plant of Merit; 1999 Plant Select®; Great Plants for Great Plains Plant of the Year 2020Callirhoe is named for the goddess Callirhoe, daughter of Hermocrates, the Greek river god. Teton Dakota fired the dried root for smoke to cure the common cold and its aches and pains. The liquid used to boil the root relieved internal pain. First collected and named by English plant hunter Thomas Nuttall (1785-1859) but then renamed by other botanists. Ferry’s 1876 catalog described it as having “a trailing habit, of great beauty.” William Robinson (1838-1935), father of today’s mixed perennial border, recognized it to be “excellent for the rock garden, bearing a continuous crop of showy blossoms from early summer till late in autumn.”
