Perennials & Biennials
Showing 185–192 of 511 results
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Eupatorium purpureum syn. Eutrochium purpureum Sweet Joe Pye weed Z 4-9
July - September large dusty rose blooms invite butterflies.
July – September large dusty rose domes of bunches of flowers
Size: 5-6' x 3'
Care: Sun, moist, alkaline soil
Native: Eastern U.S., Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: Nectar and/or pollen for numerous bees, butterflies, and waspsJoe Pye weed named after an Indian medicine man who used the plant in New England to cure typhus. Meskwaki Indian men “nibbled (Joe Pye weed) when speaking to women when they are in the wooing mood.” This had the power of “fetching” women. Good luck when gambling for the Potawatomi. Oneidas used it to cure fever. Mahuna Indians of So. California made an infusion of the root to cure colds and coughs. Colonists used the plant to cure dropsy, gravel, gout and rheumatism. Collected by Rev. John Banister (1649-1692) who moved to colonial Virginia in 1678. A gunman mistakenly shot and killed him while he collected plants. Offered for sale in Bartram Garden’s 1783 Broadside, America’s 1st plant catalog.
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Eupatorium sessilifolium Upland boneset Z 3-8
Showy, flat-topped, platter-like, numerous small-flowered clusters of white, July to September
Showy, flat-topped, platter-like, numerous small-flowered clusters of white, July to September
Size: 3-5’ x 12-24”
Care: Shade to part shade in moist well-drained to dry soil (one of few dry shade flowers
Native: Maine to Minnesota south to Kansas, east to Georgia. Wisconsin native (endangered, threatened or of special concern in 8 states – Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Vermont & Wisconsin
Wildlife Value: nectar attracts bees and butterflies and food for their caterpillars. Deer & rabbit resistant.Collected by English botanist Rev. John Bannister (1654-1692) who was shot and killed by misadventure while collecting plants in colonial Virginia. Described by Scottish botanist Robert Morison (1620-1683) in Historis Plantarum Univeralis Oxoniensis pars tertia (vol. 3) 98, published posthumously in 1699.
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Euphorbia colorata syn. E. collorata Perennial poinsettia
Chartreuse bracts in spring and redish stems and leaves in autumn.
OUT OF STOCK
Chartreuse bracts in spring and redish stems and leaves in autumn.
Size: 12-16 x 12
Care: sun in dry to moist well-drained soilRoot used as purgative according to Gould’s Dictionary of New Medical Terms (1905). Collected on the Mexican Boundary Expedition c. 1850.
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Euphorbia corollata Flowering spurge Z 4-7
Small white flowers (bracts), like a baby's breath but better, July & August. One of the best prairie natives, but slow to mature.
Small white flowers (bracts), like a baby’s breath but better, July & August. One of the best prairie natives but slow to mature.
Size: 36' x 24" spreading slowly
Care: sun in well-drained to moist well-drained soil. Drought resistant.
Native: Canada to Florida and west through the plains, Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: deer resistant. Its pollen & nectar feed endangered Karner Blue butterfly as well as other small butterflies, numerous bees, wasps and flies. Several birds eat the seeds.A favorite medicine among native Americans. Cherokee rubbed the plant’s juice on skin to cure cancer. Also used to remedy tooth aches and gonorrhea. Winnebago cut a 2.5” long root to clear stomach and steeped leaves for a baby’s colic. According to Breck (1851), “One of the most elegant species peculiar to the United States.”
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Euphorbia myrsinites Donkeytail spurge Z 5-8
Chartreuse umbels at stem tips contrast succulent blue-gray foliage in early spring
Chartreuse umbels at stem tips contrast succulent blue-gray foliage in early spring
Can not ship to: Colorado.
Size: 4” x 12”
Care: Sun in well-drained soil, drought resistant
Native: Western Asia
Awards: England’s Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit.Euphorbia was named for Euphorbus, physician of Numibian King Juba, father of Ptolemy (c. 50 B.C. – 20 A.D.) Reputedly Euphorbus used spurge to remedy the King’s enlarged stomach. Euphorbus’ brother was Augustus Caesar’s physician. Myrsinites is a Greek word meaning “resembling myrtle.” This plant described by Swiss botanical scholar Conrad Gesner in his book Horti Germaniae published in 1541.
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Euphorbia polychroma Cushion spurge syn. Euphorbia epithymoides Z 4-9
May - June flashy chartreuse flowers. In fall foliage turns orangey-red.
OUT OF STOCK
May – June flashy chartreuse flowers. In fall foliage turns orangey-red.
Size: 16" x 24"
Care: Sun, moist well-drained humusy soil. Drought tolerant.
Native: Central and Southern Europe
Awards: England's Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit.Polychroma means many colors referring to the fact that the plant changes colors with yellow-chartreuse flowers in spring and red foliage in fall. Named and described by Swedish botanist Linnaeus 1753.
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Fibigia clypeata Roman shields Z 5-7
Yellow spring flowers – early summer, followed by small, oval “silver dollars.”
Yellow spring flowers – early summer, followed by small, oval “silver dollars” on erect stems.
Size: 18” x 12-15”
Care: sun well-drained soil Self-seeds freely
Native: Southern Europe
Wildlife Value: source of nectar and pollen for bees and other insects
Size: Used for their ornamental seed pods. Harvest either when 1st form for fuzzy grey-green color or when mature with outer skin removed for translucent, silver shieldIn gardens before 1753.
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Filipendula rubra Queen of the Prairie Z 3-9
Extraordinary frothy pink plumes, like cotton candy, blooming in midsummer
OUT OF STOCK
Extraordinary frothy pink plumes, like cotton candy, blooming in midsummer
Size: 4-6’ x 4-5'
Care: sun to part shade in moist well-drained to moist soil
Native: US East coast west to MN s to MO and NC, Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: This creates pollen but not nectar limiting the pollinators to bees and flies (Butterflies and wasps want nectar.).Meskwaki Indians used it for heart ailments and as an aphrodisiac. Although the plant’s name has been changed five times, this was 1st described in 1768.
