It is late June in the shady garden and out of nowhere appears a spotted finger sticking out of the ground. It grows quickly unfolding a huge tripartite shinny leaf. Each lobe is almost as large as my hand. But the real treasure is hidden below the leaf – a striped cobra that needs to be seen to be believed.
Petunias are very popular in the garden but in colder climates they are annuals. The wild petunia, Ruellia humilis, is a hardy perennial that can take the place of other petunias.
Itea virginica ‘Sprich’, aka Little Henry, is a small shrub that offers several seasons of interest. Adding it to a rock garden containing larger plants would be a perfect place for it. Alternatively it can make a nice addition to the front of a perennial bed. Since it can take quite heavy shade it also works well in a shade garden, next to your favorite hosta. It will look its best with at least 6 hours of sun.
A lovely campanula for the rock garden, Campanula betulifolia has large flowers in white or light pink. The white form is more readily available. The flowers tend to point down so it is a good idea to locate the plant higher up so that it is easy to see inside the bells.
Erinus alpinus has won the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit for being an outstanding plant to add to your rock garden or alpine trough, or let it naturalize in the tiny cracks of a brick wall. This alpine plant is a tiny thing that produces lots of flowers.
The plant pictured in this post is known in the trade as Draba korabensis – a nice yellow flowering Draba. But is this the right plant?
The fall blue monkshood is fairly common in gardens, but very few people have ever seen a climbing monkshood. Aconitum alboviolaceum is such a plant – and a stunning plant at that. This is a rare species that I obtained from Botanically Inclinded and planted last year, as a good sized plant. Normally in this column, I only write about plants that I have grown for a couple of years so that I know they are perfectly hardy in zone 5, but I am making an exception for this very special plant which has grown in Waterloo, Ontario for a couple of years.
Sanguisorba tenuifolia v. alba is a delicate looking plant with unusual nodding, bottlebrush-like spikes of white fluffy flowers. The shape and quantity of the flowers make it stand out in the border at a time when few other plants are flowering. It looks delicate, but does not need staking.
Goniolimon tataricum is a special plant that is not grown for its flowers, but it is grown for its dried flower head. It makes very small flowers which are hardly noticeable. When the flowers fade and the petals drop, you are left with a dried flower head that is spectacular. In fact it is so nice the plant is grown for the cut flower industry.
Imagine a perennial that has no pest problems, and blooms from spring until frost, with fabulous yellow flowers. Pseudofumaria lutea (formerly called Corydalis lutea) is that plant. Because of its long bloom time it is one of my top perennials.
Allium moly is a plant that most people do not recognize as being an onion or garlic. It is short with fairly wide leaves unlike most onions. It also has very vibrant yellow flowers. This great garden plant should be in every garden. It grows just about anywhere, sun, shade, wet or dry – but maybe not in a bog.
Hylomecon japonica is a special, collectors plant for the shady garden. It is rarely offered for sale, and seed from most seed exchanges will provide the wrong seed. This is a plant that is certainly worth hunting down.