GREAT NEW PLANTS FOR 2016: PERENNIALS EDITION

No surprise, I had a harder time narrowing down the list of cool new perennials than the annuals or shrubs. I can see all of these eventually finding a home in my garden.

1. Baptisia 'Lunar Eclipse': There are a ton of new baptisias on the market, but this is the one I'm really in love with. Baptisias are big plants that don't like to be moved so I won't get one until I have a good spot for it, but I'm in love with the looks of this plant as much as I've been with any. (Full sun to part shade, zones 4-7, 3-3.5' tall x 4-5' wide)

2. Andropogon gerardii 'Blackhawks': I do love a good grass and this big bluestem grass has a lot going for it, not the least of which is that great purple color for much of the season and then deeping to almost black in fall. (Full sun, zones 4-9, 5' tall x 2' wide)

3. Polygonatum falcutum 'Nippon Sunburst': Solomon's seal is among my favorite shade-loving perennials and few things look better than a naturalized patch of them. This one is downright stunning. I'm wary of variegated plants because they often grow much slower, but this one is too good to pass up (although the price is a bit shocking). (Part sun to light shade, zones 4-8, 18" tall)

4. Perovskia atriplicifolia 'Denin 'n Lace': Few perennials are as great as a happy Russian sage. They are about as low maintenance as they get, they have a beautiful upright form and have a long bloom period. I have had nothing but issues with them flopping though. There's a chance I've been growing them in soil that's too rich. Still, I like the sound of this new cultivar which is said to have nice, strong stems and, from the looks of the photo, an abundance of flowers. (Full sun, zones 4-9, 30" tall x 36" wide)

5. Primula sieboldii 'Petticoat Junction': I'm new to primulas, but I do find them charming. This one is  an Intrinsic Perennials introduction which is what made me notice it. They spend a lot of time developing plants and those that I've grown have all been winners. (Full sun to light shade, zones 5-8, 4")

6. Veronica 'White Wands': I like Veronicas; they have great form and new varieties are often better performers than they used to. This white one is a different take on the more common blue and pink varieties. I've had good luck getting a rebloom on them if I shear them back after the first flush of flowers fades. (Full sun, zones 4-8, 14-16" tall x 16-18" wide)

Do you see anything that catches your eye?

And check out my picks for great new annuals for 2016 and great new shrubs for 2016. 

GARDEN BLOGGERS' FAVORITE PERENNIALS

I love asking gardeners what their favorite plant is. It's an unfair question, I know, and on any given day my answer could be any number of things, but I think it's an interesting exercise.

I reached out to some garden blogging friends to see what their favorite perennial is and here's what they said.

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'Sarah Bernhardt' peony. Garden Matter photo

Patti, who gardens in Pittsburgh (zone 6a) and blogs at Garden Matter , said peonies are her favorite.

"They are one of the first flowers I fell in love with in my grandmother's garden as a kid," she wrote. "I love the way they smell and come back with ease every year. They also dry pretty well."

When I pressed her on a specific peony, she chose a classic: 'Sarah Bernhardt.'

"To be honest, I really love the old heirloom handed-down ones, though they are all wonderful. Since they are herbaceous, how about 'Sarah Bernhardt,' a very pretty and fragrant variety."

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'Green Mystique' daylily. Sensible Gardening photo

Lynne at Sensible Gardening, who gardens in beautiful southern British Columbia (zone 5) chose another garden classic: the daylily. Here's what she had to say about them:

When my friend Erin asked me what my favorite perennial was I didn’t even have to think about it. I have been addicted to Daylilies for decades and simply cannot get enough of them. I started to collect different cultivars several years ago and now have over 350 varieties throughout my zone 5 garden in southern B.C., Canada.  I love all the colors, shapes, edges, ruffles, singles, doubles and eyes. As you can see I am a lost cause. You can find great daylily growing tips and more on my site Sensible Gardening.

Daylilies are often called the perfect perennial and for good reason. Such beautiful blooms are part of strong, hardy and adaptable plants. Rarely bothered by disease or pests, available for growing in zones 2 through 9, long lasting attractive foliage, capable of growing in even undesirable conditions, what’s not to love? There are tall varieties for the back of the border and shorter types to be used as edgers or grown in containers. Some cultivars bloom in July and others wait until the fall so you can have daylily flowers for a very long season. Grow them in sun or part shade using average soil and water. Your best resource for buying daylilies is on-line sites from daylily growers. Daylilies travel exceptionally well so mail order buying is a breeze.

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Jami provide me with this gorgeous photo of a brunnera, which I think is 'Haspen Cream.' An Oregon Cottage photo

Jami, who is fortunate to garden in the Pacific Northwest (zone 8), and blogs at An Oregon Cottage (check out her great preserving recipes), chose a fantastic shade plant: brunnera. Here's what she said about it:

It’s not easy to pick just one perennial (I have favorites for each season!), but in spring it’s all about brunnera for me. I love it! It grows in tough dry shade situations and blooms its little head off for 3 to 4 months with sweet blue forget-me-not type flowers, and then stays nice and green until frost (in mild areas it’s almost evergreen). 

While common brunnera is nice, (though it maybe reseeds just a bit too much), ‘Jack Frost’ is well-behaved and it’s variegated leaves practically glow in it’s preferred shaded location. All this with no special treatment other than an annual layer of compost and watering in the summer. What is not to love?

Here's 'Jack Frost' growing in my garden at the beginning of its second year.

Last year I great this 'Silver Hearts' brunnera and it was truly metallic silver! If it overwintered well this will be my vote for my favorite brunnera.

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Lovely Greens photo

Tanya at Lovely Greens, who gardens on the Isle of Man (lucky girl; Tanya, we're all coming to visit!) came up with a fantastic choice that I love because it's so unusual.

"My favorite perennials are perennial fruits like raspberries, blueberries and thornless black berries," she wrote. One could hardly argue with that.

One of the things she said she likes best about them, other than the delicious part, is how easy they are to propagate from cuttings. Tanya has a fantastic tutorial on the process on her blog.

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Garden Therapy photo

Stephanie at Garden Therapy, also from Vancouver, British Columbia said she's a fan of lavender and not just because it's beautiful. "There's just so much you can make from it," she said.

Stephanie said she prefers English lavender. In my zone 5 garden (Stephanie is in zone 7/8), I have had good luck the past couple years with 'Phenomenal' lavender (affiliate link). Whatever kind of lavender you grow, check out Stephanie's suggestions for all the things you can do with it.

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It wouldn't be fair to put all these folks on the spot if I didn't chime in with my pick for a favorite perennial. There are so many on that list, but for all around performance, I think I have to go back to the top one on this list: Alchemilla mollis, aka Lady's mantel. It's nothing fancy, and it will probably never stop you in your tracks, but it is a great performer. Year after year it just does its thing with absolutely zero attention from me. I clean it up when the flowers fade, and a little bit in fall and that's it. The flowers are one of my favorite to add to bouquets and offers great front-of-the-border texture.

So now, dear readers, I turn it over to you. What's your favorite perennial?

Here are some other favorite perennial picks from gardening experts

Richard Hawke leads the plant trials program at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Here some of his favorites. 

And here are even more picks from great garden bloggers.

GETTING SERIOUS ABOUT GARDEN CLEAN-UP

I forget how difficult it is to keep on top of photos when Daylight Savings Time ends. Seems like I'm only home when it's dark these days.

The deep freeze is scheduled to arrive this week and stick around for at least a week. Temperatures next week will struggle to break 20. In other words, it was time to get going on my garden cleanup.

Here's how I prioritize garden cleanup in the perennial garden.

1. Pots. Pots must be cleaned out (and by this I mean dumping the soil and plants out, not actually scrubbing them, which I realize you are supposed to do but I rarely get around to) and moved into the garage to get them out of the way for shoveling and to avoid damaging them.

I finished this project up Sunday and I'm feeling much better just having that done.

The Venus dogwood gets a heap of chopped up leaves over its roots. The poles will come into play later for protection from deer.

2. Leaves. I don't like tons of leaves left sitting in the garden over winter. They form a huge frozen mat that takes forever to thaw and they never break down. So I try to get as many leaves out of the garden as I can. Then I run over them with the lawn mower a couple times before bagging them with the mower. The chopped-up leaves are then either used for leaf mold (kept in a separate pile or bins), added to the compost pile or used as a winter mulch around the roots off plants I want to offer extra protection to.

These chopped up leaves are like gold to me. I'd take as many of them as I possibly could. Mr. Much More Patient has wisened up to this and has started lobbying for a fancy new riding lawn mower (that we don't need) with a huge leaf mulching/collecting attachment that he says would work so well he'd even go collect neighbors' leaves.

The main garden is mostly cut back and ready for winter.

3. Cutting back perennials. I've read plenty of articles that suggest it is better for the health of the plants to leave them standing over winter and certainly it is good for wildlife. What it is not good for is the gardener in spring. That's a lot of work added on to an already busy season.

I split it about half and half. I like to leave ornamental grasses standing as well as sedums. I will leave a few coneflowers standing for the birds and I always leave all the spent flowers on the hydrangeas. I will also leave everything that was newly planted this summer standing. And the same goes for things like clematis that shouldn't be pruned until late winter. Although I only have about half of the gardens (half of the half of the stuff I clean up) finished, this is a project that can go on as long as I can get in the gardens, so I'll probably pick it up again over the weekend and even beyond if we get a little warm spell.

Anything I can do now saves time in spring and there is never enough time in spring.

FIVE PERENNIALS I'D NEVER BE WITHOUT

I have had a lot of favorite/top posts in the works and was planning to run them over the course of a week, but this is my 600th post on this blog so I thought it should be something a bit meatier, and today I'm bringing you five perennials I wouldn't be without.

These are plants that are complete no-brainers for me and I can't fathom having a garden without them. Most of them are low maintenance and therefore play an important role in my zone 5b garden.

1. LADY'S MANTLE (ALCHEMILLA MOLLIS)
My adoration for this plant know no bounds. It has a lovely scalloped round leaf and a very clumpy habit, so even when it has put on a lot of growth it tends to stay in a tight ball. The leaves are slightly fuzzy so critters don't bother it. In early summer it sends up shoots of tiny chartreuse flowers that last for months, although they tend to flop over. The flowers are wonderful in flower arrangements but equally as nice in the garden where they add an ethereal shot of light.

In my garden, Lady's Mantle grows equally well in full sun and part shade, although the flowers seem to last a little longer in shadier spots. It couldn't be easier to divide, something I have done at almost any time of the spring and summer. It will also seed itself sometimes, but in my garden it does this only in the nicest possible way and is not at all overbearing.

Dwarf Lady's Mantle (Alchemilla enthropoda) is truly petite, but its scalloped foliage is so charming.

The past couple of years, I have added a dwarf version of the plant to my garden (Alchemilla enrthropoda). It doesn't flower nearly as well, but its leaves are utterly charming and perfect for the very front of a border.

2. NEPETA

Nepeta, aka Catmint, is a true workhorse in the garden, especially for someone like me who can't get enough of anything with a blue(ish) flower. There are oodles of varieties out there and my preference is for those that don't seed themselves everywhere. Walker's Low became quite popular a few years ago and I quite like it, although it is not a small version as the name would suggest.

Nepeta 'Walker's Low' loosens things up by the meatball boxwood.

I line my path with Nepeta, sort of a poor man's substitute for lavender (which I've had no luck with in the past). When it gets too floppy I cut it all back to about 6 inches off the ground and it regrows and reblooms in about a month. Last summer I got three full rounds of blooming.

It's another plant that no critter will eat and the bees adore it. I also love the smell of it, making it an even better selection for the path, where you may brush against it. I've also dotted it liberally around the garden where it has a tendency to flop a bit and intermingle with its neighbors, usually creating a lovely look.

3. HOSTA

Given my recent complaining about how I have almost no intact hostas left this year, thanks to an aggressive deer and slug population, you might be surprised to find this stalwart on my list. Unlike the previous two plants, I'll admit, hostas have some drawbacks. But there's a reason that there are people out there who call themselves hostaholics; who have thousands of different cultivars in their back yards. Hostas provide an important texture that few other hardy plants can. With all the bitsy plants with minute leaves, there are precious few that can juxtapose them, and hosta does it better than almost any other. They can have an almost tropical feel to them.

Elegans and Paradigm hostas play well together. In the photo below, you can see a little 'Silver Moon' clematis growing up the lattice in bright shade.

Of course hostas come in just about every shape, size and color (white, yellow, green and blue and everything in between) you can imagine, so it's easy to understand how you could quickly fill a garden with them.

In my zone, you can find a hosta to grow almost anywhere, including full sun. Some (usually yellows) do better than others in sunnier spots and you probably need to water them more, but I'm always amazed at how tough hostas can be.

4. CLEMATIS

I'm throwing this vine in this group purely because I have become somewhat obsessed with them. These are nowhere near as carefree as the other plants on this list, but I don't think they are as high maintenance as most people think they are. If you plant them right to begin with—deeply in a hole filled with good stuff including compost, well-rotted manure and a touch of bone meal—water it well and mulch them to keep the roots from frying, all you really have to do the rest of the year is a little pruning and throw on a bit of fertilizer (I use Espoma's Rosetone).

Etoile Violette, a group 3 clematis, climbs up the deck railing.

Although I love, and have fallen for over and over again, the large group 2 clematis with their showy flowers, these require more work than the others. The smaller flowers in group 3 are utterly charming when they work their way through a shrub or tree and and are so easy to care for: just cut them back to one or two buds in very early spring.

This one is just crudely tied to a stake amid a forest of monarda.

Awhile ago, I figured out that you don't need a trellis to grow clematis. I now grow them up shrubs and trees, on standalone obelisk-type things (sometimes just a group of skinny tree branches), sprawling on the ground, and up the deck railings. I like it when they go a little wild.

5. HAKONECHLOA

Originally I thought I would choose ornamental grasses for this last slot, but that is a pretty broad category, so to narrow it down I'm going with Hakonechloa (Japenese forest grass). It grows in shady spots where most other grasses won't even think about going, but it will tolerate a fair bit of sun as well. With a lovely arching habit it has a way of softening the edge of a border. And it looks great with hostas because of the contrast in foliage types.

'All Gold'

My favorite is 'All Gold', but I also grow 'Stripe it Rich', 'Beni Kaze', and 'Aureola' (all of which look very similar to me).

'All Gold' mixes well with black heuchera.

'Aureola'

What perennials would you never be without? Did any of mine make your list?

Four-star perennials

Last Saturday I attended a garden seminar (I just love going to garden seminars and shows in late winter; it is so fun to dream) where Richard Hawke, the plant evaluation manager for the Chicago Botanic Garden was the keynote speaker. I've gone to a lot of seminars, speeches, talks, etc. for work and pleasure, and Hawke was one of the better presenters I've heard. And best of all he gave the kind of gardening presentation I like best.

See, mostly I just want people to tell me what to plant and why and then show me pictures of how pretty it is. And that's what Hawke did.

Hawke, whose name you might recognize if you're a Fine Gardening magazine reader because he's been writing a few stories for them about the plants he likes best from the botanic garden trials, shared a list of "four-star" plants that have done particularly well in trials.

Originally the Chicago Botantic Garden tested plants for winter hardiness and nothing else, but these days they are looking for four things: cultural adaptability to the soil and environment of the test site, winter hardiness, disease and pest resistance, and ornamental and habit traits. They allow a minimum of four years for evaluation and offer almost no care other than watering as needed and mulching (for water conservation as Hawke says he is convinced that mulch provides no protection from weeds). They don't fertilize, stake or protect from critters (in most cases). They deadhead only to see how plants respond to it.

The idea is that they are testing plants for the average homeowner, not the average gardener, because so many people stick plants in the ground and never touch them again other than to water them on occasion. So gardeners who are more attentive to their plants might find even better results.

So that's how the trials work. And here's part of the list of plants Hawke considers to be "four-star" plants (it's quite long, so I'm picking some of the plants I found to be most interesting). Remember, these trials were done in Chicago so it generally applies to zone 5 or so and climate such as you'd find in the Midwest. I'll put my comments on each plant in italics.

Northcreek Nurseries photo

Agastache 'Black Adder' (hyssop) Zone 5-8; Full sun
Lavender flowers with purple blue calyces give the 7-inch long inflorescence a darker appearance; 48" tall and wide; robust, bushy habit and long-blooming. This Agastache does not produce seedlings so it is easier to manage than many others that seed like crazy.

Plainview Farm photo

Aruncus 'Misty Lace' (Goat's beard) Zone 3-7; Full sun to partial shade
White flowers, in plumes to 14" long, blooms in late May to mid-June. 25" tall by 30" wide. The flowers on this goat's beard make up half the height of the plant which is why I'm intrigued by it even though I already have another goat's beard in my garden. It kind of looks like a giant astilbe, but with sparser plumes.

Chicagoland Grows photo

Baptisia 'Midnight' Midnight Prairieblues (false indigo) Zone 4-8; Full sun
Deep blue violet flowers to 24" long, blooms in late spring to early summer and reblooms on secondary branches. 42-48" tall by 54" wide. This was introduced in conjunction with the CBG and I grow it in my own garden. It is so much nicer than the regular Baptisia and it's one of those plants that lasts forever. As with all Baptisias, pick a spot carefully and keep it there because they don't like to be moved.

Plants Nouveau photo

Echinacea 'Milkshake' (coneflower) Zone 5-8; Full sun
Double creamy white flowers, 3" wide flowers blooming in mid-June to September. 30" tall by 24" wide; stiff stems and a bushy habit. I love all the new Echinaceas, but I've had horrible luck with them. None have lasted more than a couple years. I'm sure I've spent hundreds of dollars in Echinaceas that are now nowhere to be found my garden. Hawke says that while originally people were breeding for color, now they are looking for longevity, so I'm going to try 'Milkshake.' The general rule of thumb that the CBG has found is that if a coneflower goes into winter without basal growth (leaf growth from low on the stem), it's probably not going to be around come spring. If it does have basal growth, it will probably be fine. 

Eupatorium 'Phantom' (Joe pye weed) Zones 4-8; Full sun
Pale purple pink flowers, clusters to 7" wide, in late July to mid-August; 48" tall and wide with dark red/purple stems. Small bushy habit but taller than the promoted 36" inches tall. Mildew resistant. I have both 'Phantom' and 'Little Joe' starred on my list from Hawke and it's really a horse apiece as to which I liked better. This one is less well known than 'Little Joe' but they are both lovely.

Northcreek Nurseries photo

Nepeta racemosa 'Joanna Reed' (catmint) Zones 4-8; Full sun
Lavender blue flowers from mid-May to October, 24" tall by 48" wide. I love nepetas and Hawke says this one is "always in bloom." It is very rounded in a habit, like a blue-flecked meatball. That's my analogy, not Hawke's. That's probably why he gets paid to do this stuff and I don't.

Sandy's Plants photo

Pulmonaria 'Diana Clare' (lungwort) Zone 4-8; Shade to partial sun
Violet blue flowers open rosy pink in mid-April to late May; 12" tall by 26" wide, silver green leaves. I love pulmonarias too, and this one looks good all year. Honest. Well, so Hawke says anyway, and I'm buying it.

Fine Gardening photo

Rodgersia aesculifolia (fingerleaf rodgersia) Zones 5-7; Light to full shade
Palmate leaves with 5 to 9 leaflets; creamy white flowrs in large clusters to 24" long in late spring to midsummer; 36-72" tall and 48-72" wide, rhizomatous habit. Why am I not growing this plant? I need to be growing this plant. It has enormous leaves that offer that tropical look that is so hard to find lower than zone 8 or 9.


Syneilesis acontifolia (shredded umbrella plant) Zone 5-8; Light to full shade
Pale pink disk florets on stems to 42" tall in midsummer. Foliage mound is 18-24" tall by 24" wide. Dissected leaves to 12" wide, slowly spreads by rhizomes; moist soils best but adaptable to dry soils. This is another great foliage plant and a "must have" for my garden.

Native backyard photo

Vernonia lettermannii 'Iron Butterfly' (slimleaf ironwood) Zone 4-9 Full sun
Purple flowers, half-inch wide, bloom in late August to early October; 30" tall by 45" wide; foliage reminiscent of Amsonia hubrichtii; tolerant of dry conditions but not overly wet soils; more compact than the species. I love that this plant blooms late. So hard to keep the garden going at that time of year.


For more on the Chicago Botanic Garden's plant trials including reports on many of their trials, go to www.chicagobotanic.org/plantevaluation

When plants become a collection

Creating a garden starts out as an innocent pursuit. You just want a pretty patch of flower or vegetables that flows and looks beautiful at least three seasons out of four. But there is that one plant that outshines the others. It outperforms them by looking great or by being the big, bold bright spot that everyone comments on. And you start doing a little bit of research on what it really wants, because let's be honest, you got lucky by plunking it in the right place. And the next year it is even more beautiful. And you want more. More. More. More.

You are hooked.

This is how plant collections start. At least this is how mine have started and most of them have snuck up on me. I don't set out to have a "collection" of a specific plant, I just really like them and suddenly have a whole bunch of them (and often, a lot less money in my bank account).

My first plant collection was clematis. The very first clematis I planted was Mrs. N. Thompson and I didn't plant it right. But she defied the odds and was still a looker. The second one was Ken Donson and he was like the crack dealer on the corner: gave me just enough to get me totally hooked.

Mrs. N. Thompson was my first clematis.

 

Guernsey Cream is a favorite that does well for me in a good amount of shade (note the fern and hosta friends it has).

Ken Donson was the clematis that really sucked me in.

 

Once you decide you love a plant you start searching out different cultivars: the usual suspects you can find in your neighbor's garden just won't do. You search out specialty nurseries who will sell those unusual cultivars and, you hope, send you better plants than you can pick up at a local nursery. You're really in trouble when you start buying books on a specific plant and scope out plant-specific online forums.

Since Ken Donson came into my life I've added 12 more clematis. Fourteen plants is a drop in the bucket to collectors of some kinds of plants (talk to the host people who often have more than 1,000 cultivars growing in their yards) but I still think of clematis as my first real fascination. And oh yeah, I have five more ordered for delivery this spring.

The only thing that keeps me from seriously collecting Japanese maples is cost and the fact that many of them are marginally hardy here (see the sad tale of my lovely Kamagata maple). I only have two (Orangeola and Acontifolium), but that doesn't mean I don't scope them out every time I look.

Acer japonicum 'Acontifolium'

 

I probably have more different varieties of heucheras and heucherallas than any other plant, but that's probably more because I just really like trying new ones (and there are a lot available through the Yahoo co-op). I have a lot of hostas for the same reason, a handful of roses (which I should just give up on because I don't do roses well), and I've tried just about every new echinancea that comes on the market (with limited success, by the way; they just seem to lack longevity here).

Echinacea 'Summer Sky'

I might have gotten just a bit carried away with the hostas a few years ago when I had 50-some of them growing out in pots waiting to be planted in the garden.

 

I'm not sure hydrangeas qualify as a collection or fascination for me, but as you know, I do love them. Limelights are, of course, the star here, but I also love my climbing hydrangea, my new Little Limes, Incrediball and even my old-fashioned Annabelle. Oakleaf hydrangeas are stunning shrubs, but not one I've had a great deal of luck with. I also have a Nikko Blue which is a full-on zone 6 plant but she's bloomed for me in the past and I won't give up on her.

Nikko Blue hydrangea

 

I feel the pull of new collections, too. I've recently developed a fascination with tree peonies (again, a plant that requires a great deal of patience. What is with me?) The world of conifers is amazing, but it's one I feel I really need to study before delving into because in many cases it requires a healthy space requirement (and even on 1.3 acres space is a precious commodity). And the charming little Ginko 'Gnome' that I ordered on a whim last year got me totally excited about Gingkos as well. Plus, there's that whole toad lily thing that I learned last week I'm totally missing out on. We'll just have to wait and see where my wandering obsessions lead me to next.

Do you have any plant collections? How did you get started with them?

 

 

Expert bloggers' favorite perennial picks

I've been trying to deny the calling of the seed catalogs and the desire to peek at the vernal witch hazel and the warmest corners near the house where the bulbs come up first (it is only January, after all) but there is only so much a gardener can do during an unseasonably warm winter.

That's why I called on some of my favorite gardening bloggers to share with their favorite perennial. These three ladies are experienced and creative gardeners so I knew they'd bring an interesting perspective.

First up is Genevieve from North Coast Gardening. I've written about Gen before because I love her blog North Coast Gardening which is full of great tips and product reviews.

Gen's pick: Korean tassel fern

My favorite perennial is one that often gets overlooked in the shade section, tassel fern. Anyone championing it would have an uphill battle from the start, since its botanical name is nearly unpronounceable—Polystichum polyblepharum. Say that three times fast! But tassel fern is easily the most elegant, easy-to-grow plant I know for shade. Its foliage has a glossy sheen that looks great against pretty much any shade shrub, and the rich green color softens rock walls or other strong hardscape elements. It's even evergreen! You can buy it at Plant Delights if your local nursery doesn't carry it.

Isn't that fern lovely? And evergreen would be lovely! Plants Delight lists it as being hardy to zone 5b (which more of us are in now that the plant hardiness zone map has been adjusted) so I'd definitely love to try it. By the way, if you really do want to know how to pronounce some of those tongue-tying plant names, check out Fine Gardening magazine's pronunciation guide.

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Next up is the tireless Kylee who blogs at Our Little Acre, gardens in Ohio, writes for a couple gardening magazines and is the book review editor for Horticulture Magazine. She's also an excellent Words with Friends player.

Kylee's pick: Toad lily

As Erin said to me, asking me to name my favorite perennial is akin to asking me which is my favorite child. It all depends on when you ask. If it’s June, I might say Astrantia; ask me in July and August and I might say Orienpet or Oriental lilies. (Who doesn’t love their fragrance?)

Then there are ones that have such intricate features that are fascinating when you examine them up close, like my Five-leaved Akebia (Akebia quinata ‘Alba’), with its white blooms every so lightly striped with purple.  Or the Chinese globe flower (Trollius chinensis ‘Golden Queen’)—so lusciously fringy.

Akebia quinata ‘Alba’

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Chinese globe flower

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But ask me which perennial I most look forward to seeing and which one I’d miss if I didn’t have it and I’ll tell you toad lilies. Such an ugly common name for such a beautiful flower! Botanically, it’s Tricyrtis, with various species names tagging along behind.  (hirta, amethystina, formosana, etc.)

It’s not the showiest plant in the garden, at least not for most of the summer. It’s a little later to emerge in the spring than some perennials, and it’s definitely later to bloom, but that’s one of its best traits. When September and October come along and 80% of the garden is waning, Tricyrtis is putting on the best show of its life.

Each bloom looks like a little spotted orchid. There are some that aren’t spotted too, such as ‘Togen’ (often misspelled ‘Tojen’), which happens to be my favorite bloom among my collection of a dozen or so different cultivars. I like ‘Dark Beauty’ too, for its sea of blooms and ‘Miyazaki Hybrids’ for the way they bloom at the leaf axils up and down the stems.

Tricyrtis 'Togen'

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Tricyrtis 'Miyazaki'

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The blooms aren’t the only sway they hold over me. The foliage can be just as varied. ‘Lightning Strike’ is streaked, while several cultivars have subtle green-on-green spotting. And did I mention they do all this in the shade?

I think these work better as a specimen plant, perhaps because the blooms are diminutive. Seeing them planted en masse wouldn’t necessarily pack the punch that other plants do. But a few clustered here and there in the shade garden will cause you and your garden visitors to take notice. They’re generally hardy in Zones 5-8/9, maybe colder, although since they bloom so late, in colder zones the flowering time may get cut short by early frosts.

By the way, I love both of my two daughters the best.

Kylee (middle) with her two equally loved daughters Kara and Jenna.

Would you believe I have NO toad lilies in my garden? Sounds like I'm going to need to change that.

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And last but not least is Linda who blogs at Each Little World. Linda gardens in my old stomping grounds of Madison, Wisconsin, and I hope to be able to stop in and see her amazing gardens in 2012. I think Linda and her husband Mark do garden structure better than almost anyone. They have that whole "backbone of the garden" thing down.

You might be surprised to see what Linda sent to me as her favorite perennial. I didn't tell any of the contributors what plant the others were writing about (and I didn't know until they sent it either). What I love is that while Kylee focused on the beautiful blooms of Tricyrtis, Linda loves them for their interesting foliage. I have to admit. I once saw them on her blog for a Foliage Follow-up post (on the 16th of every month), and I had to ask what they were because I was so taken by the amazing foliage.

Linda's pick: Toad lilies

If I look in my plant files it’s easy to discover my favorite perennials by noting which plants have multiple listings. By the numbers, I’m currently growing 17 Epimediums, 18 Geraniums and 22 Hemerocallis, to name just a few. They’re all wonderful plants, but to rise to the level of “favorite perennial,” that plant is the one that I wait for the longest: toad lilies (Tricyrtis species). I think the anticipation of watching a clump get fatter and taller as the season stretches on is guaranteed to turn that plant into a favorite. Fall bloomers like toad lilies (I’m growing 11 varieties) are there in the garden almost from the start of the spring, patiently waiting for their moment. Even though they’re not blooming, they put on a show all season with their arching stems and bright green, gold and patterned foliage. And they keep my attention to the very end: either wondering if they will flower before the first frost arrives or basking in their beauty as their tiny orchid-like blossoms sway amidst the falling leaves.

 

That last photo makes me swoon. Yes, I'm totally sold on toad lilies.

 

Are you growing any of these? What's your favorite perennial (and, like I told the great contributors, you HAVE to pick)?

Thanks again to Gen, Kylee and Linda for participating. Your blogs are a continual source of inspiration to me!