Heirloom Plant Specials - Heirloom Garden Plants

Aesculus x carnea  Red buckeye  Z 5-8
Spectacular raspberry colored upright panicles in spring.  The trees you receive are 2 years old. 

Size:  15’ x 10’  
Care:  sun to part shade in moist well-drained soil- understory tree.    
Native:  eastern US
Wildlife value: attracts butterflies

Cross between Aesculus pavia and A. hippocastanum, believed to have occurred by nature in a German garden before 1820.  Aesculus is a Latin name for a nut bearing tree.  Pavia comes from Peter Pav, a Dutch professor at University of Leyden.

  Only $32.95 for 3 plants!  You save $11.90.

Agastache foeniculum  Anise hyssop Z 4-8
Showy blue spikes from July to September, fragrant

Size: 3-5' x 12"
Care: Full sun to part shade in well-drained soil, drought tolerant & deer resistant
Native: North America, Wisconsin native
Wildlife value: attracts butterflies

3 plants for only $17.95! You get 3 plants for the price of 2, saving $8.95 

  Althaea officinalis      Marshmallow   Z 4-9
  Tall spires of small pale pink mallow-like blooms from July to September

Size:  5-6’ x 3’    
Care: Full sun moist to moist well-drained soil. Drought tolerant 
Native: Central, south and east Europe

Althaea is Greek meaning “to cure.” More than 2000 years ago ancient Egyptians added honey to the cooked root. Ancient Romans used leaves and flowers as a strewing herb to repel lice and fleas. Emperor Charlemagne (742-814) cultivated the marshmallow in his gardens.   According to Nicholas Culpepper, 16^th century English herbalist, marshmallows were a medicinal candy. The plant eased pain, helped bloody fluxes, the stone and gravel and gripping of the belly.  Considered an herb of Venus, it voided offensive humors, made milk for nursing, cured bee stings, dandruff, balding and coughs.  The French concocted the fluffy white confection in the mid 1800’s “from a decoction of marshmallow root, with gum to bind the ingredients together, beaten egg white to give lightness and to act as a drying agent, while sugar was incorporated to make the whole palatable.” American gardens since 1700’s when John Bartram received seeds from Europe. Jefferson grew it at Monticello.

Only $18.50 for 3 plants - 3 plants for the price of 2.  You save $9.25.

Aster azureus syn. Symphyotricum oolentangiense var. oolentangiense Sky blue aster Z 3-9
Spectacular 2-3' tall cornflower blue daisies in September-October.

Size: 2-3' x 2'
Care: full sun to part shade in any soil
Native: NY to SD, FL to TX, Wisconsin native
Wildlife value: Attracts butterflies and hummingbirds

Collected before 1889.

Only $12.95 for 3 plants.  You save $4.90

Callirhoe involucrata  Purple mallow, Wine cups, Prairie poppy mallow  Z 3-9
Magenta-purple upfacing cups, June - October, non-stop.  Wonderful for rock gardens or as a ground cover.

Size: 6" x 12"
Care: Full sun in well-drained soil.  Drought tolerant   
Native: Missouri to Texas

Although an American prairie native, Callirhoe is named for the daughter of the Greek river god. Teton Dakota burned its dried root for smoke to cure the common cold and aches and pains. First collected by Thomas Nuttall in 1834. Ferry's 1876 catalog described it as having "a trailing habit, of great beauty." William Robinson extolled Prairie mallow as "excellent for the rock garden, bearing a continuous crop of showy blossoms from early summer till late in autumn."

Only $17.90 for 3 plants!  3 for the price of 2, saving $8.95

Campanula rotundifolia Harebell or Bluebell of Scotland  Z 3-8
Harebell's delicate appearance conceals its hardy constitution. Dainty bluish-lilac bells top 12" stems on bushy plants blooming continuously from June through October. Perfect for rock gardens and for the front of borders.

Size: 9-12" x S 12"
Care: Sun to part shade moist well-drained soil, tolerant Walnut toxicity
Native: Europe, Siberia and North America, Wisconsin native

No wonder Sir Walter Scott immortalized the Bluebell of Scotland in Lady of the Lake. Also a subject in Emily Dickinson's poetry.

Chrysopsis villosa syn. Heterotheca villosa Hairy golden aster  Z 4-9
Abundant golden yellow daisies flowering late summer and autumn

Size: 4' x 18"
Care: full sun well-drained soil. Drought tolerant
Native: Manitoba so. Alabama, west to Nebraska and N.M.

Chrysopsis is Greek meaning "gold appearance" for the flower color. Englishman Thomas Nuttall collected this by 1814.

Only $17.90 for 3 plants!  3 for the price of 2, saving $8.95

Convallaria majalis Lily of the Valley  Z 2-7
Classic - dainty alabaster bells perfume the air in spring. Fragrance unmistakeable. Wonderful groundcover under trees.

Size: 9" x Spreading.
Care: part shade to shade in moist to well-drained soil.  Drought tolerant
Native: north temperate zones in the world.

Cultivated since at least 1000 B.C. The Norse goddess of dawn adopted it as her special flower. One legend claims the plant first appeared on the spot where St. Leonard shed blood while slaying the dragons. 17th century herbalists used Lily of the Valley to improve memory and strengthen the heartbeat. Grown by Jefferson.

Only $9.95 for 3 plants!  You save $9.95

Coreopsis verticillata Thread leafed tickseed Z 4-9
All summer into fall, free-blooming non-stop - yolk yellow daisies atop wirey stems.

Size: 24" x  18" spreading
Care: Sun to part shade well-drained soil, drought tolerant
Native: S.E. U.S.
Wildlife value: attracts butterflies

Exported from its native America to England in 1759. Used to dye cloth red.

Only $17.90 for 3 plants! 3 for the price of 2.  You save $8.95.

Dianthus carthusianorum Clusterhead Pink Z 5-9
Rosy carmine pink flowers atop wiry stems from June until frost

Size: 16" x 8"
Care: Full sun moist well-drained to well-drained soil. Deer resistant & drought tolerant
Native: Central and southern Europe
Wildlife value:  attract hummingbirds

Clusterhead pink may have come into gardens with the Carthusian monks in the 1100's. American gardens since 1800's.

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Dianthus gratianopolitanus Cheddar pink Z 3-8
Summer, deep pink, fragrant flowers atop 6" tall mounds of slender, silvery blue foliage.

Size: 6" x 16"
Care: Sun, moist well-drained to well-drained soil. Deer resistant.
Native: Northwest and central Europe

Theophrastus named Dianthus in the 4^th century B.C., meaning “Jove’s flower.”  The common name “pink” is from “pinct” referring to the jagged edge of the petals.  Name "cheddar" from the Cheddar Gorge in England. American cultivation since 1800's. Received England's Royal Horticultural Society Award of Merit.

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Digitalis lutea  Straw foxglove, Small yellow foxglove Z 3-9
Midsummer, creamy yellow, small bells encircle the flower spike on this perennial.

Size: 24" x 12"
Care: Part shade in moist well-drained soil.  Deer resistant 
Native: Central Europe south to NW Africa
Wildlife value:  attracts hummingbirds

Liberty Hyde Bailey called foxgloves: "old-fashioned and dignified... The word ‘fox' is often said to be a corruption of ‘folk,' meaning the ‘little folk' or fairies."  Foxgloves reputedly had the power to ward off witches and return children kidnapped by fairies. D. lutea is mentioned in Gerard's Herball (1632.) Cultivated in America since the 1800's.

Get 3 plants for only $17.95.  You get 3 for the price of 2, saving $8.95

Equisetum scirpoides Dwarf horsetail Z 2-9
Short,bamboo-like - Black bands show joints of  greenstems, no showy flowers

Size: 6” x  spreads – invasive if not planted in pots sunk in the ground
Care: full sun, moist to wet soil
Native: all North America – including Arctic

Collected for cultivation by Andre Michaux, French planthunter who searched No. Am. East of the Mississippi for 11 years in late 1700’s. Contains large amounts of silica, giving it abrasiveness, so used to scrub. Grizzley bears in Pacific Northwest reported to eat Dwarf horsetail.

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Eragrostis trichoides  Sand love grass, Plains love grass  Z 5-9
Amber leaves in fall with rose-purple flowers and showy amethyst seed heads.  Excellent in fresh or dried arrangements. 

Size:  12-24" x 18"   
Care:  sun in well-drained soil.  Deer resistant
Native:  WI to Nebraska, South to TX, Wisconson native      

Eragrostis is Greek meaning "love", (eros) and grass,  agrostis.   1^st collected by Englishman Thomas Nuttall (1786-1859) who searched entire No. American continent, parts of Canada, from New England west to Oregon, the South, Midwest, the Plains, S.E. parts of the U.S., California & Hawaii finding thousands of new plants.  Grass of the Year award by Great Plants for the Great Plains, Nebraska State Arboretum.

 Get 3 plants for only $17.95.  You get 3 for the price of 2, saving $8.95

Eryngium planum  Flat sea holly  Z 5-9
Round thistles top prickly steely blue, silver colored, bracts June-August.  Stems turn steel blue too. Deadhead  for repeat bloom.  Reseeds readily.  Great cut flowers dry or fresh.

Size:  36” x 18”      
Care: Sun well-drained soil,  drought tolerant     
Native: E.  Europe

Eryngium is Greek meaning "thistle."  Eryngium was described in Gerard’s Herball  in 1597 for its uses: ”old and aged people that are consumed and withered with age, and which want natural moisture (and also) amended the defects of nature in the younger,”  Garden cultivation of this species in America since  1800’s.                   

Get 3 plants for only $18.50.  You get 3 for the price of 2, saving $9.25

Eupatorium coelestinum    Blue mist     Z 3-7
Clusters of cornflower blue in fall - looks like a big Ageratum but it's a perennial, not an annual - August to October. One of the best fall flowers.

Size:  3' x 2-3'   
Care:  full sun moist to moist well-drained soil.  Tolerant of walnut toxicity.    
Native:  New Jersey - Missouri
Wildlife value: nectar source for American painted lady butterfly

Eupatorium named after Mithridates Eupator, ancient king of Pontus, Greece, said by Pliny to have used another species of Eupatorium medicinally in 1^st century B.C.  This species 1^st collected by John Bartram in 1732 and offered for sale in Bartram Garden's 1783 Broadside, America's 1^st plant catalog. 

Get 3 plants for only $18.50.  You get 3 for the price of 2, saving $9.25

Festuca ovina glauca  Blue fescue   Z 4-8
Spiky but graceful mound of thin blue gray foliage - early summer short spikes of blue-green flowers

Size:  12" x 10"
Care:  full sun, moist well-drained to well-drained soil
Native:  temperate areas thoughout the world  

Festuca is Latin meaning "grass stalk." American garden cultivation since 1800's.

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Filipendula rubra  Queen of the prairie  Z 3-9
Magnificent frothy pink plumes in midsummer  

Size: 6-8'  x 4'  
Care: sun in moist to moist well-drained soil 
Native:  eastern U.S., Wisconsin native

Name is Latin filum pendulus meaning hanging by a thread referring to threads on the roots of Filipendula. Meskwaki Indians used it for heart ailments and as an aphrodisiac.  American gardens since 1900.

 Get 3 plants for only $18.50.  You get 3 for the price of 2, saving $9.25

Filipendula ulmaria    Queen of the Meadow, Lady of the Meadow  Z 3-9
Large creamy white plumes in June and July on 3' tall plants.

Size:   36"  x  24"  
Care:  Full sun - part shade  moist well-drained soil    
Native:  Europe, W. Asia to Mongolia

Name is Latin filum pendulus meaning hanging by a thread referring to threads on the roots of Filipendula.  Sacred to the Druids. Used to flavor mead and as a fragrant strewing herb at the time of Elizabeth I. Queen of the meadow was also used medicinally to cure flu, arthritis and fever. Cultivated in America since 1700's.

Get 3 plants for only $18.50.  You get 3 for the price of 2, saving $9.25

Gypsophila repens 'Rosea'       Creeping baby's breath  Z 4-7
Dainty pink flowers from June to October on short foliage.  Makes good groundcover, front of the border or rock garden plant.

Size:  8" x  12-20"  
Care:  Sun  well-drained soil.  Drought tolerant.
Native:  Mountains of central and southern Europe

Gypso is Greek meaning gypsum or lime.  Phylos means loving. Plant requires limey soil.  Discovered in Siberia in 1774.  American garden cultivation since 1800's.  Received England's Royal Horticultural Society Award of Merit.

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