Perennials & Biennials - Heirloom Garden Plants

Phlox buckleyi   Sword leaf Phlox   Z 4-8
Sprays of mauve, pink or purple blossoms in May-June

Size: 8- 18” x 12”
Care: sun to part shade in any soil
Native: Virginia & West Virginia
Wildlife values: attracts butterflies and hummingbirds

Described and named by Edgar Theodore Wherry (1885-1982), unflagging naturalist in the finest tradition of wide interests in the natural world. After getting his Ph.D in 1909 in geology-mineralogy he became Asst. Curator of Minerals for the Smithsonian. In 8 years he transferred to the USDA Bureau of Chemistry, becoming its principal chemist. He left in 1930 to accept an appointment as botany professor at U. Penn., where he taught botany and ecology for 25 years.

Phlox carolina ‘Miss Lingard'  Carolina phlox, Wedding phlox  Z 5-8
True to its common name, this 3' tall selection bears bridal white blossoms with pink eyes from June into August

Size:  4' x 18"   
Care:  full sun to part shade in moist to moist well-drained soil, resistant to powdery mildew
Native:  Cultivar of native in eastern and central U.S.
Wildlife values: attracts butterflies and hummingbirds 

Phlox is Greek meaning flame. The species carolina in gardens before 1889 and cultivar 'Miss Lingard' before 1905.

Phlox divaricata subsp. laphamii   Wild sweet William  Z 3-8
Violet blue fragrant tubes with flat lobes April-May.

Size: 12” x 12”   
Care: part shade to shade in moist well-drained soil                       
Native: PA to FL SD to TX, Wisconsin native
Wildlife value:  attracts hummingbirds

Phlox is Greek meaning “flame.” This subspecies named for Increase Lapham, Wisconsin’s 1^st geologist, weather scientist and botanist.  Before 1881.  Wm. Robinson said:”…of much stronger growth and flowers considerably longer” (than the species.)  Bailey echoed this: “stronger growing and longer growing than the species.”

Phlox paniculata   Garden phlox   Z 4-8
Balls of rosy mauve flowers on 3' stems bloom from July to September, fragrant.  Perfect cottage garden flower.

Size:  4' x  3'  spreader and self-seeder   
Care: full sun, part shade in moist soil.  Immune Walnut toxins. 
Native:  eastern U.S.
Wildlife values: attracts hummingbirds and butterflies  

Phlox is Greek meaning "flame."  A farmyard plant in North America. Garden phlox first cultivated in Europe in 1732 when introduced by James Sherard.

Physotegia virginiana  Obedient plant      Z 3-9 
Purplish red to rosy pink spikes of hooded snapdragons July to September

Size: 3' x 3' and spreading   
Care: sun in moist to moist well-drained soil.  Deer resistant and tolerates Walnut toxins       
Native: Quebec to Manitoba, TX to GA, Wisconsin native
Wildlife value: attracts hummingbirds  

Collected before 1750. Called Obedient plant because if you push a flower it will remain in place temporarily - not really obedient.  

Pinnellia pedatisecta    Green dragon   Z 5 - 8
Green modified leaf (spath) curls around very thin, tall, graceful inflorescence (spadix) much like a primitive jack-in-the-pulpit.  Grow this & hear your friends ask "what is that?"

Size:  28" x 10" 
Care: easy to grow in sun to part shade in moist to moist well-drained soil      
Native: N & W China

In Chinese called "Hu Zhang."  In Chinese medicine used to remedy ailments of the spleen, gallstones & coughs.  Raw plant is toxic but neutralized by drying.  Collected for western gardens by 1858.

Platycodon grandiflorus var. albus - Balloon flower  Z 4-9
Balloon shaped buds opening to white bells in mid to late summer

Size: 24" x 12"
Care: Full sun to part shade in moist well-drained to well-drained soil.
Native: Eastern Asia

Platycodon is Greek from platys meaning "broad" and kodon meaning "bell", referring to the shape of the flower. Planthunter Robert Fortune found the white form in a nursery near Shanghai and sent it to England in 1845. Cultivated in the U.S. since the 1800's. Received England's Royal Horticultural Society Award of Merit.

Platycodon grandiflorus       Balloon flower  Z 4-9
Balloon shaped buds opening to blue bells from July through September, deadhead to prolong bloom.

Size:  24" x 12"  
Care:  Full sun to part shade in moist well-drained to well-drained soil    
Native:  Eastern Asia

Platycodon is Greek from platys meaning "broad" and kodon meaning "bell", referring to the shape of the flower. Cultivated in China for hundreds of years where it is called Jie-geng.  The Chinese used the root boiled to cure a chill in the stomach. Mentioned in Man'yoshu, a Japanese anthology of poems written in the 8^th century.  German botanist Johann Gmelin first discovered P. grandiflorus in Siberia in 1754.  Gmelin's Siberian mission, sponsored by Catherine the Great, took 10 years and nearly killed him.  Gmelin introduced it to European garden cultivation by 1782.  Cultivated in the U.S. since the 1800's. Received England's Royal Horticultural Society Award of Merit.

Podophyllum peltatum  Mayapple, Hog apple, Mandrake        Z 4-9
White waxy cups on this spring ephemeral turning to a round, green seedhead, the Mayapple.

Size: 18" x 4'  spreading by rhizomes 
Care: moist well-drained soil in full to part shade.  Immune to Walnut tocins. 
Native: Quebec to Minnesota, south to Florida & Texas, Wisconsin native

Named by for its leaves supposed resemblance to a duck's foot (Anapodophyllum.)  Mayapple root used medicinally by Native Americans - for the Iroquois & Delaware as a laxative and purgative, to purify the body and expel worms.  Cherokee and Menomonee made the root's juice into insecticide to protect corn and potatoes from insects.  Introduced 1664.  "Has whitish flowers, borne on erect stems bearing 2 one-sided leaves, the flowerless stems terminating in a large, round, 7 to 9 lobed leaf of umbrella-like shape, and being particularly attractive."  H.H. Thomas, 1915.  You can hunt the Morel mushrooms when Mayapples bloom.

Polemonium reptans  Greek valerian, Jacobs ladder Z 4-8
Clusters of light blue bell shaped blooms in May and June

Size: 8-12” x 10”
Care: part shade in moist to moist well-drained soil, immune to Walnut toxins
Native: Ontario & Quebec to Alabama, west to MN & KS, Wisconsin native

Collected for gardens before 1750. Meskwaki made a compound of roots as a physic and for urinary ailments.

Polygonatum falcatum var. variegatum  Variegated Solomon seal  Z 4-8
Medium sized, arching Solomon seal with white margined leaves, white dangling bells in spring.

Size: 20" x 4' slow spreader   
Care: moist to moist well-drained soil in shade to part shade.  Immune Walnut toxins. 
Native: Japan
Wildlife value: attracts hummingbirds

Winner, Great Plant Pick Award and 2013 Perennial Plant of the Year.
1^st identified by Japanese botanist & scholar Takenoshin Nakai (1882-1952) in Botany Magazine of Tokyo 1924. Introduced to American gardens in 1937. 

Polygonatum multiflorum  Solomon's seal  Z 4-10
Dainty white flowers dangle from arching stems in June followed by black fruit, the leaves "make a fine mass of elegant foliage," Sanders, 1913.

Size: 3'  x 10"      
Care:  shade in moist well-drained to well-drained soil Drought tolerant. Immune Walnut toxins.
Native: Europe and Asia

Dioscorides named Polygonatum in the 1^st century, which means "many jointed" referring to scars on the rhizome.  Medieval herbalists opined that Biblical figure Solomon put scars on the rhizome to demonstrate the plant's curative powers.  P. multiflorum cultivated in English gardens by 1450.  In 1596 English herbalist Gerard endorsed its use to repair broken bones - mix the pulverized root and drink it with ale to "gleweth together the bones in very short space."  He also claimed fresh stamped root of Polygonatum would cure cuts and bruises for "women's willfulness in stumbling on their hasty husband's fists." According to Culpepper Italian wives "much used" this remedy.  American gardens since 1700's.

Polygonum capitatum  Pinkhead knotweed,  in China tou hua liao.  Z 7-11    Reseeding annual in colder areas
Oval-shaped spikes of pink flower heads June through October, with ornamental, chevron-like pattern on the leaves. Wonderful groundcover, good for rock gardens and containers and between stepping stones.

Size: 5” x 12”    
Care: sun to part shade in moist to moist well-drained soil 
Native: China, Thailand, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Malaysia & Nepal

Collected for western gardens by 1825.  Used medicinally in Asia.  Polygonum from Greek polys meaning “many” and gonu for “knee” or “joint” for the thickened joints on the stem. Capitatum means “dense head.”    

See Heirloom plant specials to Get 3 plants for only $7.90.  You get 3 for the price of 2, saving $3.95.

Potentilla  x tonguei    Staghorn cinquefoil  Z. 5-8
Apricot-yellow flowers with red centers bloom June-September. We love its long, colorful blooms and neat habit.  Perfect in rock gardens.

Size:  5” x 12”  
Care: Sun to part shade in moist well-drained soil 
 
Potentilla is Latin meaning “powerful” referring to historic medicinal properties since Hippocrates.  This is a cross of P. anglica and P. nepalensis which took place naturally in a garden. This Cinquefoil has been in gardens since at least 1839.  Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit.

Potentilla argyrophylla  Cinquefoil  Z 5-8
Sunshine colored saucers with orange centers in early summer on this dome shaped plant. Very ornamental foliage - fuzzy, white strawberry-like leaves. 

Size:  24" x 24"    
Care:  sun in moist well-drained to well-drained soil    
Native:  Himalayas  

Potentilla is Latin meaning "powerful" referring to medicinal properties. Potentillas used by dentists in the 16^th century to reduce pain according to Gerard, English herbalist.  Per Culpepper, 17^th century English herbalist potentilla is to be used if Jupiter is ascending and the moon is “applying to him.”  Argyrophylla means "silver leaved."  This species collected in its native Himalayas before 1860. 

Potentilla atrosanguinea      Himalayan cinquefoil        Z 5-8
Summer to autumn, ruby to pumpkin-colored blossoms shaped like a single petal rose, top pleated silvery foliage.

Size:  18-36" x  24"        
Care: Sun well-drained to moist well-drained soil     
Native:  Himalayas

Potentilla is Latin meaning powerful referring to medicinal properties. Potentillas used by dentists in the 16^th century to reduce pain according to Gerard, English herbalist.  Per Culpepper, 17^th century English herbalist, potentilla is to be used if Jupiter is ascending and the moon is “applying to him.” Astrosanguinea introduced to garden cultivation in the 1820's. American garden cultivation of this species since mid-1800's.

See Heirloom plant specials to Get 3 plants for only $18.50.  You get 3 for the price of 2, saving $9.25

Potentilla aurea    Yellow cinquefoil  Z 5-8
Perky sunshine colored saucers in May and June

Size:  4" x 8"    
Care:  Full sun in well-drained soil.  Drought tolerant      
Native:  Mountains of Europe

Potentilla is Latin meaning "powerful" referring to medicinal properties.  Potentillas used by dentists in the 16^th century to reduce pain according to Gerard, English herbalist.  Per Culpepper, 17^th century English herbalist potentilla is to be used if Jupiter is ascending and the moon is "applying to him."  Aurea flowered in London in May 1872 per that issue of The Garden.

Potentilla rupestris    Rock cinquefoil, Siberian tea       Z 5-8
White, single rose-like saucer flowers with prominent yellow stamens in early summer. 

Size: 10-20" x 12"  
Care:  sun to part shade in well-drained to moist well-drained soil
Native:  Europe, Asia & mountains of western No. America

Potentilla is Latin meaning "powerful" referring to medicinal properties.  Rupestris means "rock loving."  This species in gardens before 1753.  Russians used the leaves to brew tea.

Potentilla thurberi    Scarlet cinquefoil     Z 5-9
Loose clusters of reddish purple, Claret-colored blooms - June to August. Valuable for both its long bloom and its dark red flowers.

Size:  30" x  12"  
Care:  full sun in moist well-drained to well-drained soil         
Native:  Arizona & New Mexico

Collected before 1880's in its native Southwest - Arizona and New Mexico.  

Primula veris   Cowslip   Z 3-8
Sunniest of yellow trumpet flowers announce the beginning of spring.

Size: 8" x 8"   
Care:  part shade in moist to moist well-drained soil. One of the few easy care primulas - not at all fussy and will self-seed if happy. Immune to Walnut toxins,   
Native:  Europe

Primula veris means "first spring" in Italian. According to legend this decorated the entrance to Norse goddess Fryda's palace. Culpepper claimed that cowslip extract made women more beautiful. Favorite Shakespearean plant. Cultivated in American gardens since 1600's.