Perennials & Biennials

Showing 81–88 of 511 results

  • Athyrium filix-femina Lady fern Z 3-8

    Clumping fern with lance-shaped, double compound fronds – leaflets upon the midrib usually opposite one another, 1-2’ long and 5-12” wide and tapered to a point at the tip. One of the easiest ferns to grow.

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    Clumping fern with lance-shaped, double compound fronds – leaflets upon the midrib usually opposite one another, 1-2’ long and 5-12” wide and tapered to a point at the tip. One of the easiest ferns to grow.

    Size: 4’ x 2-4’
    Care: moist to well-drained soil in full to part shade
    Native: temperate No. America including Wisconsin
    Awards: England’s Royal Horticultural Society Award of Merit.

    Chippewa made a decoction of the root for it diuretic. Meskwaki made a decoction from the roots to relieve breast pain after childbirth. For Ojibwa and Potawatomi it brought on milk flow in nursing mothers with caked breast. Ojibwa also dried and grated roots to heal sores. Quileute wiped fish with the leaves and ate roasted, peeled root.
    First described for botany, but given a different name, by English botanist Leonard Plukenet (1641-1706) in 1692.

  • Athyrium filix-femina ‘Frizelliae’ Tatting fern Z 4-8

    Clumping fern bearing unusual fronds – button-like along the midrib

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    Clumping fern bearing unusual fronds – button-like along the midrib

    Size: 18” x 18”
    Care: Moist humusy soil in part sun to part shade
    Awards: Great Plant Pick Award from Elizabeth Carey Miller Botanical Garden.

    Short genetic mutation of Lady Fern discovered in 1857 in Mrs. Frizelle’s garden in Ireland.

  • Aurinia saxitilis syn. Alyssum saxatile Basket of Gold Z 4-7

    Taxi cab yellow rounded, dense mass of flowers envelops the plant from May to June

    $12.75/bareroot

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    Taxi cab yellow rounded, dense mass of flowers envelops the plant from May to June

    Size: 10" x 12"
    Care: Full sun well-drained soil, cut back after flowering to maintain compact form. Drought tolerant
    Native: Central and southeastern Europe
    Awards: England's Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit

    Ancient Greeks may have used this to cure hydrophobia. English garden cultivation since 1710. Grown by Washington at Mount Vernon.

  • Baptisia australis syn. Saphora australis False Indigo Z 3-9

    Indigo blue racemes in June followed by ornamental black seed pods on this perennial that looks like a shrub.  This is a legume that improves soil fertility by making nitrogen available to the Baptisa and surrounding plants. Internationally known garden designer Piet Oudolf’s 100 “MUST HAVE” plants, Gardens Illustrated  94 (2013).

    $12.95/bareroot

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    Indigo blue racemes in June followed by ornamental black seed pods on this perennial that looks like a shrub. This is a legume that improves soil fertility by making nitrogen available to the Baptisa and surrounding plants. Internationally known garden designer Piet Oudolf’s 100 “MUST HAVE” plants, Gardens Illustrated  94 (2013).

    Size: 3' x 3'
    Care: Full sun sandy soil. Heat and drought tolerant, with no staking needed.
    Native: Eastern United States, Wisconsin native.
    Wildlife Value: Food source for several caterpillars and nectar for a number of butterflies.
    Awards: Received England’s Royal Horticultural Society Award of Merit. Perennial Plant Association Plant of the Year Award, 2010. Missouri Botanic Garden Plant of Merit

    Baptisia is Greek meaning to dye referring to use of the plant as a substitute for indigo dye. Cherokee used Baptisia australis for a number of illnesses: cease mortification, cure toothaches and induce vomiting. Collected by John Bartram (1699-1777) plant explorer and colonial nurseryman by 1748.

  • Baptisia leucantha syn. Baptisia lacteata, Baptisia alba White Wild Indigo, Prairie wild indigo Z 3-9

    Gorgeous, tall creamy white flower spikes in May & June followed by black seed pods. This is a legume that improves soil fertility by making nitrogen available to the Baptisia and surrounding plants.

    $9.95/POT

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    Gorgeous, tall creamy white flower spikes in May & June followed by black seed pods. This is a legume that improves soil fertility by making nitrogen available to the Baptisia and surrounding plants.

    Size: 3-5' x 2-3'
    Care: full sun to part shade in rich well-drained soil. Drought tolerant.
    Native: Wisconsin native – from Minnesota to Texas.
    Wildlife Value: food source for several caterpillars and nectar and pollen for a number of butterflies and bees. Deer resistant.

    Winnebago (HoChunk) mashed cooked root to make a poultice applied to remedy inflammation of the womb. Meskwaki applied root to cure old sores and, made a compound to remedy wounds from a rattlesnake bite, knife or ax, an infusion to remedy dropsy, Leucantha means white flowered.

  • Baptisia sphaerocarpa Yellow wild indigo Z 5-8

    Spikes of yellow pea-like flowers in spring cover this broad plant - really makes you say “awe” or “oooh” when it blooms. All season resembles a shrub Flowers turn into round seed pods the size of a marble.  This is a legume that improves soil fertility by making nitrogen available to the Baptisa and surrounding plants.

    $12.75/bareroot

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    Spikes of yellow pea-like flowers in spring cover this broad plant – really makes you say “awe” or “oooh” when it blooms. All season resembles a shrub Flowers turn into round seed pods the size of a marble.  This is a legume that improves soil fertility by making nitrogen available to the Baptisa and surrounding plants.

    Size: 3’ x 3’
    Care: sun to part shade in moist well-drained to dry soil. Drought tolerant.
    Native: Missouri to Mississippi to TX
    Wildlife Value: food source for several caterpillars and nectar and pollen for a number of butterflies and bees pollen. Deer resistant
    Awards: Missouri Botanic Garden Plant of Merit.

    Baptisia is Greek meaning “to dye” referring to use of Baptisia australis as a substitute for indigo dye. Sphaerocarpa means “round seed.” Collected before 1834 by Thomas Nuttall (1786-1859) English planthunter who scoured the US from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

  • Bergenia cordifolia Pigsqueak Z 4-8

    Pink balls of blossoms in late winter to early spring above paddle-like leathery leaves.

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    Pink balls of blossoms in late winter to early spring above paddle-like leathery leaves.

    Size: 12-24" x 30"
    Care: sun to part shade in moist well-drained soil
    Native: Siberia

    Named for Karl August von Bergen, an 18th century botanist from Frankfurt, Germany. Pigsqueak refers to the sound made by fingers rubbing against the leaves. Recommended by William Robinson for its vivid rosy flowers in spring and its large, fleshy red-tinged leaves in fall and winter. Grown by Gertrude Jekyll extensively as a “setting of solid leaves,” for edging and grouping in pots. American garden cultivation since 1800’s.

  • Bigelowia nuttallii Nuttall’s rayless goldenrod Z 4-10

    Clouds of soft yellow flower clusters on this short plant rise on stems above grass-like foliage from mid-summer through fall

    $12.75/pot

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    Clouds of soft yellow flower clusters on this short plant rise on stems above grass-like foliage from mid-summer through fall

    Size: 6-10” x 5”
    Care: sun in well-drained soil
    Native: Southern US; TX, LA, AL, GA, FL
    Wildlife Value: attracts bees

    Possibly collected by plant explorer Thomas Nuttall (1786-1859) before 1818, although not named until 1970 from plants collected on banks of Ohoopee River in Tattnall County GA.