Perennials & Biennials
Showing 25–32 of 548 results
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Alcea rosea Hollyhock BIENNIAL
Early to late summer spikes of single platters - mixed colors. The classic cottage garden flower.
Alcea rosea Hollyhock BIENNIAL reseeds Z 4-9
Early to late summer spikes of single platters – mixed colors. The classic cottage garden flower.Size: 5-8' x 24"
Care: Sun in moist well-drained to well-drained soil. Drought tolerant
Native: West Asia
Wildlife Value: Butterfly plant, host for Painted Lady butterfliesCultivated in China for thousands of years where it symbolized the passing of time. They cooked the leaves for a vegetable and also ate the buds. Transported from Middle East to Europe by the Crusaders and introduced to England by the 1400’s. Culpepper, a 17th century English herbalist, claimed the plant could be used to cure ailments of the “belly, Stone, Reins, Kidneys, Bladder, Coughs, Shortness of Breath, Wheesing, … the King’s Evil,, Kernels, Chin-cough, Wounds, Bruises, Falls. . . (and) Sun-burning.” Both single and double forms grew in England by the time of Parkinson (1629). Parkinson said they came “in many and sundry colours.” John Winthrop Jr. introduced the 1st hollyhock to the New World in the 1630’s.
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Alcea rosea var. nigra Black hollyhock BIENNIAL Z 4-9
Early to late summer spikes of single jet-black/maroon platters.
Alcea rosea var. nigra Black hollyhock BIENNIAL Z 4-9
Early to late summer spikes of single jet-black/maroon platters.
Size: 5-8’ x 24”
Care: sun in well-drained soil
Native: West Asia
Wildlife Value: Attracts bees, butterflies and birdsHollyhocks have been cultivated in China for thousands of years where it symbolized the passing of time. They cooked the leaves for a vegetable and also ate the buds. Transported from Middle East to Europe by the Crusaders and introduced to England by 1573. Grown in the Eichstätt Garden, the garden of Johann Konrad von Gemmingen, prince bishop of Eichstätt in Bavaria, c. 1600. Culpepper, a 17th century English herbalist, claimed the plant could be used to cure ailments of the “belly, Stone, Reins, Kidneys, Bladder, Coughs, Shortness of Breath, Wheesing, … the King’s Evil,, Kernels, Chin-cough, Wounds, Bruises, Falls. . . (and) Sun-burning.” Both single and double forms grew in England by the time of Parkinson (1629). Parkinson said they came “in many and sundry colours.” John Winthrop Jr. introduced the 1st hollyhock to the New World in the 1630’s.
In the 1880’s Mr. W. Charter of Saffron Walden in England cultivated frilly doubles, now known as ‘Charter’s Doubles.’
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Alchemilla alpina Alpine lady’s mantle
short sprays of chartreuse-yellow flowers in early summer
OUT OF STOCK
From a low mound of palmate, silvery-margined leaves with silver undersides emerge short sprays of chartreuse-yellow flowers in early summer. Will rebloom if cut back flowers after bloom
Size: 6-8” x 8-12”
Care: sun to part shade in moist to moist well-drained soil
Native: Europe and southern GreenlandNamed by Linnaeus 1753. Philip Miller described this as having leaves “that are very white and deeply cut into five parts like a hand…” The Gardeners Dictionary 1783
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Alchemilla erythropoda Dwarf lady’s mantle Z 3-7
A miniature Lady’s Mantle for edging borders or growing in the rock garden. Short sprays of chartreuse flowers appear over a dense mound of scalloped light-green leaves that catch and hold rain or dewdrops
OUT OF STOCK
A miniature Lady’s Mantle for edging borders or growing in the rock garden. Short sprays of chartreuse flowers appear over a dense mound of scalloped light-green leaves that catch and hold rain or dewdrops
Size: 6-10” x 9-12”
Care: Sun to shade in moist well-drained soil
Native: Eastern Europe
Awards: Royal Horticultural Society Award of MeritYou might not transmute gold with Alchemilla, but foamy clusters of tiny, starlike flowers in yellow-green chartreuse bloom above scalloped, tooth-edged foliage. A contrast of forms and greens Alchemilla was used to collect dewdrops in the medieval preparation of the Philosopher’s Stone. We find the way moisture collects and moves like mercury on the pale green leaves always magical.
Described in Flora Kavkaza Flora Kavkaza in 1928.
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Alchemilla mollis Lady’s mantle
Petite chartreuse flowers cover foot long sprays
Petite chartreuse flowers cover foot long sprays in early to midsummer. Mounds of fan-like blue-grey foliage. Wonderful groundcover.
Size: 24"x S 30"
Care: Sun to part shade in moist to moist well-drained soil
Native: East Carpathians, CaucasusNamed for alchemists, medieval chemists who believed they could transmute ordinary substances into gold. Dew drops beading on the fan shaped leaves were added to gold-making recipes. 16th century English medicinal uses included: cures for inflammation from wounds, bruises and flu, clot blood, aid conception and discourage miscarriages. Reputedly the plant also returned women to their former beauty of youth. Cultivated in U.S. since 1800’s.
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Allium cernuum Nodding onion Z 4-8
Umbels of arching stems with nodding bells of lilac shading to pink
Allium cernuum Nodding onion Z 4-8
Umbels of arching stems with nodding bells of lilac shading to pink, June – July.Size: 12”-18”x 3-6”
Care: sun to part shade in moist well-drained soil, Deer resistant
Native: Canada to Mexico, Wisconsin native
Wildlife Value: attracts butterfliesCernuum is Latin meaning “nodding.” Many groups of 1st Americans ate the bulbs raw, roasted or dried for winter storage or as flavoring for soups and gravies. Cherokee used this plant medicinally to cure colds, hives, colic, “gravel & dropsy,” liver ailments, sore throats, “phthisic,” and feet in “nervous fever.” Those in the Isleta Pueblo were not quite as creative as the Cherokee and used this only for sore throats and infections. Collected for garden cultivation by 1834.
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Allium christophii syn. Allium albopilosum Star of Persia, Persian onion Z 4-8
Awesome purple globe-shaped flowers nearly a foot across in late spring to early summer. Ephemeral. Flowerhead make stunning years long dried arrangements
Available for purchase in Spring only
Awesome purple globe-shaped flowers nearly a foot across in late spring to early summer. Ephemeral. Flowerhead make stunning years long dried arrangements
Size: 1-2’ x 1’
Care: sun in well-drained to moist well-drained soil
Native: Iran and Turkey
Wildlife Value: Deer resistant. Walnut tolerant
Awards: Royal Horticultural Society award of Garden MeritNamed Star of Persia for the 100 star shaped flowers that make up each flower head.
Described by German botanist and plant explorer Ernst Rudolf von Trautvetter (1809-1889) in 1884. He worked at botanic gardens and universities in Kiev and St. Petersburg for 40 years. -
Allium flavum var. minus Yellow flowered garlic
Umbels of shatter-shot yellow florets on blue-green stems in July
Allium flavum var. minus Z 4-7
Umbels of shatter-shot yellow florets, a bit like fireworks, on blue-green stems in JulySize: 10” x 3”
Care: sun in moist well-drained soil
Native: Northern Turkey
Wildlife Value: resistant to rabbits & deer. Attracts bees and butterflies
Awards: species received Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden MeritDescribed by Swiss botanist Pierre Edmond Boissier before 1885
