Description
Big, deep indigo saucers – all summer into fall. The best short Clematis.
Big blue flowers from June to September
Big, deep indigo saucers – all summer into fall. The best short Clematis.
Violet racemes all summer July to September
Size: 36” x 12”
Care: Sun, well-drained soil
Native: Southern Europe
Both the Latin and common names are related to flax. Linaria comes from “linum” which is Greek for “flax” and toadflax includes the word “flax.” The leaves of Linaria purpurea resemble flax leaves. According to 17th century English herbalist, John Parkinson, the plant “causes one to make water.” Grown by Tradescant the Elder, 1634. American garden cultivation since 1800’s.
OUT OF STOCK
Briliant orange with purple spots, turks-cap type lily blooming in late summer to early fall
Size: 10’ x 12”
Care: shade to sun in moist, acidic soil
Native: from VT to Fl & west to Mississippi River, incl. Wisconsin
Lilium was named for the Greek word for smooth, polished referring to its leaves Collected before 1762. Sold in America’s 1st plant catalog, Bartram’s Broadside, 1783. L.H. Bailey (1913): “The most magnificent and showy of native North American species, well worthy of extensive cultivation.”
OUT OF STOCK
Lavender-Pink outside and white inside funnels in June
Size: 20-30” x 12-24”
Care: sun in well-drained soil
Native: northeast North America
Wildlife Value: attracts Baltimore butterfly
Penstemon is named for its five stamens, penta meaning “five” and stemon meaning “stamen” in Greek. Penstemons are “handsome and deserving,” Bailey. P. hirsutus sent from America to England in 1758.
Rosettes of succulent leaves
Size: 4” x 4”
Care: sun in well-drained to moist well-drained soil
Native: Alps & Pyrenees Mountains
Grown in gardens for thousands of years. Sempervivum means “live forever.” Romans planted Hens and chicks on their roofs to ward off lightning. As a succulent it holds water and is probably more difficult to catch fire. “This practice was preserved for historians when Charlemagne (720-814), first Holy Roman Emperor and unifier of a large part of northern Europe, ordered that all villagers within his crown lands plant houseleeks on their roofs, presumably as a safety measure. He decreed: Et ille hortulanus habeat super domum suam Iovis barbam. (And the gardener shall have house-leeks growing on his house. Capitulare de villis, about 795, LXX.)”