Perennial Favorites
July 31st, 2012
My Patriot-News garden column this Thursday will be about the new perennial trial garden opening at Delaware’s Mt. Cuba Center (http://connect.pennlive.com/user/gweigel/posts.html).
Barrenwort 'Rubrum' after a rain.
This native-focused public garden is test-growing hundreds of different varieties of coreopsis, coralbells, baptisia and more in what will be an ongoing trial ground that all can see. You can even vote for your favorites.
It got me to thinking about some of the perennials that I’ve found to be the best — at least in my garden. I thought I’d share a few of them with you…
* Astilbe ‘Visions.’ This is one of the few series of astilbes that don’t fry out at the first sign of heat and dry weather in summer. I also like ‘Pumila’ for the same reason.
* Aster ‘Bluebird.’ This fall-blooming native (violet) outscored all competition in a past Mt. Cuba trial, and it may well be the best tall aster out there.
* Barrenwort ‘Rubrum.’ The whole Epimedium family is way under-used, but ‘Rubrum’ has always done spectacularly well for me in dry shade under a dogwood tree. Love the heart-shaped leaves that are edged in burgundy in spring and fall.
* Beebalm ‘Jacob Kline.’ One of the few beebalms that don’t get rampant powdery mildew. Tall and red and native.
* Catmint ‘Walker’s Low.’ Blooms about as long as anything, and is an excellent bee-attractor as well as totally bullet-proof in drought. Just cut it back in mid-summer or try the dwarf ‘Kit Cat’ or ‘Blue Ice’ varieties.
* Coneflower ‘Pixie Meadowbrite.’ Big flowers on a short plant. This one also scored very high in a past Mt. Cuba Center trial of dozens of coneflowers.
Coralbells 'Caramel' in September.
* Coralbells ‘Caramel.’ Lots of great coralbells out there, but this one has beautiful, unusual, butterscotchy (caramel?) foliage and is a hefty grower, too. Mine is nearly 2’ x 3’ in its third year.
* Coreopsis ‘Zagreb.’ It’s been around awhile, but it’s compact and a deeper yellow and much more reliable in the long run than the overrated ‘Moonbeam.’
* Creeping sedum ‘Angelina.’ A ground-hugger with bright gold ferny foliage that sticks around all winter. Looks gorgeous in front of my dark-leafed coralbells.
* Euphorbia ‘Bonfire.’ Chartreuse flowers in spring, but the best part is the waxy foliage that’s a blend of green and burgundy. Especially nice in fall when frost sticks to the leaves.
* Foamflower ‘Sugar and Spice.’The scalloped leaves have burgundy crosses (like most foamflowers), but this one is a strong grower and heavy bloomer. It’s in flower for weeks in spring.
Spring flowers of euphorbia 'Bonfire.'
* Hardy geranium ‘Biokovo.’ The award-winning ‘Rozanne’ is too rangy and iffy over winter for my taste. ‘Biokovo’ is durable, compact and makes a nice groundcover in dry partial shade. Not a real heavy bloomer, but the habit is excellent and the foliage colorful in fall.
* Hosta ‘June.’ Lots of excellent choices in hosta, but I just like the blue-green color and sleek shape of this one’s leaves.
* Lenten rose ‘Pink Frost.’ The best helleborus I’ve grown. Mine was actually blooming on Jan. 1 this year. Clean foliage, compact habit, pinkish-white flowers. Another great choice for dry shade.
* Salvia ‘Marcus.’ The shortest salvia I’ve come across. Doesn’t flop and blooms its dark purple head off in spring with a repeat in fall. I like it better than the award-winning ‘May Night.’
* Sedum ‘Neon’ and ‘Brilliant.’ Both are more compact forms of sedum than the widely used ‘Autumn Joy.’ Very tough in sun, heat, drought and clay.
* Threadleaf bluestar (Amsonia hubrichtii). I love the texture of this 3-foot-tall native. It has fine, light-green needle-like leaves that turn golden in fall. The blue spring flowers are a bonus.
Fall foliage of threadleaf bluestar.
I’ve got lots more, but that’s enough for now.
If you’d like to see my whole 18-page list of best performers in all plant categories for central Pa., my “Survivor Plant List” is available for $5.95 download at https://georgeweigel.net/helpful-info-you-can-buy.
And to see photos, plant-care tips and good partners for many of those, go to my Plant-of-the-Week Profiles page at https://georgeweigel.net/plant-of-the-week-profiles.