This lovely Thyme forms a dense mat of dark green, semi-evergreen leaves. Excellent for use in between steppers or as a lawn alternative. Once established it is drought tolerant. In early summer it is smothered with magenta-red flowers.
Salvia ‘Eveline’
This beautiful pink sage was selected by plantsman Piet Oudolf, from his own garden. These lavender pink spiky flowers are invaluable in the summer garden. They are drought tolerant once established and attract butterflies and hummingbirds!
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Paeonia ‘Sarah Bernhardt’
There are hundreds of different varieties of peonies. We selected ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ because many of our clients ask for a pink selection. These bring a lovely sweet scent to the garden when in bloom and make excellent cut flowers. It’s a long time favorite (since 1906) and dependable year after year.
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Monarda ‘Purple Rooster’
Monarda ‘Purple Rooster’ is one of the darkest and truest purple flowers around! Its upright, rigid stems create a strongly vertical aesthetic while the dull green leaves have a rough, sand-papery texture. Purple Rooster is very much so mildew resistant, which is a big plus when it comes to Beebalms! This cultivar was selected by The Flower Factory in Stoughton, Wisconsin and named by the owners David and Nancy Nedveck.
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Heuchera ‘Citronelle’
A stunning lime-yellow Coral Bell that can withstand the heat and humidity! Creamy white blooms add summer interest. They form low clumps of foliage that create a stunning contrast in the garden. Great for perennials borders and containers.
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Ligularia ‘Brit Marie Crawford’
Culture
Best grown in rich, humusy, medium to wet soils in part shade to full shade in a location sheltered from winds. Must have moist soils that never dry out. Benefits from a regular, deep watering in hot summers. Site selection in hot summer climates can be a bit tricky because leaves tend to show wilt when grown in hot sun and flower spikes tend to grow on a slant toward brighter light when grown in shade. Probably best in partially shaded (afternoon shade) or dappled shade locations in the St. Louis area.
Noteworthy Characteristics
There are about 150 species in the genus, Ligularia. Most are native to Asia, especially Siberia, China and Japan. Ligularias have a basal rosette of large kidney-shaped, heart-shaped or triangular, often toothed leaves and stem leaves that decrease in size and number as they go up the stem. They have daisy-like, yellow to orange flowers held on narrow spikes, on long cone-shaped spikes or in flat-topped clusters. Ligularia fruits are cylindrical, usually hairless achenes. Ligularias can be large plants growing over 6 ft. tall.
Genus name comes from the Latin word ligula meaning strap in reference to the shape of the ray flowers.
‘Britt-Marie Crawford’ is a clump-forming herbaceous perennial that is grown in gardens not only for its showy rounded clumps of large, glossy, purple-black leaves but also for its summer display of bold daisy-like orange-yellow flowers. Its best ornamental feature is probably the leaves which generally retain good color throughout the growing season. This plant was first discovered by Britt-Marie Crawford growing in a plot of Ligularia dentata ‘Othello’ in Fife, Scotland, United Kingdom. After her death, her husband, James Crawford, took steps to honor his wife by naming the cultivar after her and introducing it into commerce. Leathery, long-stalked, orbicular-reniform leaves (to 7″ long by 9″ wide) have wavy, coarsely-dentate margins. Leaf color is a distinctive and showy purple-black. Leaves may acquire some green tones as they age. Leaves typically form a basal foliage mound to 24″ tall and as wide. In mid to late summer, daisy-like, bright orange-yellow flowers (2-3″ diameter) in loose corymbs rise above the foliage on stems to 36-40″ tall. U.S. Plant Patent PP16,113 was issued on November 15, 2005.
Problems
No serious insect or disease problems. Slugs and snails can significantly damage the foliage. Even with adequate moisture, leaf wilting usually occurs in hot summer climates, particularly when the plant is exposed to too much sun.
Garden Uses
Group or mass in moist or wet areas of shade or woodland gardens. Particularly effective along streams, ponds, pools or bog gardens. Excellent specimen for the shaded border as long as soil moisture requirements can be met.
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Ligularia ‘The Rocket’
Ligularia ‘The Rocket’ is a stately plant with very tall, 5 to 6′ golden yellow flower spikes that rise up high over large, serrated green foliage. This variety needs constantly moist to wet soil for best growth but is spectacular in the right situation. The foliage will wilt during the heat of the day or if the sun hits it, but this is a natural reaction that doesn’t always mean they are dry. If they don’t recover as it cools in the evening check the soil moisture and then water deeply if needed.
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Liriope ‘Spicata’
Liriope spicata is a species of low, herbaceous flowering plant from East Asia. Common names include creeping lilyturf, creeping liriope, lilyturf, and monkey grass. This perennial has grass-like evergreen foliage and is commonly used in landscaping in temperate climates as groundcover. Creeping lilyturf has white to lavender flowers which produce single-seeded berries on a spike in the fall. It is one of the most popular groundcovers in the southeastern United States and areas with a similar climate.
Creeping lilyturf is a rhizomatous, grass-like perennial which forms clusters of narrow, arching, glossy, dark green leaves (to 1⁄4 inch (0.64 cm) wide) typically growing 9 to 15 inches (23 to 38 centimetres) high.[2] Erect flower spikes with small, white to pale lavender flowers arise, somewhat hidden, among the leaves in late summer. Blackish berries develop in fall and often persist through winter. Roots have prominent rhizomes and frequent tubers. A cultivar exists with variegated leaves.[3]
Creeping lilyturf looks very similar to another common species in the genus—lilyturf (Liriope muscari). Creeping lilyturf can be distinguished by its rhizomatous root system (in contrast to the diffused root system of lilyturf), its less prominent flower spike being partially within leaves (lilyturf has a longer spike extending well above leaves), and its generally narrower and shorter leaves when compared those of lilyturf.[4]
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Matteuccia ‘Struthiopteris’
Matteuccia is a genus of ferns with one species, Matteuccia struthiopteris (common names ostrich fern,[4] fiddlehead fern or shuttlecock fern). It is a crown-forming, colony-forming plant, occurring in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in central and northern Europe,[5] northern Asia,[6] and northern North America.[7] The species epithet struthiopteris comes from Ancient Greek words, struthio meaning ostrich and pterion meaning wing.
It grows from a completely vertical crown, favoring riverbanks and sandbars, but sends out lateral stolons to form new crowns. It thus can form dense colonies resistant to destruction by floodwaters.
The fronds are dimorphic, with the deciduous green sterile fronds being almost vertical, 100–170 cm (39–67 in) tall and 20–35 cm (7.9–13.8 in) broad, long-tapering to the base but short-tapering to the tip, so that they resemble ostrich plumes, hence the name. The fertile fronds are shorter, 40–60 cm (16–24 in) long, brown when ripe, with highly modified and constricted leaf tissue curled over the sporangia; they develop in autumn, persist erect over the winter and release the spores in early spring.
Matteuccia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Sthenopis auratus.
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Monarda ‘Jacob Cline’
Jacob Cline Beebalm (Monarda Jacob Cline) is one of our most spectacular native Beebalm hybrids with heads of long tubular deep red flowers. Discovered in a Georgia garden, it has excellent mildew resistance and blooms for a month or so in mid-spring.
36-48″ tall x 36″ wide. With its spectacularly large, deep-red flowers, vigorous growth habit and mildew-resistant foliage, ‘Jacob Cline’ is a must for the perennial border. Planted into a compost-enriched soil with regular irrigation, this big boy will form impressive clumps that should be divided every 3rd year to keep it vigorous. Companion plant with Phlox paniculata ‘David’ for long-blooming summer color. (Cutting propagated.)
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