Plant Profile: Gas Plant (Dictamnus albus)
Karen The common name “gas plant’ surely piques the curiosity about this plant which is a fine garden specimen as well as a curiosity. According to the story the common name…
Plant Profile: Broadleaved Bears Breeches (Acanthus mollis) ‘Latifolius’
The ancient Greeks admired the large deeply lobed and cut leaves of this tender herbaceous perennial and used it as a model for the decorative capitals on their Corinthian columns.…
Plant Profile: ‘Dwarf Pagoda’ Japanese Holly (Ilex crenata ‘Dwarf Pagoda’)
For those of us who live in the mid-Atlantic or Southeast where summers are hot and humid there are a limited number of dwarf evergreen shrubs that we can grow…
Plant Profile: Colorado Columbine (Aquilegia caerulea)
Anyone who has seen the huge blue flowers of this columbine under the blue skies of the Rocky Mountains knows what a special plant this is. So special, in fact,…
Plant Profile: Olympic St. John’s Wort (Hypericum olympicum)
There are over 200 species of Hypericum, from shrubs, to sub-shrubs, to herbaceous perennials, and Hypericum olympicum is an excellent one for rock gardens. A native of southeast Europe and…
Plant Profile: Creeping Baby’s Breath (Gypsophila repens)
Creeping baby’s breath is a herbaceous perennial native the mountains of central and southern Europe where it grows on dry, chalky slopes. It is a member of the carnation family,…
Plant Profile: Blanket Flower (Gaillardia aristata ‘Fanfare’)
There are many kinds of blanket flower but ‘Fanfare’ is one of the most unique. The fluted orange petal-like flowers flaring out around the burgundy center give the flowerheads the…
Plant Profile: Cushion Spruge (Euphorbia polychroma aka E. epithymoides )
Cushion spurge is a clump-forming herbaceous perennial native to Central and southeastern Europe, and Asia Minor, and a member of the Euphorbiaceae family that also includes pointsetta, rubber plant, and…
Plant Profile: ‘Silk Tassel’ Sedge (Carex morrowii temnolepis ‘Silk Tassel’)
The fine textured blades of this sedge look more like hair than leaves. They are white and green striped and look silvery en masse. The plants form a clumps up…
Plant Profile: Broadleaf Paintbrush (Castilleja integra)
A native of dry plains and open mountain woodlands at medium elevations from Colorado to Arizona and Texas, broadleaf paintbrush is a colorful short-lived perennial that brightens the garden for…