Act I begins in mid to late spring with the plants nearly covering up in fragrant, 2" wide, starry single flowers and is followed by periodic flowering in summer with a fall finale similar to the spring show. Martha Turnbull Gardenia is a wonderfully free-flowering Gardenia that was selected by Greg Grant from seed collected from Rosedown Plantation and named in honor of the garden's owner and horticulturist Martha Turnbull. Cross-pollinated flowers will produce bright orange hips to provide winter interest. Provide this easy shrub with a full sun to partly shaded site in an average moist, richly fertile, acidic soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 9867

A low growing member of the Verbena family, Frogfruit makes a beautiful, easy groundcover that is covered by tiny heads of dainty, nectar filled white flowers from late spring to fall. They enjoy moist soils but are moderately drought resistant once well established. A food source for the Common Buckeye, Phaon Crescent, and White Peacock butterfly caterpillars as well as a nectar source for a host of pollinators. This species, Phyla nodiflora var. nodiflora, is native to every continent except Antarctica. It is important not to mow/prune until flowering is complete. Frogfruit is being more widely used as a lawn grass replacement option. Item# 10524

Deep wine-red foliage provides a wonderful foil for the tall sturdy spikes of light pink tubular flowers in late spring and early summer attracting bees, hummingbirds, and the occassional butterfly. Dark Towers Penstemon, an offspring of Penstemon digitalis, was developed by Dale Lindgren at the University of Nebraska from his original selection of Husker Red. Dark Towers has darker foliage that keeps its color better through summer and it has pink flowers versus white on Husker Red. Provide this easy to grow clump forming perennial, a nativar (a cultivar from native species), with a moist to average moist, well-drained, fertile soil in a full to mostly sunny location for optimum vigor, flowering, and for the deepest foliage colors. Pair Dark Towers Penstemon with chartreuse foliaged plants for a wonderful contrast. Images courtesy of Ball Horticulture, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 12469