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Missouri Botanic Gardens Plants of Merit

Missouri Botanic Gardens Plants of Merit LogoFrom the Missouri Botanic Gardens website: "Plants of Merit are plants selected for their outstanding quality and dependable performance for the lower Midwest. They grow consistently well in Missouri, central and southern Illinois, and the Kansas City Metro area." Minimum requirements to earn the MBG Plants of Merit award are: "Easy to grow and maintain; Not known to be invasive in our area; Resistant or tolerant to diseases and insects; Has outstanding ornamental value; Reasonably available to purchase". To learn more about the MBG Plants of Merit visit the Missouri Botanic Gardens website. Not only does their website offer these award winning selections it also has an enormous and detailed plant database with excellent information for both gardeners and professionals alike!

 

The 2011 Perennial Plant of the Year! Arkansas Blue Star provides three seasons of interest with starry light-blue to nearly white flowers in spring, soft-textured narrow medium green foliage in summer, and wonderful golden yellow, orange, and chartreuse fall color. A sun loving and heat tolerant reliable perennial that is mannerly enough to grace any garden. Item# 9715.

Grows To: 30-40"H x 2-3
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny, Part shade, Part sun
3.5 inch Pot / 16 fl.oz. / 473 ml
Currently In Stock: 0
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Aromatic Aster, Prairie Aster

Symphyotrichum oblongifolium, Aster oblongifolius  

Masses of 1" wide, bluish purple daisies with a yellow-eye absolutely cover these plants for weeks in late summer and fall attracting bees and other smaller pollinators. The Aromatic Aster, Symphyotrichum oblongifolius, is a low mounding perennial that develops into a compact shrub-like plant by flowering time. Excellent fall color for the garden as well as drought tolerance and pest and disease resistance make this an excellent addition to the perennial or wildflower border as well as for additions to low maintenance landscapes. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in an average moist, well-drained soil.Caterpillar host: Field Crescent, Pearl Crescent, Texan Crescent, Roadside Checkerspot, Hoffman's Checkerspot, and American Lady. Item# 10075

Grows To: 24-36"H x 36-48"W
Outdoor Light: Full sun
3.5 inch Pot / 16 fl.oz. / 473 ml
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Black and Blue Salvia, Anise Sage

Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue', S. caerulea, S. concolor 'Black and Blue'  

Beautiful, deep blue flowers emerge from spikes of black calyxes on this exquisite perennial Salvia all summer and fall against a backdrop of rich deep green foliage. Black and Blue Salvia, an Anise Sage, is a highly sought after nectar plant for hummingbirds and may also be visited by larger butterflies. This easy and reliable perennial Salvia slowly spreads by rhizomes to create a tall groundcover like effect. Provide a full to mostly sunny position in an average to well-drained moderately fertile soil for maximum vigor and flower production. Item# 808

Grows To: 36''H x 18-24''W
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny, Part shade, Part sun
3.5 inch Pot / 16 fl.oz. / 473 ml
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2022 Missouri Botanic Garden Plants of Merit selection! One of the most amazingly blue colored flowers in the plant world! This small growing but vigorous annual or tender perennial vine produces loads of brilliant deep blue flowers with recurving and overlapping petals with a white to creamy yellow throat. It can be successfully overwintered but it's easier just to save a few seeds to plant in spring. Caterpillar host: Longtail Skipper. Item# 9114

Blue dye can be extracted from the blossoms!!

Grows To: 6-10'H x 3-5'W
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny, Part shade, Part sun
3.5 inch Pot / 16 fl.oz. / 473 ml
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Spikes of deep blue to near purple pea-shaped flowers are produced in spring atop the gray-green foliage in mid to late spring. Blue Wild Indigo is a long-lived easy to grow native that develops and extensive taproot and so it prefers not to be moved once it begins to get established. Baptisias are durable pest and disease resistant perennials that should be considered the Lupine of the South. Provide a sunny position for optimum flowering. Like a fine wine these natives only get better with age. Item# 11593

Grows To: 2-4'H x 2-3'W
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny
4.5 inch Pot / 20 fl.oz. / 591 ml
Currently In Stock: 20
US$12.99

The dense, rounded, white to greenish-white, up to 1" diameter, flower clusters sit atop thick sturdy stems that emerge from a rosette of soft yucca-like foliage and are produced over an extended period in summer. Button Snakeroot, Eryngium yuccifolium, is a tough and long-lived, adaptable clump forming native perennial whose long-lasting summer flowers will attract a myriad of butterflies, bees, wasps and other pollinators to your garden. Typically found in consistently moist settings like bogs, moist savannahs, prairies, and meadows but it readily tolerates average moist garden conditions. Provide Button Snakeroot with a full to mostly sunny site in an average moist to moist soil. Item# 9260

Grows To: 2-4'H x 2-3'W
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny, Part shade, Part sun
4.5 inch Pot / 20 fl.oz. / 591 ml
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Buttonbush, Button Willow, Honey Bells

Cephalanthus occidentalis  

Lightly honey scented, white to cream, tight ball-like flower clusters are produced on new growth in late spring and summer and attract an array of butterflies, bees, and other garden beneficials. The Buttonbush is a vigorous, medium-sized to large growing, deciduous shrub that does best in consistently moist soils with most of a day of sunlight. A moderate to severe annual pruning of established plants in late winter helps to promote fuller plants and the most flowers. Item# 9247.

Grows To: 6-12'+H x 4-8'W+
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny, Part shade, Part sun
4.5 inch Pot / 20 fl.oz. / 591 ml
Currently In Stock: 0
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Caesar's Brother Siberian Iris

Iris x 'Caesar's Brother'  

Nearly an heirloom but this multi-award winning Iris is still highly popular today! The flowers of Caesar's Brother Siberian Iris are composed of deep purple falls accented by deep blue veining and contrasting white signals and are topped by deep purple standards with flowers held on sturdy 36-40" high stems in late spring. The deep green narrow foliage provides grass-like motion in the garden even when the plants are not in flower. Provide Siberian Iris with an average moist to consistently moist moderately fertile soil and they can be planted near ponds, streams, and bog gardens as well as in average moist garden and landscape settings. They generally keep the best looking foliage where they have reliable access to moisture during the growing season. Caesar's Brother has won the 1953 of the American Iris Society's Morgan Award (the highest awards given exclusively to Siberian Iris by the AIS), a 1936 Honorable Mention, and a Missouri Botanical Gardens Plant of Merit Award winner. Images courtesy of Walter's Gardens, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 13302

Grows To: 36-40"H space at 12-18" apart
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny
4.5 inch Pot / 20 fl.oz. / 591 ml
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Cardinal Flower, Red Cardinal Flower

Lobelia cardinalis  

2-3' high spikes of glowing scarlet tubular flowers are produced in late spring or summer on this US native wildflower. A rosette forming herbaceous perennial to biennial, the Red Cardinal Flower is commonly found along stream banks, marshes, and bogs and will perform well in average to wet garden soils. Attracts hummingbirds and other pollinators. Item # 1217.

Grows To: 18-36''H x 12''W
Outdoor Light: Part shade, Light shade, *Part sun, *Full sun

Compass Plant

Silphium laciniatum  

3-4" wide, yellow,  sunflower-like flowers are born on 4-8'H+ sturdy stems over an extended period in summer on this durable, native, clump-forming, tap-rooted perennial. The dark green, deeply dissected foliage of the Compass Plant was used as a compass as the large leaves generally point north and south. Attracts butterflies and other pollinators. Item# 10309.

Grows To: 4-8'+H x 2'W
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny, Part shade
4.5 inch Pot / 20 fl.oz. / 591 ml
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Dan's Everblooming Native Coral Honeysuckle

Lonicera sempervirens 'Dan's Everblooming'  

An exceptionally free flowering form of our native Coral Honeysuckle producing a nearly continuous display of red tubular blooms with a yellow throat. Dan's Everblooming Coral Honeysuckle begins flowering in late winter and early spring and lasts through fall on established plants. This variety may produce a few flowers throughout winter even in zone 8B. Caterpillar host: Chalcedon Checkerspot. Item# 9729.

USDA Cold Hardiness Zones: 4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11
Grows To: 6-10'(-15')H, spaced at 4-6' or more.
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny, Part shade, Part sun
4.5 inch Pot / 20 fl.oz. / 591 ml
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David Verity Cigar Plant, Cuphea

Cuphea x 'David Verity'  

1" tubular orange blooms, tipped in white, are produced from spring to fall on this upright to spreading shrub-like perennial. David Verity Cigar Plant is an easy to grow, heat and sunloving hybrid Cuphea that flowers non-stop from spring or early summer through fall. In the portion of its range where freezes occur, it can be grown as an annual or if protected with a mulch it is generally a reliable perennial well into zone 8. David Verity Cuphea makes for an easy and rewarding container specimen as well as in the garden and landscape. Excellent for hummingbirds and larger butterflies. Item # 361

Grows To: 2-3'H x 2-3'W to 4-5'H x 4-5'W in frost free climates
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny, Part shade, Part sun

Dragon Lady Crossvine

Bignonia capreolata atrosanguinea 'Dragon Lady'  

Masses of deep brick red trumpet shaped flowers nearly cover up this vine in spring or early summer just in time for arriving hummingbirds. It's almost like the two coordinate it or something! The red Dragon Lady Crossvine is a vigorous evergreen to semi-evergreen clinging vine(it does so via pads on the end of its tendrils and so is not destructive to brickwork and masonry) that can easily clamber up or along masonry, tree bark, fences, or other structural supports on its own. Crossvines are a low maintenance choice for fences, posts, arbors, and larger trellises. The deep red trumpet shaped flowers attract hummingbirds, bees, and other pollinators. The foliage takes on purple and burgundy coloration throughout the cooler months when grown in full to mostly sunny conditions. Dragon Lady Crossvine is reported to be a slightly more cold hardy selection and was chosen as the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society's Gold Medal Award winner in 2003. Item# 391

Grows To: 30-50'H, easily trained to a 4-6'H fence or other support.
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny, Part shade, Part sun
3.5 inch Pot / 16 fl.oz. / 473 ml
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Eastern Bluestar

Amsonia tabernaemontana  

Clusters of blue to light blue, star-shaped flowers are borne in spring on sturdy stems atop the wide foliage. The Eastern Bluestar makes a wonderful garden addition with a mannerly clump forming habit and excellent pest and disease resistance. Yellow fall foliage color adds to its interest. Tolerant of wet to average moist soils. Eastern Bluestar is an easy to grow and reliable native perennial. The flowers attract butterflies and hummingbird moths. Item# 10268

Grows To: 2-3'H x 3-4'W
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny, Part shade, Part sun
3.5 inch Pot / 16 fl.oz. / 473 ml
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2022 Missouri Botanic Garden Plants of Merit selection! 18" long arching spikes composed of numerous dark golden yellow flowers burst onto the scene in late summer and fall creating a much needed feast of nectar and pollen for bees, butterflies including migratory Monarchs, and other garden beneficials. Fireworks is an award winning selection of the native Roughleaf Goldenrod, Solidago rugosa, and it won top marks in the Goldenrod trials at the Chicago Botanic Gardens. This is a hardy, clump-forming slowly spreading (a.k.a. short rhizomatous) herbaceous perennial that is both adaptable and manageable. Fireworks Goldenrod prefers a full to mostly sunny site in an average moist to moist fertile soil although it is tolerant of part shade, part sun conditions. Use this easy to grow native perennial in naturalistic settings and in mixed perennial gardens and landscapes. Item# 12313

Grows To: 3-4'H x 2-5'W space at about 1' apart
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny, Part shade, Part sun
4.5 inch Pot / 20 fl.oz. / 591 ml
Currently In Stock: 39
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The most floriferous Esperanza that we grow! Gold Star Esperanza produces an endless display of large clusters of large golden yellow, lightly fragrant trumpets from late spring to frost. This Greg Grant selection is the standard by which all other Esperanza's are judged. Hardy, heat and sun loving, and with a nicely branched habit Gold Star Esperanza is great for tropical settings in containers and in the garden. Attracts pollinators including butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees. Item # 9902

Grows To: 3-5'H x 3-5'W and larger in mild winter climates
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny, Part shade, Part sun
4.5 inch Pot / 20 fl.oz. / 591 ml
Currently In Stock: 0
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The huge, to 6", golden, daisy-like blooms with tall dark brown cones or eyes are held on tall sturdy stems which can grow to 7' or more! A tough and hardy, native perennial. Great for pollinators. The large attractive soft, blue-green foliage makes a nice garden accent and is at its prime in winter and spring. Selected as 2019 Missouri Botanic Gardens Plant of Merit selection. Item# 1152

Grows To: 5-7'H x 20-30''W
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny, Part shade, Part sun
3.5 inch Pot / 16 fl.oz. / 473 ml
Currently In Stock: 0
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Helen Fredel Cross Vine

Bignonia capreolata atrosanguinea 'Helen Fredel'  

Texas big blooms are a hallmark of this rich orange flowered crossvine. This is an absolute show stopper when in full bloom! Produces a huge mass of 2-1/2" orange trumpets with yellow throats in late spring with some flowers throughout summer. A vigorous and disease free southern native. 'Helen Fredel' is another excellent introduction from noted Texas horticulturist and author Greg Grant. Attracts hummingbirds and other pollinators. Item# 9576.

Grows To: 30-50'H, easily trained to a 6'H fence or other support.
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny, Part shade, Part sun
3.5 inch Pot / 16 fl.oz. / 473 ml
Currently In Stock: 0
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Honey Coral™ Honeysuckle, Trumpet Honeysuckle, Woodbine

Lonicera sempervirens 'Honey Coral'  

Clusters of red to red-orange, yellow to orange throated, tubular flowers are borne from spring to fall on established plants with the peak flowering season in early to mid spring and again in mid to late summer to fall. Honey Coral™Honeysuckle is a tame and manageable vine perfectly suited to fences and medium sized trellises and arbors. The flowers attract hummingbirds and occasional butterflies. Caterpillar host: Chalcedon Checkerspot. Pollinated flowers develop into clusters of clear red berries that make summer and fall fruit for songbirds. Their tame habit and long blooming season make the native Coral Honeysuckles an easy choice for covering a fence, arbor or trellis. Item# 11491

USDA Cold Hardiness Zones: 4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11
Grows To: 6-10'(-15')H, spaced at 4-6' or more.
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny, Part shade, Part sun

Honorine Jobert Anemone, Windflower, Japanese Anemone

Anemone x hybrida 'Honorine Jobert'  

Perennial of the Year in 2016, Missouri Botanic Gardens Plant of Merit, and a RHS Award of Garden Merit winner! As per Allan Armitage's Herbaceous Perennial Plants, 4th Edition "It has graced European gardens since the beginning of the American Civil War and is still the most popular and highly sought after white anemone today.". The clusters of 2-3" wide, pure white, upward facing flowers with yellow eyes are held high above the mass of deep green foliage on sturdy wiry, 3-4' high stems in fall. The flowers of this easy heirloom attract bees and other pollinators. Honorine Jobert Anemone is an easy to grow, clump forming, slowly spreading, shade tolerant perennial whose mass of 12" high, medium textured, deep green, Astilbe-like foliage makes a nice accent or groundcover even when the plants are not in flower. Anemones make good companions for spring flowering bulbs. Tough, easy, and reliable. Tolerant of *full sun in cool summer climates, elsewhere provide midday and afternoon shade or filtered shade. Provide an average moist, well-drained, fertile soil for optimum flowering and vigor. Images courtesy of Walter's Gardens, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 12778

Grows To: 12-18"H x 16-24"W, 36-48"H at flowering
Outdoor Light: Morning sun, Part sun, Part shade, *Full sun
3.5 inch Pots/ 16 fl.oz. / 473 ml
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Limelight™ Panicle Hydrangea

Hydrangea paniculata 'Limelight'  PP12874, CBR 2319

An amazing and unusual color selection bringing a huge splash of color to the summer and fall landscape. Masses of 8"+ cone to football-shaped, densely packed white panicles that change to lime-green for summer and finally to pink, red, and burgundy in fall providing months of interest. Limelight™ is a vigorous Panicle Hydrangea that will prefer full sun in cooler climates to afternoon shade, particularly in hot summer climates, and an average moist to moist, well-drained, fertile soil. This naturally vase-shaped to rounded deciduous shrub has proven its merit in gardens across the US becoming a staple among landscapers and gardeners alike. Limelight™ Panicle Hydrangea has been selected as a 2018 Louisiana Super Plant, a Missouri Botanic Gardens Plant of Merit, a UGA Trial Gardens Plant of Merit and Knock Your Socks Off Award winner, an RHS Award of Garden Merit winner, and is a Proven Winners® Color Choice® selection. Item# 490

Grows To: 6-8'H x 6-8'W
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny, Part shade in hot summer climates
PW Quart Pot / 30 fl.oz. / 887 ml
Currently In Stock: 0
US$19.99
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Longwood Blue Bluebeard, Spiraea, Caryopteris

Caryopteris x clandonensis 'Longwood Blue'  

Dense clusters of fragrant dark azure to blue-violet flowers nearly cover up the nicely contrasting blue-gray foliage of this shrubby perennial beginning in mid to late summer and continuing into fall. The flowers attract butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. Longwood Blue Bluebeard is a vigorous freely flowering selection of Caryopteris growing to 4' high and 3-4' wide and selected by Longwood Gardens of Pennsylvania. Caryopteris prefers a well-drained soil in a full to mostly sunny position. Somewhat drought resistant once well-established. A Missouri Botanic Gardens Plant of Merit award winner. Item# 11671

Grows To: 3-4'H x 3-4'W
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny

Major Wheeler Native Coral Honeysuckle

Lonicera sempervirens 'Major Wheeler'  

Considered by many to be the best of the red flowered Coral Honeysuckles. Major Wheeler produces loads of large clusters of deep red 2" tubular flowers with yellow throats are held above the rich blue-green disease resistant foliage of this selection of the tame native Coral Honeysuckle. Caterpillar host: Chalcedon Checkerspot. Image courtesy of North Creek Nurseries. Item# 9719.

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USDA Cold Hardiness Zones: 4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11
Grows To: 6-10'(-15')H, spaced at 4-6' or more.
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny, Part shade, Part sun

The typical Mexican Butterfly Weed that produces clusters of orange to red-orange flowers with contrasting sunny yellow centers are produced from mid to late spring to frost or nearly year round under warm tropical conditions. An excellent host plant for Monarch, Queen, and Soldier Butterflies. It has a naturally upright to vase shaped habit and the stems are adorned with medium sized deep green narrow foliage. Mexican Butterfly Weed can be grown as a short-lived (2-3 years usually) die-back perennial in zones 8-9, it should remain evergreen in zone 10, and is commonly grown as an annual in colder zones. Makes a wonderful heat and sunloving plant with something of a tropical look. Use Mexican Butterfly Weed at the back of the perennial border or in mixed combination pots. Item# 502

Grows To: 4'H x 2'W
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny, Part shade, Part sun
3.5 inch Pot / 16 fl.oz. / 473 ml
Currently In Stock: 25
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The 2011 Perennial Plant of the Year! Arkansas Blue Star provides three seasons of interest with starry light-blue to nearly white flowers in spring, soft-textured narrow medium green foliage in summer, and wonderful golden yellow, orange, and chartreuse fall color. A sun loving and heat tolerant reliable perennial that is mannerly enough to grace any garden. Item# 9715.

Grows To: 30-40"H x 2-3
Outdoor Light: Full sun, Mostly sunny, Part shade, Part sun
3.5 inch Pot / 16 fl.oz. / 473 ml
Currently In Stock: 0
US$12.99
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