2-3'H Perennials

Exceptionally dark purple flowers adorn the narrow elongating spikes from spring to fall attracting a variety of bees, butterflies, low flying hummingbirds, and pollinating moths. Aerial Elixirs™ Black-Chinned Bliss Porterweed is a dwarf and compact selection with a densely branching bushy habit growing to 2-3' high and 2' wide by the end of the growing season making it an excellent choice for sunny containers whether as a specimen or in mixed company. Unlike the common Blue or Nettleleaf Porterweed, S. cayennensis, and our selection Midnight Moon, Aerial Elixirs™ Black-Chinned Bliss tends to retain its flowers after a normal rain and often until sunrise the following day. This is also the most compact growing Porterweed in this series and could easily fit it into a formal setting with its nice even growth habit. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in an average moist, average to well-drained, fertile soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Coming in limited quantities later this summer. Item# 13532

The spring to frost display of 3/8" wide lilac flowers adorn the narrow elongating spikes of this Porterweed attracting a wide array of pollinators, especially our native bumbleebees. Aerial Elixirs™ Bumblicious™ Lilac Porterweed is an unusually colored selection or hybrid of the Blue Porterweed, Stachytarpheta cayennensis, and is expected to have similar habit growing to about 3' high and 2' wide by the end of the growing season. This is a well-branched plant with glossy, deep green foliage whose smaller size makes it a good candidate for containers where you can draw the pollinators in close. Aerial Elixirs™ Bumblicious™ Lilac's flower power also makes it a colorful addition to a sunny garden or landscape. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in a fertile, average moist soil with average or better drainage to keep the flowers coming all summer long! Item# 13543

Large, to 1/2" wide, deep purple, nectar rich flowers with a contrasting white eye are produced on narrow elongating spikes on this smaller growing Porterweed and are produced from spring to frost attracting a wide array of smaller pollinators, especially native bees, butterflies, pollinating moths, and potentially hummingbirds. Aerial Elixirs™ Lusty Lucifer Porterweed, either a hybrid or a dwarf selection of the Purple Porterweed, Stachytarpheta indica, is a densely branching and compact Porterweed cloaked in deep green foliage that you can expect to grow to about 2-3' high and 2' wide by the end of the growing season. Its smaller stature lends it to use in containers either as a specimen or in mixed company as well as in the garden and landscape. This plant also tends to retain its flowers after a rain and overnight, unlike the common Nettleleaf or Blue Porterweed, Stachytarpheta cayennensis. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in an average to well-drained, fertile soil with average moisture for optimum vigor and flowering. Coming in limited quantities later this summer. Item# 13534

Tall sturdy branching spikes adorned with tubular, two-lipped, pale sky blue flowers with a slightly darker blue hood are produced from spring or early summer into fall attracting bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. African Sky Salvia is a vigorous, freely flowering, clump-forming, deer and drought resistant, tropical, shrubby perennial with medium green, rough, fragrant foliage perfectly suited to hot sunny sites in well-drained soils. It can be even be grown as a clipped hedge in freeze free, tropical locations. Use African Sky Salvia in containers for an easy care, pollinator attracting plant with a long season of flowering. This is quite different from the similarly named, spring and fall flowering Salvia uliginosa 'African Skies', a selection of Bog Sage. Item# 12552

A 2020 All American Selections Herbaceous Perennial award winner! 2-3" wide dark-eyed golden yellow daisies are produced throughout the summer and even into fall atop a dense and compact well-branched plant. American Gold Rush Rudbeckia was selected with disease resistance in mind as well as this plant's ability to flower throughout summer and a compact habit. It may be most similar to and is considered to be a hybrid of Rudbeckia fulgida var. deamii, or the Brown-Eyed Susan, which can reach 3' in height. Like its parent, expect this hardy clump forming perennial to revel in the heat and sun of summer with its disk flowers providing nectar for smaller pollinators and the ripened seeds of fall and winter are sure to attract songbirds. Provide American Gold Rush Rudbeckia with a full to mostly sunny site in an average moist, well-drained soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Add this easy to grow perennial to the garden and landscape but it is also compact and free-flowering enough to provide a summer long show as a container plant. Item# 12167

Large upward facing medium pink flowers are produced in spring on sturdy stems. American Tradition LA Hybrid Lily is a result of crossing the Easter Lilies with Asiatic Lilies providing the best of both worlds and producing long-lasting large clusters of upward facing lily flowers atop sturdy upright stems. The LA Hybrid Lilies make excellent cut flowers and has good vase life. Provide your LA Hybrid Lilies with a moderately fertile, well-drained soil in a sunny location for the best results. Item# 11378

Ooh la la! Oh my my! As sexy as Hot Lips but in an all new shade! The spikes of two-lipped tubular bright white flowers are tipped with a broad band of amethyst, between violet and purple, at the tips of the petals creating a dark and mysterious contrast. Flowers may be solid amethyst when the weather is cool and dreary but quickly revert to their two-toned splendor with a little sunshine. Amethyst Lips Salvia begins flowering in late spring or early summer and continues until fall, all the while attracting bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Amethyst Lips Salvia, a hybrid of the two native species S. greggii and S. microphyllai, a.k a S. x jamesonii, develops into a naturally rounded, shrub-like perennial that may remain evergreen in mild winter climates, like zones 9B-10, but acts like a die-back perennial where temperatures fall much below about 30^oF. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in well-drained, average moist, fertile soils for maximum flower power. Item# 12473

The exceptionally dark purple to near black tubular flowers peek out of the mealy white 1" long tubular calyxes that are borne in whorls around equally white stems in summer and into fall. Andean Silver-Leaf Sage, Salvia discolor, is a shrubby naturally scandent or sprawling herbaceous perennial from the Peruvian Andes Mountains that grows to about 2-3 feet high and 2-3 feet wide. The ovate dark green glossy opposite foliage has a brightly contrasting white reverse and is borne along mealy white stems. The foliage, stems, and buds are fragrant when brushed or bruised. Also known as Peruvian or Concolor Sage it is widely grown as 3'x3' shrub in the warmer parts of Europe. It is listed as being tolerant of part shade but we find it to be most vigorous in full to mostly sunny conditions in average moist well-drained soils. Item# 12239

Frilly, rounded clusters of dainty white tubular flowers are borne in summer atop sturdy stems and are an excellent nectar source for a variety of smaller pollinators and garden beneficials. Savanna or Appalachian Mountainmint has nicely fragrant, medium green foliage and is considered to be one of the better Mountainmints for garden settings as it is not as prone to spreading by rhizomes. Image courtesy of North Creek Nurseries, all rights reserved. Item# 10765

Spikes of soft golden orange to yellowish 1" long tubular nectar-rich flowers are produced beginning in late spring and continue into fall atop the grayish-green fragrant foliage attracting hummingbirds and butterflies. Apricot Sunrise Agastache, considered to be a hybrid of A. coccinea and A. coccinea, is a vigorous, herbaceous perennial growing to about 3' x 3' tois considered hardy to zone 6. Like all Agastache, it will do best in a full to mostly sunny site, in a fertile, average moist to periodically dry soil, with excellent drainage, and good air circulation (i,e don't crowd it). Apricot Sunrise Agastache has somewhat of a soft airy texture and the fragrant foliage helps to ensure the deer avoid it. An older cultivar but still one of the most reliable. Item# 10210

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

Rich rosy pink standards and falls are accented by smallish yellow signals with a white halo and purplish veining and are topped by contrasting white to creamy yellow style arms. Barataria Louisiana Iris, named for the area just south of New Orleans, is a small to medium-sized plant growing to about 30" high and it flowers in midseason or April. Louisiana Irises are easy and adaptable, rhizomatous perennials with fans of deep green sword-like foliage and seem as at home in standing water as they do in average moist garden soils. Remember that these plants do most of their growing in fall and winter and so this is when they should be fed and fall is also a great time to divide plants if desired. Provide a full to mostly sunny site for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 13347

In late summer and fall the plants cover up in 2" wide, sunny yellow daisies, sometimes with an orange halo, attracting a variety of pollinators, especially bees and butterflies. The Bearded Beggartick, Bidens aristosa, is a tall, branching, herbaceous, native annual, that readily reseeds, growing to about 4-5' high and about 2' wide. It is native to the central and eastern US from eastern Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas to the Eastern Seaboard and as far north as southern Wisconsin, Michigan, and Maine. While it is among the Beggarticks, this species does not produce seeds that stick to clothes and fur. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in a moist to average moist soil for optimum vigor and flowering. This is easily one of our showiest wildflowers for the fall. Item# 13558

Spikes of fuzzy, glowing red tubular blooms are borne from summer to frost attracting hummingbirds for the duration of the flowering period. Where protected from frosts and freezes Belize Sage can flower continuously throughout the year. Smooth glossy green foliage and a compact habit set this Salvia apart as well as its preference for partial shade conditions. An excellent choice for containers or in the ground anywhere it is hardy, or it is vigorous enough to grow as an annual in cooler climates. Item# 10118

Selected at the esteemed Biltmore Estate, Ashville, NC, the summerlong display of 2" wide dangling Chinese lantern-like flowers are a soft yellow-orange heavily overlaid with a strongly contrasting deep red veining. Biltmore Ball Gown Abutilon or Flowering Maple is an exceptionally hardy and reliable upright growing, naturally evergreen shrubby tropical that has proven to be evergreen in mild zone 8 winters but where it is not reliably hardy it makes an easy container plant that can be overwintered indoors near a sunny window. Abutilons are also known as Parlor Maples as this was a reliably flowering indoor plant and a conversation piece. The flowers attract hummingbirds and other garden beneficials. Provide a full sun to partly shaded site in a fertile, average moist soil. Item# 13087

The tubular, lavender flowers emerge from contrasting deep purple buds on large flower spikes beginning in late spring or early summer and continuing into fall. The nectar rich flowers are seemingly mobbed by bees of all shapes and sizes and are also utilized by butterflies, both large and small, and hummingbirds. Black Adder Agastache or Giant Hyssop, a sterile hybrid of, Agastache rugosum x A. foeniculum, is a branching, clump-forming, herbaceous perennial growing to about 24-36" high and wide by the end of the growing season. Utilize it in containers to bring the pollinators in close as well as in sunny garden and landscapes. Its licorice or anise scented foliage help provide deer and rabbit resistance. This is a vigorous and free flowering perennial that will do best in soils with good to excellent drainage and in full to mostly sunny sites. Item# 10807

The dark purple to deep burgundy foliage nearly black foliage of this sturdy perennial is topped by spikes of sweetly contrasting purple to lilac flowers in mid to late spring. Flowers attract native bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Blackbeard Penstemon or Beardtongue is hybrid selection of our native species (Penstemon species are found native only in North America) whose intensely colored foliage is sure to provide wonderful contrast with surrounding perennials in the garden and landscape or use it as a specimen in containers. Provide a full to mostly sunny location for the darkest foliage coloration and a well-drained, average moist soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Blackbeard Penstemon was selected not only for its foliage color but also for its compact habit and flower power. Images courtesy of Walter's Gardens, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 11904

The 6-petaled starry flowers in shades of yellow, orange, and red are heavily speckled and flecked with red and are produced on sturdy stems atop the fans of medium to light green iris-like foliage in summer over a period of several weeks. The flowers of the Blackberry Lily, Belamcanda chinensis or more recently Iris domestica, are followed by seed pods that split open to reveal shiny black round seeds that are sometimes used in dried arrangements for fall. This is a hardy clump forming heirloom perennial with a tough constitution as well as being a colorful and low-maintenance addition to the garden and landscape. It will do best in an average to well-drained, average moist, fertile soil in a full to mostly sunny site. Images courtesy of Walter's Gardens, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 12304

The 2-3" wide dark eyed daisies are composed of deep golden yellow rays that surround the dark brown to black cones are produced in late spring to summer (depending on your zone). The flowers attract bees and other small pollinators and the seed heads attract songbirds. The Black-Eyed Susan is an annual - atleast in our area, biennial, to short-lived perennial with dark green hairy foliage that adorns well-branched plants and each plant can produce 20-30 or more flowers. This is a widespread species found along roadsides, meadows and prairies, savannas, and in open Longleaf Pine forests mainly in soils with average or better drainage. The Black-Eyed Susan is a common addition to seedmixes and readily reseeds on exposed soils, although it is not an aggressive species. Item# 11725

This award winning Agastache produces tall spikes of deep purplish blue tubular flowers held on sturdy stems atop rich deep green fragrant foliage. The flower show lasts for an exceptionally long period and begins in early summer with butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds all showing up for the feast. A drought resistant perennial preferring well drained mostly sunny sites, Blue Boa Agastache requires minimal care and provides big rewards. Photo courtesy of TERRA NOVA® Nurseries, Inc. www.terranovanurseries.com. Item# 10918.

Sturdy spikes of brilliant blue to lavender-blue, two-lipped flowers are borne for an exceptionally long period in late summer and into fall on this hardy, native, clump-forming perennial. Suitable for consistently moist to wet soils. The Blue Cardinal Flower is enjoyed by hummingbirds, butterflies, and an variety of other pollinators as well as making a beautiful cut flower. Images courtesy of North Creek Nurseries. Item# 10159.

2" wide deep blue to purple trumpets with contrasting yellow throats are produced freely beginning as early as mid-spring and continuing until frost, to potentially year round under warm tropical conditions. The large showy flowers attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. The Blue Glory Vine, Thunbergia battiescombeii, is a small to medium-sized, mounding to sprawling, multi-stemmed, naturally evergreen tropical, in frost free climates, to root hardy perennial in zones 8-9 and grows to about 2-3' high and 3-4' wide as a perennial and up to twice as large in frost free conditions. This has been a reliable, low-maintenance, pest free, long-lived perennial in our gardens and easily survived 8^oF and 12^oF winter lows and extended freezing temperatures. It is tolerant of full sun where it has adequate moisture but seems to benefit from midday or afternoon shade or an eastern exposure in regions with hot summer climates. The Blue Glory Vine makes an easy container plant or an easy addition to the garden or landscape and has the potential to be used as an informal groundcover. Provide an average to well-drained, average moist, fertile soil for optimum vigor and flowering. One of our longtime favorite root hardy tropicals. Item# 327

Fuzzy flat topped clusters composed of blue to purple Ageratum-like flowers are produced atop sturdy stems beginning in early to midsummer, continuing into fall, and often until the first hard frost or freeze. The flowers attract a variety of pollinators, especially native bees and late season butterflies. The Blue Mistflower, Cononclinium coeslestinum, is a rhizomatous colonizing native perennial that makes an easy tall groundcover where it can wend its way around larger growing plants in the garden or landscape. It also makes an easy addition to more naturalistic settings like roadside plantings, meadows, and prairies. The Blue Mistflower generally prefers an average to moist, fertile soil in full to partly sunny sites for optimum vigor and flowering. This species was selected as the 2024 Plant of the Year by the Georgia Native Plant Society. Item# 10458