3-4'H Perennials

The exceptionally dark purple to near black foliage provides the perfect foil for the numerous 2-3' high spikes of light lavender tubular flowers that appear white against their backdrop. Onyx and Pearls Penstemon or Beardtongue begins flowering in late spring to early summer providing weeks of color and a feast of nectar for hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees. Even when not in flower the cloak of dark foliage provides a wonderful contrast for its neighbors. This easy to grow, clump-forming perennial is a selection of our native Foxglove Beardtongue, Penstemon digitalis, and will perform best in a moist to average moist, well-drained soil and a full to mostly sunny site will provide the darkest foliage color. Images courtesy of Walter's Gardens, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 12308

1", sleepy, rose to coral-pink flowers are borne from late spring to fall on this vigorous perennial. Tough, easy, and great for hummingbirds and occasional butterflies. Pam Puryear's Pink Turkscap is a still relatively new introduction from the great Texas plantsman Greg Grant and was named after his friend and the 'Rose Rustler' founder Pam Puryear. This Turk's Cap has won the prestigious Lynn Lowery Award from the Native Plant Society of Texas! Provide a full to mostly sunny site in an average moist, fertile, average to well-drained soil for optimum health and flowering. Item# 1082

Adorning purplish-red spikes and emerging from similarly colored calyxes, the mulberry pink tubular flowers are accented by contrasting white lower lips and a fuzzy bright fuchsia hood. Flowering occurs from late spring or early summer to fall. Pink Mulberry Salvia, an uncommon hybrid between S. greggii 'Alba' x S. involucrata, is a shrub-like, herbaceous tender perennial sage that lands somewhere between its parents in looks and growth habit reaching about 3-4' high and 2-3' wide by the end of the summer. Hummingbirds will likely be unable to resist its charming flowers and sweet nectar. Provide a full sun to partly shaded site in a fertile, average moist to moist, well-drained soil for optimum vigor and flowering. In hot summer climates midday or filtered afternoon shade may be beneficial. Images courtesy of Jadelty Plant Propagation Nursery, all rights reserved. Item# 13157

3" yellow daisies top the tall wispy stems of this vigorous native perennial from mid spring to late summer. Finely cut rich green pinnately divided foliage adds a soft textural backdrop for the profusion of flowers. An easy and reliably perennial native for the back of the border. An excellent choice for pollinators. Image courtesy of North Creek Nurseries. Item# 9720.

The dense spikes of pea-like blossoms are purple in bud, open to mauve, fade through light lavender and finally to near white creating a wonderful bicolor effect from the top to the bottom of the flower clusters. The flowers attract mainly bees. Plum Rosy Baptisia or False Indigo, a hybrid cultivar of US native species (a.k.a. nativar), is a vigorous and heavy flowering selection of this clump forming perennial growing to about 42-48"H x 48"W. Baptisias are easy and low-maintenance, deer resistant, long-lived, taprooted perennials that produce more and more flowering spikes with each passing year with some plants producing over a 100 spikes on mature plants. Considered a must for the cutflower garden as the spikes have an excellent vase life. Provide them with a full to mostly sunny site in a soil with average or better drainage and moderate fertility. Images courtesy of Walter's Gardens, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 12899

The tall sturdy dense spikes of rich purple flowers of this beautiful native wildflower attract loads of butterflies and pollinators in summer. An easily grown native perennial that also makes an excellent cut flower, fresh or dried. The large bulb-like corm will produce several flower spikes once mature. Best in average to moist soils. Item# 9559.

Over a long period beginning In late summer and fall these plants are covered with dark-eyed, bicolor red, orange, and golden yellow, 2-3" wide daisies that sit atop sturdy stems with the flowers providing pollen and nectar for smaller pollinators and other garden beneficials. Prairie Glow Brown-Eyed Susan offers more flowers over a longer period on sturdy disease resistant plants with improved vigor and branching on longer-lived plants. This is a heat and sun-loving, deer and rabbit resistant native well-suited to both the garden and landscape as well as in naturalistic settings. The Brown-Eyed Susan, Rudbeckia triloba, readily reseeds on exposed soils but is not aggressive or difficult to control. It prefers a full to mostly sunny position in well-drained, average moist to semi-dry soils. Ripened seedheads offer food for songbirds and small mammals. Images courtesy of North Creek Nurseries, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 12774

Spikes of soft golden-orange upward facing funnel-shaped flowers are produced non-stop from mid to late spring to fall atop the medium green foliage attracting hummingbirds, occasional butterflies, and long-tongued bees. Pumpkin Pie Hummingbird Bush, a selection of Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii and potentially the same as the cultivar 'Bennie's Gold', is a small decidous native shrub from South Texas with excellent flower power. This easy and reliable heirloom has an upright to spreading busny habit rarely exceeding 3-4' in height (3'x3' is fairly typical in our zone 8B gardens) and it revels in the heat and sun of summer and is undaunted by the high humidity and high rainfall of the southeastern US. In the northernmost portion of its hardiness range, zones 7A-8A, the Hummingbird Bush may freeze back to near groundlevel in the hardest winters but readily returns to flowering by mid to late spring. Provide a full sun to mostly sunny site in a well-drained, fertile, average moist soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Small enough for containers but makes a no-maintenance addition the garden and landscape. Catepillar host for Crimson Patch. Item# 9671

Deep velvety purple blooms are produced continuously from spring to fall on this upright to spreading perennial. The Purple Porterweed is a medium sized variety becoming fairly dense as it matures. Porterweeds are excellent nectar producers outperforming all other butterfly plants in the garden. Item# 578.

The rich-purple tubular flowers arch outward from the center of the ball like clusters of buds that are perched atop sturdy stems and are produced for weeks in summer often lasting into fall and attract hummingbirds and larger butterflies. Purple Rooster Bee Balm, a selection of the native Monarda didyma, has outstanding disease resistance as well as some of the deepest purple flowers among its peers. This is a slowly spreading, winter deciduous, herbaceous perennial that will prefer a moist, well-drained, fertile soil in a full to mostly sunny site for optimum vigor and flowering. Purple Rooster won high marks in Monarda trials at Mt. Cuba Center, the headquarters for the American Horticulture Society. Item# 12317

Exceptionally dense spikes of 1-1/2" long purple tubular flowers are produced from late summer, throughout winter, and into spring under frost free conditions on this vigorous and unusually shade tolerant Salvia. Purple Sage, or Autumn Purple Sage is a vigorous easy to grow species from south of the border with a mounding to upright habit. Attracts hummingbirds as well as larger butterflies. Item# 11173

Rounded clusters of raspberry colored buds open to 2" long tubular, nectar rich, raspberry wine colored flowers in summer. Raspberry Wine Monarda is a disease resistant selection with strongly fragrant, deer and rabbit resistant foliage that can be used to flavor teas. Bee Balm is a clump forming, slowly spreading perennial well suited to moist, well-drained soils in a sunny garden setting whether in the herb garden or in mass as an informal groundcover. Item# 11400

The Red Butterfly Ginger produces large deep reddish orange to red flowers that emerge from a darkened flower spike atop the sturdy stems of rich green smooth tropical looking foliage. It very much resembles the White Butterfly Ginger when in flower other than the flower color but has darker foliage a more compact habit. The Red Butterfly Ginger is one of the earliest gingers to flower in our collection. Provide a semi-shaded location where it receives shade during the hottest portion of the day although it is fairly tolerant. The Red Butterfly Ginger will prefer an average moist, well-drained, moderately fertile soil. Item# 11521

The Red Firecracker Fern produces loads of 1" showy red tubular flowers that are born in large loose clusters along the arching ferny stems throughout the warmer months of the year or nearly year round where winters are mild. Excellent for Hummingbirds! This is a durable and long-lived, clump forming perennial that requires little additional care once well-established. The Firecracker Fern has excellent heat and sun tolerance as well as moderate drought resistance once well-established. It is even listed as being suitable for xeriscaping. Firecracker Fern, Russelia equisetiformis, is listed as a Texas A&M Outstanding Coastal Plant as it has excellent resistance to soil and wind born salts, though it could use some protection from harsh, drying winds. It is also an RHS Award of Garden Merit selection. It can be used as a low informal hedge, allow it to spill over walls, enjoy it as a hanging basket, window box, or container specimen, as well as in mixed container gardens. Item# 417

The Red Firecracker Fern produces loads of 1" showy red tubular flowers that are born in large loose clusters throughout the warmer months of the year or nearly year round where winters are mild. Excellent for Hummingbirds! This is a durable and long-lived, clump forming perennial that requires little additional care once well-established. The Firecracker Fern has excellent heat and sun tolerance as well as moderate drought resistance once well-established. It is even listed as being suitable for xeriscaping. Firecracker Fern is listed as a Texas A&M Outstanding Coastal Plant. Item# 11842

It's hard to beat Turk's Cap for sheer flower power! From summer to fall the brilliant red flowers just keep coming. Red Hot, a.k.a. Red Spreader, is a lower growing and more spreading form of Turk's Cap with slightly larger red flowers that was selected by plantsman Greg Grant who also developed Pam Puryear's Pink, and Big Momma. Greg says that Red Hot has a more noticeable lower and spreading habit when grown in full sun. Excellent for Hummingbirds and Butterflies, especially the Sulphurs. Item# 9726.

Clusters of deep red, 1" long tubular blooms are borne in whorls around the arching green stems. Dainty deep green foliage adorns the arching green stems. Red Rocket is excellent for hummingbirds and flowers continuously throughout the warmer months and possibly year round in tropical settings. Item# 973

A multitude of upward facing, sleepy, scarlet blooms are born among the soft, dark green foliage from late spring to frost. A hardy and long-lived, spreading to upright perennial, Turk's Cap is an easy to grow heirloom that will flower in sun or light shade. An excellent nectar plant for hummingbirds as well as butterflies. Caterpillar host: Glassy Winged Skipper. Resistant to browsing by deer and moderately drought resistant once well-established. The ripe fruits are readily consumed by birds and other wildlife, along with the occasional curious human. Item# 691.

The Blue Walking Iris is a vigorous growing tropical but surprisingly cold hardy and fragrant Walking Iris with strongly upright, architectural fans of blue-gray to green, 2-3" wide, sword-like foliage reaching up to 36'' high. Sturdy, loose spikes of 2-3" wide, bluish purple irises with delicately rolled, darker veined, inner standards are born in summer on this highly sought after 'blue' Iris. Great for larger containers and it has the best foliage in high indirect light. Item# 2987.