Lemon Queen’ will remind you of the old world charm of cottage gardens and gardening when you were a kid. The soft lemon double flowers featured by this old fashioned selection will bring back memories of buttercups and gardening with Grandma. Reminiscing is great but rest assured that ‘Lemon Queen’ won’t leave you with a bad garden experience if you try to revisit yesterday’s youthful memories. The large lemon yellow flowers rise above deeply cut, dark green leaves in early June looking stately and performing spectacularly without any special coddling on your part. It thrives in moist, partially shaded gardens, loves being grouped along pond sides or in a shaded perennial bed where it can help you relive the sweet garden memories that helped make you a gardener for life.

This plant is truly the queen of the summer garden with a regal presence that starts with deep, dark green, heavily toothed foliage that forms an upright mound in the garden. As early summer approaches, stems rise above the foliage bearing large, round buds that unleash yellow-orange, globe shaped flowers in considerable numbers from late June through early August. With impressive size and color, Golden Queen’s’ flowers really make an impression, especially when grouped in the middle or back of any sunny to partially shaded garden. ‘Golden Queen thrives in regular garden soil, but loves moist pond and stream sides and will perform admirably there. For an added bonus, cut back the plant after its initial bloom and you’ll be rewarded with a late summer early fall rebloom!

While you’ll be immediately attracted to the outstanding foliage color of this little known selection, you’ll be thrilled by its amazing ability to grow and thrive in almost any sunny or partially shaded situation. Its foliage is three or four-leaved, dark purple-black with a green margin and looks like Clover except you’ve never seen Clover with this kind of color! Small white flowers appear briefly in early summer but the real wow factor for this plant is its foliage that looks good from spring thru fall, especially with a hard prune in midsummer to rejuvenate the foliage. It makes a very nice filler plant in tubs or mixed containers and, because it is a vigorous grower, you need to give it plenty of room and not grow it next to slower growing plants that it might overgrow. Black-leafed Clover can also be used as a lawn substitute and mowed to the desired height.

Tradascantia was one of the first North American natives to be successfully brought to Europe and introduced to European gardeners in 1629. ‘Marielle’ enlivens this great American native genus with its long bloom, large, blue petalled flowers and clean green foliage that forms a dense, spreading mound. Its distinctive three petaled flowers are held in clusters nestled just above the foliage and open progressively over several weeks starting in May. Flowers stay open only one day but the seemingly unending progression of new blooms keeps it contantly in color for you and the native insects and butterflies that prize its nectar. ‘Marielle’ thrives in moist conditions and part to full day sun making it one of the best plants for a Rain Garden. It tolerates aggressive pruning once it is past bloom to rejuvenate it and keep it from being floppy or leggy in the garden.

This aggressive, easy to grow native loves to take up space in the landscape. While this might sound ominous to some, it really is a good thing because Spiderwort is one of those plants that fills a void in the landscape where other plants fear to tread. It’s a real survivor that will tolerate wet or dry, partial shade or full sun and not the best soil types and still perform like a champ. Spiderwort forms a loose mound of deep, blue-green, wide, grass-like foliage that is folded lengthwise and gives rise to a profusion of blue, 3 petaled flowers from mid-May through mid-July. It’s a perfect plant for rain gardens, borders, roadsides or open woodland gardens! Plant it in groups to great effect or let in naturalize in those troublesome areas that normally take on rain damage and enjoy the long bloom along with the native insects that like to visit, too!

Forms a compact clump of attractively dissected, green leaves with deep red to purple centers. Light pink buds open to creamy white flower spikes just above the foliage.

The perfect perennial for spring interest in the shade garden. Finely dissected green leaves have dramatic dark burgundy centers and form a rounded, clumping habit. Creamy bottlebrush-like flowers.

A dependable, hard working selection, this plant is a perfect shade groundcover that adds attractive maple-like foliage and terrific spring bloom that really brightens and enhances darker areas. Flower spikes form in late April and open in early May covered with foamy white, lightly fragrant flowers through the month and into June.

‘Running Tapestry’ may be a tough, easy care plant but this aggressively growing groundcover also brings a beautiful, refined look to a shaded or partially shaded area. Heart shaped foliage crowds onto dense, short, spreading plants carrying a pleasing green color, offset by speckled red veining and a red central leaf area. This foliage forms a dense carpet that gives rise to numerous flower stalks that carry profuse, small, white blooms above the plant from late April into June. These flowers are an abundant nectar source for beneficial native bees and insects while providing instant light to a landscape’s darker spots. Plant ‘Running Tapestry’ in groups and enjoy the foliage and flower show.

Superb foliage combines with heavy spring bloom and a landscape toughness that belies its beauty. ‘Sugar and Spice’ emerges in the spring with a mound of glossy green leaves with a prominent maroon to burgundy central blotch. In May, countless stalks rise above the foliage bearing small white flowers that form a cloud above the plant that lasts well into June. Perfect for massing and for shady areas!