Herbaceous ornamentals add interest to our yards and gardens with bright, beautiful flowers and interesting foliage. Whether native, non-native, sun-loving or shade-tolerant, herbaceous plants invite wildlife, provide for pollinators, and bring us enjoyment with color, texture and fragrance.
Native & Naturalized Selection
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Want to add a splash of purple foliage to your containers and plantings this season? One easy-to-grow plant is Purple Heart. This tender perennial can be used outdoors during the growing season, but makes an easy houseplant in the winter. To learn more about this species, read on…
Looking for an unusual flower that comes in truly blue shades (as well as purple)? There is a tender perennial sage that can be grown as an annual to add this unusual color in the landscape or in containers. To learn more about Salvia guaranitica read this article…
Ornamental grasses add interest in the landscape, especially at this time of year. Fountain grass, Pennisetum alopecuroides, is a nice short-stature grass for the home garden. Learn more about this plant in this article…
It has showy orange and red flowers that are attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds, and is a favorite food of monarch butterfly caterpillars. Learn more about tropical milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, in this article…
If you were the only plant with yellow flowers in a genus of all purple-flowered plants, you might get the name “paradox”, too. At least until the recent development of yellow and orange cultivars of purple coneflower, Echinacea paradoxa was the only plant in its genus with yellow flowers. Learn more about this interesting plant in this article…
Ornamental onions can be nice additions to the landscape. If you’re looking for something a little different than the “ball on a stick” look, check out Allium cernuum. This native species, called nodding onion, has drooping umbels of pink flowers. Read more about nodding onion in this article…
Most people are familiar with the purple or white-flowered biennial foxglove. Did you know there is a perennial species with yellow flowers? Lean more about this attractive plant in this article…
Geum triflorum is an attractive little prairie plant that easily makes the transition to a perennial border or rock garden to charm you with both its nodding pink flowers and wispy seedheads. Learn more about this interesting native plant in this article…
Do you want something different in your garden? Ranunculus gramineus is a small plant in the buttercup family that is not commonly offered as an ornamental. But it is quite attractive in mid spring, with delightful lemon yellow flowers held well above the blue-green, grassy foliage. Read more about this cute species in this article…
When most people hear the word hibiscus, they envision a gaudy tropical flower. But not all Hibiscus species are that splashy, and one is grown primarily for its fantastic foliage. The purple-leaved H. acetoscella is easily grown from seed or cuttings as an annual to supply beautiful palmate leaves reminiscent of a Japanese maple. Learn more about this interesting tender perennial in this article…
My rock garden is where the first perennials, other than bulbs, bloom in my yard. Read about a few of my favorites that are the first to flower each spring. Several of these don’t need to be restricted to gravelly soils and would be a good addition to a small scale border where they can be appreciated up close. See these cute plants on display in this article…
If you’re looking for a plant with purplish leaves in the spring and bright orange flowers, look no further Lychnis ×arkwrightii ‘Vesuvius’. This plant related to rose campion commands attention when it’s in bloom for a few weeks in early- to mid-summer. If you want to know more about this rarely-used perennial, read this article…
