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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With unique flowers in blues and white, love-in-a-mist is an old-fashioned, self-seeding annual that is right at home in a cottage garden. This charming plant only blooms for a month or two, but can be seeded in successive plantings for a flowering display for most of the growing season. To learn more about this easy flower, read this article…
Nepeta xfaassenii ‘Walker’s Low’ was chosen by the Perennial Plant Association as their Plant of the Year 2007. With clouds of blue flowers floating on spires above mounds of blue-grey foliage, this plant is a great addition to both formal and informal gardens. You can find out a lot more about this great perennial by reading this article…
Lemon balm is an attractive plant with a fragrant, lemon-like odor. Used for tea and medicinal purposes, it is very easy to grow. To learn more about this herb, read this article…
Commonly called Brown-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia triloba is an herbaceous biennial or short-lived perennial with typical coneflowers with yellow rays and brown centers. This rangy plant with masses of small flowers works well in cottage gardens or in wildflower plantings. Learn more about this prairie native in this article…
Are you looking for a plant to provide both color and architectural interest? Look no further than the succulent Aeonium, a tender perennial used extensively as an ornamental in mild climates. It adapts readily to container culture, so can be grown as a seasonal plant in cold climates or even a houseplant if you have very bright light. Read more about this interesting plant in this article…
If you’re looking for a perennial with eye-catching foliage, silver sage is a great choice. This award-winning plant native to southern Europe has large, fuzzy, blue-green leaves that contrast nicely with other plants. Although it will flower, the individual flowers are not particularly impressive, and allowing it to bloom can weaken the plant. To learn more about silver sage, read this article…
With globular, clover-like flower heads on upright spikes, globe amaranth is an interesting plant to add to the garden. This annual from Central America has stiff, papery bracts that form the showy “flowers” in a range of colors from pink to red to purple, plus white. Learn more about this easy-to-grow plant in this article…
Here’s a low-maintenance plant with spires of foamy white flowers and mounds of dark leaves that turn golden in the fall. This perennial combines well with many other plants in the shade garden. To learn more about goatsbeard, read this article….
Peonies grow really well in the cold climate of the Midwest, requiring a prolonged winter chill in order to flower. There are numerous cultivars in a range of colors from white to pink and red, with some yellow and orange tones mixed in. These long-lived perennials are also fairly easy to grow if you know how. Get some tips on growing these beauties in this article…
Light blue, upward facing flowers bloom early in the spring – sometimes even poking out of the snow, giving rise to the common name glory-of-the-snow. Chionodoxa forbesii is a great addition to gardens in beds, for naturalizing or mixed in a lawn. This small bulb combines well with other spring bulbs, too. Learn more about glory-of-the-snow in this article…
This early spring bloomer produces bright yellow flowers close to the ground. This plant in the buttercup family is one of the earlierst “bulbs” to bloom in spring. It’s actually not a true bulb, but a tuberous perennial. It is right at home in rock gardens, flower beds and woodland gardens. To find out more about this pretty harbinger of spring, read this article…
It really has nothing to do with Ireland – other than it’s green color – but that didn’t stop the marketers from giving this annual the name Bells of Ireland. It’s unusual green inflorescenses have been a symbol of good luck for centuries. Learn more about Molucella laevis in this article…
