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Garden Spotlight: The Top Perennials For Spring 2019

high country gardens

High Country Gardens has revealed its top new perennials for Spring 2019. The new varieties include FlowerKisser™ After Midnight English Lavender and a preplanned garden called the Fabulous Flowers and Foliage Shade Garden. The Top 10 new introductions—and hundreds of additional perennial favorites—are available at www.highcountrygardens.com

FlowerKisser™ After Midnight English Lavender

 The 2019 Plant of the Year from High Country Gardens is FlowerKisser™ After Midnight English Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia WWG002). This exclusive introduction has stunning, dark-colored flower spikes with deep indigo-blue calyxes and large violet-purple flowers. The color of the flowers is truly unique, and the plant stands apart from any other lavender available to gardeners. A medium sized English lavender selection with gray-green foliage, After Midnight blooms in late spring/early summer and attracts bees and butterflies to its nectar-rich flowers. 

Plants in the new FlowerKisser™ brand have been selected by High Country Gardens’ chief horticulturist David Salman. These new perennial introductions are particularly nectar-rich and attract many pollinators, including honey bees, native bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. 

It thrives throughout USDA zones 5-9. Plants in a 5” deep pot sell for $12.99 each.

FlowerKisser™ Coral-Pink Sage 

The brilliant coral-pink flowers of FlowerKisser™ Coral-Pink Sage (Salvia greggii WWG003) color a waterwise garden from late spring to fall frost with a non-stop display. This plant grows as a medium sized woody shrub, and it loves a hot, sunny place where the soil dries out quickly. Hummingbirds adore its flowers, which never fail to provide them with a sweet meal. Trim this plant back in mid-spring by about 1/3 its height to stimulate new growth and another flush of gorgeous flowers.

Plants in the new FlowerKisser™ brand have been selected by High Country Gardens’ chief horticulturist David Salman. These new perennial introductions are particularly nectar-rich and attract many pollinators, including honey bees, native bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.

FlowerKisser™ Coral-Pink Sage thrives in zones 6-9, and it doesn’t need much water. A plant in a 5” deep pot sells for $10.99 from HighCountryGardens.com

Red Feathers (Echium amoenum)

 Red Feathers (Echium amoenum) is a beautiful, xeric, small growing wildflower from the Caucasus Mountains of western Asia. Its russet-red flower spikes resemble Liatris. Blooming in late spring, this lovely plant will continue to produce new flower spikes throughout the summer when deadheaded. But leave some spikes on the plant later in the season to ripen seed. 

A short-lived perennial, Red Feathers should be mulched with gravel mulch to encourage it to re-seed itself. Adaptable to average, sandy and clay soils. Plant it in spots with a half day to a full day of sun. Pair this plant with Creeping Goldenaster (Heterotheca jonesii), Blue Flax (Linum) and Dark Violet Skullcap (Scutellaria). Grows in zones 3-9. Each plant in a 5” deep pot sells for $11.99.

Granita Orange® Cold Hardy Ice Plant            

 Granita® Orange Cold Hardy Ice Plant (Delosperma Granita® Orange) blooms in mid- to late spring with a stunning display of large, pure-orange flowers. Granita Orange grows to form a tidy mat of ground-hugging evergreen foliage. It was discovered in a Salt Lake City rock garden where it appeared as a volun-teer seedling, and it has proven to be a very cold hardy groundcover that fits well in a drought-tolerant garden. Granita Orange® Ice Plant grows in zones 5-9. Plants sell for $8.99. 

FlowerKisser™ Arizona Beauty Coyote Mint

FlowerKisser™ Arizona Beauty Coyote Mint (Monardella odoratissima FlowerKisser™ Arizona Beauty) has flowers and foliage with a very minty scent when brushed or handled. This sweetly scented native groundcover has lavender-pink puffball-shaped flowers that attract bees and butterflies.         

Collected by founder and chief horticulturist David Salman, this selection was found in the east-central mountains of Arizona, growing around and under Ponderosa pine. Normally this species is sub-alpine, but this lower elevation form (8,500 ft.) grows well at middle elevations throughout the western US. Plant it in a spot that gets some afternoon shade where day temperatures are hot. FlowerKisser™ Arizona Beauty Coyote Mint makes a wonderful companion plant for other smaller growing perennials such as Ornamental Oregano, Prairie Clover (Dalea purpureum) and Dark Violet Skullcap (Scutellaria).

Plants in the new FlowerKisser™ brand have been selected by David Salman, chief horticulturist for High Country Gardens. These new perennial introductions are particularly nectar-rich and attract many pollinators including honey bees, native bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Grows well in zones 4-8. Plants sell for $8.99.

Fabulous Flowers and Foliage Shade Garden  

The Fabulous Flowers and Foliage Shade Garden is an easy-to-grow garden designed for planting in shade, dappled shade or morning sun. These perennials provide season-long interest with a pleasing combination of foliage types that provide contrasting textures and colors and a profusion of pink, yellow and white flowers. The garden grows well in most soil types (but avoid wet clay or water-logged soils). The Fabulous Flowers and Foliage Shade Garden is an excellent choice for planting on the shady north or northeast side of a house. It also grows well by a tall fence or wall and in areas shaded by tall trees and mature shrubs.

The Fabulous Flowers and Foliage Shade Garden comes with a planting diagram, care instructions and 18 plants including: (5) plants each of Applachian Sedge (Carex appalachica) and White Nancy Deadnettle (Lamium 'White Nancy'), (3) plants each of Large Leafed Lambs Ear (Stachys byzantina 'Helen von Stein') and Weston Pink Coral Bells (Heuchera 'Weston Pink') and (2) plants of Golden Spur Columbine (Aquilegia chrysantha). The garden covers approximately 40 sq. ft. (8 ft. wide x 5 ft. deep).  Plants will typically reach mature size in two growing seasons. The garden grows well in zones 4-8 and sells for $153.32.

FlowerKisser™ Dark Shadows Sage                           

Flower Kisser™ Dark Shadows Sage (Salvia hybrid WWG001) is a color breakthrough in cold-hardy bush sages. It blooms with a profusion of hummingbird-attracting dark-purple flowers. A hybrid of Raspberry Delight® introduced by David Salman, it's a large, tall-growing woody sage that comes into color in late summer and flowers until frost.                                                                                                                    

Flower Kisser® Dark Shadows is a good choice near walkways and paths. (When you brush against the foliage, it releases a delightfully sweet, herbal fragrance.) This sage makes an excellent companion plant for Blonde Ambition Blue Grama Grass (Boutleloua 'Blonde Ambition'), Dark Violet Skullcap (Scutellaria 'Dark Violet'), and twice-blooming 'Sharon Roberts' English lavender.

Plants in the new FlowerKisser™ brand have been selected by High Country Gardens’ chief horticulturist David Salman. These new perennial introductions are particularly nectar-rich and attract many pollinators, including honey bees, native bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Grows in zones 5-9. Plants in a 5” deep pot are $10.99 each. 

Walker's Deep Blue Catmint

 Walker's Deep Blue Catmint (Nepeta Walker’s Deep Blue) is a dark blue flowered form of Nepeta 'Walker's Low' discovered in a Santa Fe, New Mexico landscape. It's identical in size and growth habit (up to 20” tall and 18-24” wide) and durability in the garden, but in hot, sunny growing conditions it will have noticeably darker blue flowers. Walker’s Deep Blue Catmint grows in USDA zones 4-9. Each plant in a 5” deep pot sells for $9.99 —exclusively from HighCountryGardens.com.

Scarlet Hedgehog Cactus – (Limited Quantities)

 Scarlet Hedgehog Cactus or Needle-Spined Claret Cup (Echinocereus coccineus) is extremely cold hardy and long-lived, this is one of the very best native plants for thriving in the most inhospitable of growing conditions. Blooming in mid-spring, this outstanding species has a profusion of scarlet, hummingbird-attracting flowers held over a mound of tight clustering stems. Scarlet Hedgehog Cactus is surprisingly cold hardy, growing well in zones 4-9. This plant stays small at just 5-8” tall and 12-18” wide. Plants sell for $10.99 each.

Chumby Silky Rock Jasmine

 Chumby Silky Rock Jasmine (Androsace sarmentosa 'Chumbyi') blooms in early summer with fragrant clusters of pink flowers held over fuzzy rosettes of gray-green foliage. Growing and spreading much like a strawberry plant, this compact little grower puts out red-stemmed runners that root to form a tidy mound. A cheerful member of the Primrose family, Chumby Silky Rock Jasmine is a wonderful small perennial for shady perennials borders. It also works great as an edging plant for shaded pathways. 

This easy-to-grow Himalayan native is a resilient performer that makes a good companion plant for other shade lovers such as Deep Blue Arizona Sage (Salvia arizonica) and Kashmir Sage (Phlomis cashmeriana). Chumby Silky Rock Jasmine stays small—just 2-4” tall and 8-12” wide in zones 3-8. Plants sell for $8.99 each.

For a complete look at all of the new plants for Spring 2019 available from High Country Gardens, visit www.highcountrygardens.com/plant-finder/new.

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