Up from the Rootsperennials
Mom’s favorite bouquet – Living Plants
Flowers are a popular gift for Mom. But cut flowers wither and die after just a few days, so why not get Mom a living bouquet instead so that she can enjoy your gift to her for years to come? Live plants and flowers are becoming more and more popular. [...]
Coneflower
Yellow Coneflowers
Names: Coneflower (Echinacea)
Type: Perennial
Growth habit: Coneflowers are hardy, low growing plants with spade shaped leaves that send up stems topped with daisy-like flowers in mid summer. The blossoms can rise as high as four feet tall and come in various shades of yellow, orange, pink, purple and white. The [...]
Foxglove
Pink Foxglove – Photo by Madlantern Design
Name: Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
Type: Biennial (sometimes considered a perennial)
Growth habit: Also known as Dead Man’s Bells, Fairy Gloves, Finger Flower, and Fairy Thimbles (among many other variations,) the foxglove is an upright plant with fuzzy leaves. Blossoms appear (mid-late spring) on a tall spike [...]
Swedish Ivy
Swedish Ivy – Photo by Madlantern Design
Name: Swedish Ivy (Plectranthus verticillatus)
Type: Perennial
Growth habit: Most of us are familiar with Swedish Ivy (also known by the common name “Creeping Charlie”) as a houseplant, though in some warmer climates it is an outside plant grown in the garden or as a wild [...]
Calypso Orchid
Name: Calypso Orchid (Calypso bulbosa)
Type: Perennial
Growth habit: Leaves are nearly unnoticeable and grow close to the ground. The tiny blossoms perch no more than 6 inches above the ground. They are found in various shades of pink, white or purple and are often speckled combinations of each.
Light Level: Filtered sun [...]
Bleeding Heart
White Bleeding Heart – Photo by Madlantern Design
Name: Bleeding Heart (Dicentra)
Type: Perennial
Growth habit: Bleeding heart plants have lacy foliage that grows as a clump up to three feet wide and tall. In early to mid spring, Bleeding Hearts produce graceful stems covered in their namesake blossoms; heart-shaped flowers most often [...]
Bearded Iris
Bearded Iris – Photo by Madlantern Design
Name: Bearded Iris (Iris germanica)
Type: Perennial
Growth habit: Bearded Iris are grown from rhizomes (sometimes erroneously referred to as bulbs or tubers). Their large, colorful blossoms appear in mid spring, 1-3 feet above their leathery, blade-shaped leaves.
Light Level: Full sun to partial shade.
Water: Low to [...]
Butterfly Bush
Butterfly Bush – Photo by Madlantern Design
Name: Butterfly Bush (Buddleja)
Type: Perennial
Growth habit: Upright woody shrub that grows to over 12 feet. Most varieties bear colorful, fragrant blossoms mid through late summer.
Light Level: Prefers full sun, but will tolerate some shade.
Water: Moderate to generous.
Fertilization: None needed. May actually flower more without [...]
Azalea
Azalea – Photo by Madlantern Design
Name: Azalea (Rhododendron Tsutsuji)
Type: Perennial
Growth habit: Upright woody shrub with some varieties remaining low to the ground and others reaching 5 feet or more in height.
Light Level: Prefers a mostly sunny location, but will tolerate full sun or partial shade.
Water: Moderate to generous.
Fertilization: Mulching with [...]
Hardy Lily
Hardy Lily – Photo by Madlantern Design
Name: Hardy Lily (Lilium)
Type: Perennial
Growth habit: Upright plant which can reach over 3 feet in some varieties.
Light Level: Prefers full sun, will tolerate a small amount of shade.
Water: Moderate.
Fertilization: A general slow-release granular fertilizer in spring when new growth emerges and once again when [...]
