What's in Bloom
Bloom Highlights
Begonia grandis
Hardy Begonia
This plant is native to central and southeastern China, where it is found in dappled shade and full-shade areas of forests, woodland margins, and thickets of mountain valleys and ravines. It is an herbaceous perennial with a clumping, mounding habit. The bright green stems are branching, erect to arching, and zigzag, with each node stained red. The stems bear large leaves with red petioles in an alternate arrangement. The leaves are asymmetrical and obliquely cordate to ovate in shape with acute apices and serrated margins. The leaves are olive to dark green and hairy on top while the undersides are tinted red with prominent red veins. Leaf axils and shoot termini produce pendulous, dichotomous cymes of bright pink flowers on pink floral stalks. Male flowers have two to four paired tepals and numerous yellow stamens. Female flowers have three to five tepals and three to six fused carpels. After the female flowers fade, showy, winged capsule fruits remain until the plant dies back for winter. The genus was named to honor French colonial official and naturalist Michel Bégon. The specific epithet means “showy” or “large” in Latin.
Cotoneaster × hessei
Hesse Cotoneaster
This plant is a horticultural hybrid of uncertain heritage. It is widely believed that the parentage includes Cotoneaster horizontalis and Cotoneaster adpressus var. praecox. Both species are native to the mountains of western China, and both grow in thickets and rocky outcrops. These species often cascade over rocks and are woody perennial shrubs with a prostrate, spreading habit. The stems are coppery brown with hints of red and burgundy and are highly branched. The branches are arranged in a herringbone pattern. The stems bear leaves in an alternate arrangement. The leaves are glossy, dark green, elliptical to orbicular with entire margins, and are semi-evergreen, turning reddish-purple in late autumn. Leaf axils produce single or pairs of small white or pink flowers, each with five sepals, five petals, ten to 20 stamens, and two to five fused carpels. By summer, the flowers fade and by autumn, the flowers produce showy red berries that persist into winter. The genus name comes from the Latin cotoneum malum meaning “quince,” from the Greek kydōnion mēlon “Kydōnían apple,” and the Latin suffix -aster meaning “resembling” or “imitation.” The hybrid epithet was named in honor of the German botanist Hermann Albrecht Hesse.
Muenchhusia laevis
Halberd-leaved Rose Mallow
This plant is native to southeastern Canada and the central and eastern United States (except for the states east of New York), where it thrives in wetlands like marshes, fens, floodplains, riverbanks, and near ponds. It grows as a multistemmed shrub with an erect, mounded habit. The stems are green, round, glabrous, and sparingly branched, bearing leaves in an alternate arrangement. The green leaves are lanceolate to ovate, and have three pointed lobes, with serrate to crenate margins. The leaf axils and shoot termini produce large, solitary, pink and white flowers. Each flower has eight to 16 strap-like epicalyx bracts; five lanceolate sepals fused into a cup; five white, distinct petals that overlap each other with bright pink bases; and numerous stamens fused into a monodelphous staminal column around five fused carpels. Flowers produce a dehiscent capsule fruit. The genus was named in honor of German botanist Otto von Münchhausen. The specific epithet is Latin for “smooth.”
Lespedeza thunbergii ‘Gibraltar’
Gibraltar Bush Clover
Lespedeza thunbergii is native to the eastern Himalayas through central and eastern China to Japan and the Korean Peninsula, where it is found on hillsides, in open woodlands, and in grasslands. It grows as a woody perennial shrub with a mounding habit. Its many stems are arching and highly branched, bearing leaves in an alternate arrangement. The bluish-green leaves are trifoliate with entire, elliptic leaflets. Leaf axils and shoot termini produce raceme inflorescences of purply-pink, pea-shaped flowers in late summer and early autumn. Each flower has five fused sepals, one posterior standard petal, two lateral wing petals, two fused keel petals, nine fused stamens, plus an additional free stamen, all around a singular carpel that produces a coppery brown pod. This cultivar is noted for its late bloom and fountain-like appearance. The genus name honors Vicente Manuel de Céspedes. The specific epithet honors Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg, who explored and collected plants in Japan in the 1770s.
Solidago rigida
Stiff Goldenrod
This plant’s native range spans from Massachusetts to Alberta, Canada, southward east of the Rocky Mountains to Texas and Georgia in the south. It is found in prairies, savannas, open woodlands, and rocky outcrops. This herbaceous perennial has a clumping, erect, habit-forming colonies through rhizomatous growth. Its tall, stiff, unbranching green stems are covered in fine white hairs. The stems bear leathery leaves in an alternate arrangement. Basal leaves are very stiff and are large, green, and oblong to lanceolate with serrated margins. Upper leaves are much smaller, light green and pubescent, and variably shaped, with entire or serrate margins. The shoot terminates in a large corymb inflorescence of small yellow capitula. Each capitulum is comprised of five to ten yellow ray florets around a yellow button of numerous yellow, tubular disc florets. The genus name is derived from the Latin words solidus meaning “whole,” and ago meaning “to make,” as plants in this genus have been used medicinally. The specific epithet means “rigid” in Latin.
Salvia azurea
Blue Sage
This plant is native to the central, southern, and southeastern United States, with some reported populations in northern Illinois, Michigan, and New York. It is found in dry prairies, open woodlands, savannas, and limestone glades. It grows as a multistemmed, herbaceous perennial with an erect, clumping habit. Its stems are silvery green and square, bearing leaves in opposite pairs of two. The silvery green leaves are simple, ovate to lanceolate, and have dentate margins. Shoot termini produce a spike inflorescence of bright blue, tubular, bilabiate flowers. Each flower has a fused tube of five sepals; four lower petals fused into a landing pad with a large white mark; and an upper petal forming a hood that houses the two stamens and two fused pistils. The genus name is derived from the Latin word salveo meaning “to save” or “to heal,” as plants in this genus have historically been used medicinally. The specific epithet is derived from the Latin word lazulus from the Persian word lājvard, meaning both “blue” and the place where lapis lazuli was mined.
Symphyotrichum novae-angliae ‘Honeysong Pink’
Honeysong Pink New England Aster
Symphyotrichum novae-angliae is native to much of central and eastern Canada and the United States, where it is found in marshes, stream and riverbanks, fens, and moist thickets. It is a multistemmed, herbaceous perennial with an erect, mounding habit. The green stems are stout, stiff, and pubescent, bearing leaves in an alternate arrangement. The rough green leaves are pubescent, lanceolate with entire margins, and clasp the stem at their base. Upper stems branch and the leaf axils and termini of these shoots produce solitary capitulum inflorescences. Each capitulum is comprised of an involucre of subtending bracts, between 20 and 100 purple, strap-like ray florets that ring around a central button of golden-yellow, tubular disc florets. This cultivar is noted for its robust upright growth habit and its pink daisy-like flowerheads. The genus name comes from the Greek words sýmph meaning “together” and trichos meaning “hairs” in reference to the hair-like pappus subtending each disc floret being fused at their base. The specific epithet is the Latinized “New England,” indicating the plant’s origin.
Angelonia angustifolia ‘Serena® Blue’
Summer Snapdragon
This carefree, continuous bloomer is well-suited to gardens and containers, performing well under a wide range of conditions. The perfect choice for heat-loving garden spaces. Deer- and rabbit-resistant plants grow 16 to 20 inches tall and 12 to 14 inches wide.
Ageratum ‘Monarch Magic Agerboyuma’
Ageratum, Floss Flower
A one-of-a-kind spreading ageratum that monarch butterflies can’t resist. Full, spreading garden fill that’s ideal for use in landscapes and large containers. Drought-tolerant plants grow 6 to 12 inches tall and spread to 8 to 16 inches wide.
Ocimum basilicum ‘Everleaf Thai Towers’
Thai Basil
This gorgeous basil plant has masses of green leaves with soft purple stems that brighten up vegetable gardens and mixed containers. Its aromatic and vibrant licorice flavor complements any dish, especially Thai cuisine. Columnar habit growing 24 to 36 inches tall and 8 to 12 inches wide.