Rosa carolina, better known as pasture rose, is a true native. native to the U. S. and to our particular area. It breaks out with profuse clusters of simple, small pink roses in May and June for the bees, resulting in colorful red hips from midsummer into winter for the birds. In the wild, it spreads by suckers forming colonies. As a native, it has better natural resistance to rose diseases than …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
Turquoise puya ( Puya alpestris ) produces brilliant turquoise flowers accentuated by intensely orange anthers. Best grown in full sun with a very well-drained potting soil in low humidity, it takes years for a plant from seed to reach flowering size. To grow your own, foliar feed no more than one time per month at the lowest solution recommended. This particular accession was received as a small …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
SUNDROP™ spirea is noted for its diminutive size and golden foliage that holds its color through the growing season and turns red in the fall. Sprays of pink flowers grace this small shrub in summer. It is tolerant of urban environments. The genus Spiraea consists of small to medium sized flowering shrubs with a fine-textured twiggy mounding habit. The small simple leaves are generally …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
Pink Ice spirea is a new take on the popular bridal wreath spirea. While it has the same vase-shaped habit, it is differentiated by its green leaves speckled with white and stems and new growth that emerge pink and its overall smaller size. The genus Spiraea consists of small to medium sized flowering shrubs with a fine-textured twiggy mounding habit. The small simple leaves are generally …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
Allium caeruleum is a native of Central Asia and is known as a blue globe onion. People seem to be attracted to the color blue — at least as it is displayed by flowers. Name the rarest, most sought after cultivars and species, and there will be a disproportionate number of blue-flowered plants on the list, yet they are relatively rare in nature. The flowers on Allium caeruleum (the latter means …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
Among the largest blooms of the genus, Allium christophii features star-shaped purple-violet flowers with a metallic sheen on loose umbels from 4 to 8 inches across on 1' to 2' plants. Found in nature from Iran and Turkey through Central Asia, and commonly called Star of Persia, this is another of the large-flowered onions that succeed best in Chicago landscapes if interplanted with low-growing …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
Almost everyone is familiar with Aloe vera , the pass-along plant known widely for its ability to ease the suffering associated with burns, minor wounds, and insect bites. Few, however, get to enjoy its beautiful, light lemon-colored flowers. In most home settings, it does not receive the growing conditions needed to produce flowers — bright light, warm temperatures, and wide root run. Winner of …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
Native to the Midwest, 'Red Bull' grows 88 inches tall and 48 inches wide, with its green leaves turning a striking orange, purple, and red in the fall. The purple flowers appear on the stems in the late summer and early fall. It grows best in full sun and moist, well-drained soil and enjoys the heat. It is most effective when grouped into large drifts and makes an excellent ground cover for …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
Callicarpa japonica , or Japanese beautyberry, is one of the stars of the fall garden, with its rounded clusters of berries produced at almost every node along the arching stems. They are usually best known for their vivid lavender berries; however, 'Leucocarpa' produces abundant white berries. Our specimens came to us from the J. C. Raulston Arboretum in North Carolina. The flowers appear from …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
Nikko slender deutzia is a dwarf cultivar with a spreading habit. It produces abundant small white flowers in spring. Unlike many deutzia, Nikko offers burgundy fall foliage color. The genus Deutzia consists of medium sized flowering shrubs native to Asia, generally with slender stems and a fine-textured arching habit. The clusters of small flowers that appear in spring or early summer are white …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
