Hosta 'Lakeside Cha Cha' - Lakeside Cha Cha Plantain Lily

Yes, a plant with a Latin rhythm!  “What is the world coming to?”, you may ask.  Well, this plant’s wavy edges wiggle in the wind as though they were dancing.  On top of that each leaf has a uniform striation of veins with nice, creamy white seams at its leaf edge.  The leaf interior is chartreuse.  In the summer it bears pale lavender flowers  on 20” scapes.  This is a good clumper and will make a nice show in you shade garden.  Try combining it with Epimediums and various ferns. Sun Exposure: Partial shade to full shade Cold Hardiness: Zones 4-9 Spacing: 2-3’ Growth Rate: Rather vigorous Water Needs: Moist well drained soil

Hosta 'Loyalist' - Loyalist Plantain Lily

Plant naming can be more of a problem than you may realize.  Some years ago we found a reverse variegation in our crop of Hosta ‘Patriot’.  It has a white interior leaf rather than margins.  We named it ‘Loyalist’.  In colonial times, loyalists were the opposite of patriots, right?  A similar (if not identical) clone was found elsewhere and named ‘Fire and Ice’, a good name to be sure.  Which name should carry?  We don’t know.  Whichever, this is a stunning plant although not at its best till its third or fourth year.  That jaded few who find Hostas boring ought to take a look at this.  It’s 24” stems have lavender flowers in August. Sun Exposure: Partial shade to full shade Cold Hardiness: Zone 4-8 Spacing: 2-3’ Growth Rate: Moderate Water Needs: Moist well drained soil

Hosta 'Sum it Up' - Sum it Up Plantain Lilyl

Your shade garden needs at least one green-eyed monster to put everything else into perspective.  This chartreuse-centered, gold-margined sport of Hosta ‘Sum and Substance’ should do the trick.  You do know that big, bold Victorian favorites are all the rage?  Why use Cannas and elephant ears to do what  a perennial can do?  The margin width varies from leaf to leaf, especially noticeable when in an active phase of growth. The leaves grow 16” long by 12” wide with smooth texture and thick substance, just like any good jungle plant.  Grows 32” high by 80” wide.  Produces lavender flowers in August on 4’ scapes. Sun Exposure: Partial shade to full shade Cold Hardiness: Zone 3-9 Spacing: 36" Growth Rate: Moderate Water Needs: Moist well drained soil

Lobelia 'Grape Knee-Hi' (PPAF) - Grape Knee-Hi Cardinal Flower

Intrepid plantsman, Dan Heims of Canby, Oregon, is always surprising us with vastly improved forms of old stand-bys.  Try telling him there’s nothing new under the sun.  One of the problems with Lobelias is that they can fall apart in wind if they are too lush and tall.  By a backcross of Lobelia cardinalis to an extremely compact form of Lobelia siphilitica, Dan has produced a true dwarf with deep purple flowers!  Not only is this plant dwarf, growing just 22” tall, but it’s also sterile and thus has a prolonged bloom time, mid summer to mid fall.  Sensational along a pond or brook but will do nicely in your drier perennial border. Sun Exposure: Full sun to partial shade Cold Hardiness: Zones 4-9 Spacing: 18-24" Growth Rate: Moderate Water Needs: Prefers moisture retentive soils

Oenothera 'African Sun' - African Sun Evening Primrose

Oenothera ‘African Sun’ isn’t from Africa, isn’t a sun, isn’t a true primrose and doesn’t bloom only in the evening.  If you’re willing to overlook these few minor shortcomings, you’ll find a rather decent plant which has quarter-sized gold blooms all summer long on a carpet of rich green of foliage.  It looks great in a hanging basket or cascading over a wall.  Although it could provide a formidable frontal fringe to your formal garden, this hybrid seems to balance precariously on that nebulous line dividing rockery plants, border plants and groundcovers.  Try it on that parched, sunny slope where lawn is near to hopeless. Sun Exposure: Full sun Cold Hardiness: Zones 4-9 Spacing: 2-3' Growth Rate: Vigorous Water Needs: Very drought tolerant once established

Panicum virgatum 'Dallas Blues' (PP#11202) - Dallas Blue Switch Grass

Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery claims this grass was named by an unhappy Dallas Cowboys’ fan after their defeat on national TV by the Washington Redskins.  Ken and Linda Smith of Columbus, Ohio say they found this vigorous sport in a batch of seedlings she raised while living in Dallas and named it for its powder blue color.  I think I’ll buy Ken and Linda’s story.  The plant will soon achieve a height of six feet.  Its seed heads are large, 2’ in length and football-shaped.  The seeds start purple-blue and mature to a rich orange tan which persist attractively through winter.  The fall color of the blades is also a rich orange-tan.  Invasiveness is no problem since it produces no seedlings.  This great new grass makes a splendid all year show. Sun Exposure: Full sun Cold Hardiness: Zones 5-9 Spacing: 3-6’ Growth Rate: Fast Water Needs:Prefers rich woodland soil but tolerates  drought