Perennials

 A first-class foliage plant for using towards the front of the border, where its deep green  leaves look for all the world like some exotic fern. Dark green foliage is typical of jacobs ladder with, heads of white flowers rise above on short stems in early summer. This seems to prefer a partly shaded situation with protection from hot afternoon sun, particularly where summers are warm and humid. Also excellent in mixed containers.

Light Requirement: Partial Shade to Partial Sun

Mature Size:

• Height: 12 - 24"

• Width: 8 - 12"

Zone: 3

A Proven Winner Rose Mallow, Berry Awesome is a very robust perennial that fills a lot of space in the garden. Find a place in your landscape where it will not be crowded by other plants, because it will quickly out compete your other perennials for space within a year or two. 

Do not prune it to keep it smaller, as this will remove the flower buds. Tender Zone 4 perennial so it will need heavy mulch before frost!

First red rudbeckia! Single flowers in red shades with deep red centers. Excellent in beds and as a cut flower.

Exposure: Sun

Height: 12 - 20" (30 - 51cm)

Width: 18" (46cm)

Image Courtesy of Ball Seed Company

Lorelei showcases a color unique to peonies with spicy fragrant petals blooming in a pinky-orange hue, complemented by a mass of billowy apricot flowers towards the center. Its sturdy stems do not require staking and can withstand various weather conditions, making it an excellent cultivar to enhance your garden.

Ants are attracted to a sweet nectar on the buds of the peony plant but do not harm them in any way.

Light Requirement: Full Sun 

Mature Size:

• Height: 24 - 36"

• Width: 16 - 18"

Zone: 3

Photos courtesy of Van Noort Bulb Co. & Florissa.

A virtually hassle-free perennial, offering three months of vanilla-scented, white flowers in clean clusters from midsummer to early fall. Deadheading the flowers will stimulate another bloom cycle about a month after the first one. The flowers, which are heavily laden with nectar and pollen, are particularly attractive to hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, and other beneficial insects.

Light Requirement: Full Sun to Partial Sun

Mature Size:

• Height: 18 - 24"

• Width: 18 - 24"

Photos courtesy of Van Noort Bulb Co. & Florissa.

No sunny border would seem complete without the familiar presence of Shasta Daisies. This is a very tall selection that exhibits excellent tolerance to summer heat and humidity.

Shasta Daisy flowers are large single white daisies with a yellow eye, valued in the garden and excellent for cutting. Removing faded flowers regularly will greatly increase the blooming time. May require staking if grown in rich soil.

Light Requirement: Full Sun to Partial Sun

Mature Size:

• Height: 24 - 36"

• Width: 10 -12"

Zone: 3

‘Bowl of Beauty’ peony features 8-inch anemone-shaped blooms with rose-pink petals and a creamy yellow center. Strong, self-supporting stems, lush dark green foliage, delightful fragrance, and deer resistance make it perfect for borders, mixed beds, or cut flowers. Reaching 24–36 inches tall, this long-lived perennial provides striking, low-maintenance spring color for years.

Light Requirement: Full Sun to Partial Sun

Height: 24 - 36"

Width: 24 - 30"

Zone: 3

Photos courtesy of Van Noort Bulb Co. & Florissa.

The 'White Temptation' Daylily is a beautifully bright re-blooming daylily, showing a near white petal and yellow-green centre.

Light Requirement: Full Sun to Partial Sun

Mature Size:

• Height: 24 - 36"

• Width: 12 - 24"

Zone: 3

Photos courtesy of Van Noort Bulb Co. & Florissa.

Blanket Flowers are one of the longest-blooming perennials, well suited to hot sunny sites. This selection forms a low mound of olive-green leaves, with large daisy-like blooms. A great choice for edging, borders, rock gardens and containers.

Removing faded flowers will greatly extend the blooming season.

These will not tolerate wet, heavy clay soil, particularly in the winter.

Light Requirement: Full Sun

Mature Size:

• Height: 30"

• Width: 36"

Zone: 3

Photos courtesy of Jeffries Nursery

Achillea Yarrow blooms for weeks starting from early to late summer and is known for attracting butterflies.

A deer, drought and rabbit resistant perennial that features clusters of petit flowers with a long stem. 

Deadheading will encourage new blooms and will prevent from spreading it's seeds, yarrow seeds can fall from previous blooms and will spread if not monitored. 

Light Requirement: Full Sun

Mature Size:

• Height: 24"

• Width: 18 -24"

Zone:  2

Photos courtesy of Van Noort Bulb Co. & Florissa.

Mid-pink, spicy scented flowers bloom almost constantly on neat mounds of grass-green foliage. Excellent for edging, rock gardens and attracts butterflies. Propagation is prohibited. 

Light Requirement: Full Sun

Height: 10 - 12

Width: 20"

Zone: 3

Photo courtesy of Ball Horticultural Company

Oriental Poppies provide a cheerful display of huge, satiny flowers in late spring and early summer. Plants form a low clump of coarse, hairy leaves, and usually go dormant, disappearing completely by late summer. Because they disappear in summer, plant something beside Oriental Poppies that will get bushy later in the season, such as Rudbeckia, Russian Sage, or fall-flowering grasses. Flowers are good for cutting, picked just as the buds begin to open.

Light Requirement: Full sun

Height: 18 - 23" 

Width: 18 - 23"

Photos and information courtesy of Proven Winners.

Lavender-mauve flowers. This beautiful Armeria provides flowering in containers or in the garden. Very heat tolerant and easy to grow. Remove

Light Requirement: Full Sun

Height: 10 - 12"

Width: 10 - 12"

Zone: 4

Photos and information courtesy of Aubin Nursery & Bellwyck Horticolor

Single Red Fern Leaf Peony

Paeonia tenuifolia 'Itoba' is an exceptionally rare single form of the fernleaf peony, featuring radiant pinkish-red single flowers adorned with yellow stamens.

Ants are attracted to a sweet nectar on the buds of the peony plant but do not harm them in any way.

Light Requirement: Full Sun 

Mature Size:

• Height: 12 -24 "

• Width: 12 - 24"

Zone: 3

Photos courtesy of Van Noort Bulb Co. & Florissa.

The Flame Peony lives up to its name as a profuse bloomer with fiery crimson-red flowers, accented by hints of deep coral. Its large, single blooming blossoms are cup-shaped, with wide petals surrounding a center of golden-yellow stamens. This hybrid peony features dark green foliage on sturdy stems.

Light Requirement: Full Sun

Mature Size:

• Height: 24 - 36"

• Width: 24 - 36"

Zone: 3

Photos courtesy of Van Noort Bulb Co. & Florissa.

 Elegant lacy leaves form a very dense and bushy clump. This dwarf plant does not demand the same space as the standard Goats beard, and is somewhat inclined to sulk in hot summer areas, so plant in a moist, peaty soil, or even at the waterside. Cut plants back in summer if they look untidy.

An excellent companion to summer-blooming shrub roses. Good for cutting, the flowers may also be dried by hanging upside down in a warm, dark room.

Delphiniums are the stars of the early summer border. Plants form a low mound of deeply-cut green leaves, bearing mounds of satiny flowers. Removing faded blooms at the base will encourage repeat blooming in fall. 

Cut back hard to encourage fresh foliage. Use a high phosphorous fertilizer each year, in early spring. 

Hot, humid summers can bring on potential mildew. 

Light Requirement: Full Sun

Flowering Season: Summer

Mature Size:

• Height: 12"
  
• Spread: 12"
  

Zone: 3

Brilliant display of summer colour with compact form and strong resistance to powdery mildew. Butterfly attractant. Fuchsia flowers. 

Light Requirement: Full Sun

Height: 18"

Width: 24"

Zone: 3

Photo and data courtesy of Aubin Nursery and Bellwyck Horticolor.

Features dainty flower clusters rather than traditional long, spiky stems. Thrives in heat and humidity. Outstanding plants for the perennial border.

Light Requirement: Full Sun

Mature Size:

• Height: 12"

• Width: 12 - 16"

Image Courtesy of Ball Seed Company

This is a unique selection of Foxglove, bearing tall spikes of glowing rose-pink bells, each with darker freckles on the inside over a rosette of downy green leaves. Unlike other varieties, the individual flowers face upward so the effect is very colourful and showy. 

Excellent in large containers, and acts as a biennial, flowering in the second year then setting seed and dying. These perform best in a rich, moist soil.

Allow plants to form seed in the second year and they may self-sow to produce future generations. Plants may need to be staked. 

Light Requirement: Full Sun to Partial Sun

Mature Size:

• Height: 36"

• Width: 24"

Zone: 4

Photos courtesy of Ball Seed

A beautifully variegated large majestic hosta. Large, ovate leaves have green centers with brightly contrasting yellow margins. The margins are heavily rippled and give the leaves a lightly wavy overall effect. White flowers appear above the foliage in midsummer. A showy specimen for the shade!

Good for ground covers and underplanting for shrubs 

Light Requirement: Full Shade to Partial Sahde

Mature Size:

• Height: 2.5'

• Width: 4.5'

Photos courtesy of Van Noort Bulb Co. & Florissa.

Coral Sunset has a unique shade of coral-pink and large, semi-double blooms, Coral Sunset stuns all who gaze upon its midseason splendour. The long-lived plant thrives in well-drained, fertile soil and a sun to part-shade site. The gently aromatic flowers grow to 14 cm wide, and make lovely additions to bouquets and borders.

Light Requirement: Full Sun to Partial Sun

Height: 30"

Width: 24 - 30"

Zone: 3

Photo and data courtesy of De Vroomen Bulb Canada

It forms narrow, graceful clumps of green foliage with striking silver-white plumes that transform into deep red-bronze in the fall. Ideal for placement at the back of borders, as a hedge, or screen.

Light Requirement: Full Sun to Partial Shade

Mature Size:

• Height: 60 - 72"

• Width: 24 -36"

Zone: 4B

Photos courtesy of Van Noort Bulb Co. & Florissa

Delicate white flowers appear in late spring and early summer, over a low mound of fern-like foliage. Plants will forms a dense patch, suitable for a ground cover. Both the flowers as well as the fluffy seed-heads are great for cutting.

Allow this spreader plenty of room, or plan to edge each spring to keep the patch to a reasonable size.

Deer resistant

Light Requirement: Part Sun

Flowering Season: Early Summer

Mature Size:

• Height: 24"
  
• Spread: 18"
  

Zone: 3

Sometimes called Elephant Ears, this is a bold specimen perennial that needs a moist location. Plants form a clump of large, jagged-edged green leaves. Purplish black stems rise above in summer, bearing long spikes of bright-yellow daisy flowers. Superb for the back of the border, or at the waterside. An unusual centerpiece for a tub or large container. Both the flowers and leaves are great for cutting. 

Light Requirement: Full Sun, Partial Sun, Shade

Height: 3 - 5'

Width: 2 - 4'

'Guacamole' Hosta is medium sized with rich coloured foliage, growing in a mound with broad leaves that are striated in texture. The 'Guacamole' Hosta is a relative of the 'Fragrant Bouquet' Hosta, and blooms in midsummer.

Light Requirement: Full hade to Partial Shade

Mature Size:

• Height: 12 - 24"

• Width: 40 - 50"
  

Zone: 3

Photos courtesy of Van Noort Bulb Co. & Florissa. 

'Komodo Dragon' Hosta forms a large mound, with dark blue-green leaves and shows a ruffled edge. In midsummer, 4 foot tall flowering stalks emerge bearing light lavender coloured, funnel shaped bloom.

1 Gallon pots 

Light Requirement: Full Shade to Partial Shade

Mature Size:

• Height: 36"

• Width: 24 - 84" 

Zone: 3

Photos courtesy of Van Noort Bulb Co. & Florissa. 

Like the popular ‘Empress Wu’, but with an attractive margin! Blue-green leaves have striking apple-green margins. Give the plant about 5 years to reach full maturity. Violet flowers.

Light Requirement: Partial Shade to Full Shade

Mature Size:

• Height: 48 - 60"

• Width: 36 - 48"

Photos courtesy Proven Winners

Rose mallow is a very robust perennial that fills a lot of space in the garden. Find a place in your landscape where it will not be crowded by other plants, because it will quickly out compete your other perennials for space within a year or two. 

Do not prune it to keep it smaller, as this will remove the flower buds.

Zone 4 perennial so it will need heavy mulch before frost!

Light Requirement: Full Sun

Mature Size:

• Height: 36 - 48"

• Width: 48 - 60"

Zone: 4

Photos and Data Courtesy of Ball Seed