Perennials at Digging Dog
Fallopia to Gunnera
Including Fuchsia, Galtonia, Gentian, Geranium, Gladiolus & Geum
Don’t let this species’ humdrum name or slow start put you off. Although it emerges from the ground late in the spring, Fallopia japonica var. compacta reaches full height rather quickly.
Panicles of miniature white and pinkish red flowers, whose bicolored quality makes them sparkle, dress up the bushy visage. Rounded, ripple-edged and leathery, the attractive dark green leaves are held by crimson petioles, and furnish a brilliant yellow fanfare once the weather begins to cool.
Blooms late August–early October. Size: 4' high x 4' wide; hardy to zone 4.
Fallopia japonica var. compacta (P-1343)
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Meadow Sweet
These hardy American perennials will satisfy your sweet tooth without making you pay a heavy price. In almost any garden soil, their foliage is full and dependable, enlivened by spraylike panicles of small flowers. Most prefer a moist well-drained setting and will happily linger at the edge of a pond.
A statuesque beauty, ‘Venusta’ is distinguished by huge, fluffy cloudlike plumes painted with soft salmon pinks floating above a good-sized, leafy mass of upright stems and jagged, Maple-shaped foliage. Forging an impressive stand in a moist well drained setting, Meadow Sweet seldom needs staking, and makes an airy partner for Trollius ‘ Superbus’.
Blooms July–August. Size: 4'–5' high x 2' wide; hardy to zone 4.
Filipendula rubra ‘Venusta’ (P-1024)
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Esteemed for its bright golden foliage, this moisture-lover delights with fragrant Astilbe-like clusters of minute creamy white flowers. Upright clump-forming stems are garbed in prominently veined, deeply dissected leaves, which transmute a vivid chartreuse glow as summer approaches.
Companions like Ophiopogon ‘Nigrescens’ and Geranium ‘Espresso’ make ‘Aurea’s lambent accents appear even more exceptional; protection from hot afternoon sun and fertile, moderately wet soil ensure its success.
Blooms July–August. Size: 2'–3' high x 2' wide; hardy to zone 4.
Filipendula ulmaria ‘Aurea’ (P-0072)
Each $7.00
Add to Cart Francoa
Bridal Wreath
Let this long blooming carefree Chilean beauty dress up your garden. Starry, pretty pink flowers with lighter centers and a crimson brush stroke at each petal’s base embellish terminal wands on tall, gracefully canting branched stems. The fit-for-a-bride floral splendor is perfect for arrangements and is grounded by a foot high dark green basal clump of large, succulentlike, stiff durable leaves that are evergreen and wavy-edged, preferring dappled shade or half a day’s sun.
Blooms mid-July to early September Size: 2'–3' high x 18" wide; hardy to zone 7.
Francoa sonchifolia (p-0279)
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According to a French missionary in the early 1700s, the Brazilian name for Fuchsias was Molle cantu, or Bush of Beauty. These plants offer graceful habits and pendulous, tubular flowers that are richly colored. The following mite resistant varieties appreciate ample moisture.
Like dainty ballerinas, tubular crimson flowers abundantly dangle from branches cloaked in deep green comely leaves. Esteemed for its verdant bushy form, which grows with amazing vigor and frost tolerance, this interspecific cross between Fuchsia campos-portoi and Fuchsia magellanica was bred by Peter Baye. ‘Campo Thilco’s lovely demeanor can be coupled with Salvia ‘Limelight’, and due to an abundance of rhizomes, its numerous basal shoots should be pruned hard each spring. Zone 6/7.
Blooms June–October. Size: 3'–6' high x 4' wide; hardy to zone 7.
Fuchsia ‘Campo Thilco’ (P-1212)
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Don Mahoney from Strybing Arboretum kindly gave us this airy, multistemmed Fuchsia whose branches are first upright, and then elegantly arch over. Accentuated by wine-colored petioles and stems, the gleaming and darkly green, veined leaves stage ‘Grand Harfare’s
spectacular pendant blooms. The glossy, 3 in., thick-walled tubes are colored in dazzling orange-scarlet shades and embellished with decorative, wide-open bases. This cloud-forest species appreciates constant soil moisture, some humidity and winter protection.
Blooms October–April. Size: 2'–4' high x 3'–4' wide; hardy to zone 8.
Fuchsia ‘Grand Harfare’ (P-1211)
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Summer Hyacinth
The most enduring trophy of Francis Galton, an explorer and authority on Southwest Africa, may be the summer Hyacinth, which blooms when so many perennials are past their prime. These bulb-forming plants are happiest in rich, well drained soil and need moderate water in the summer.
With dark green, straplike leaves and spikes of fragrant, drooping, funnel-shaped white flowers perched on 4 ft. stems, this species is undeniably dramatic. Create your own theater by planting it amidst darker, shade tolerant plants, under a high woodland canopy. Zone 6/7.
Blooms August–September. Size: 4' high x 12" wide; hardy to zone 7.
Galtonia candicans (P-0074)
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Berg LilyA moist cliff dweller from the lower altitudes of the Drakensberg Mountains, this Galtonia’s blooms have an airy effect. Up to thirty waxed and creamy green tubular flowers with light green, central bands extend out from the stem and then look downward at varied angles. Anchored by erect, green basal straps, the pale, delicate blooms loosely dress its broad floral pillars.
Blooms August–September. Size: 4'–5' high x 12" wide; hardy to zone 8.
Galtonia princeps (P-1264)
Each $6.50
Add to Cart Named for its unusual lime-green flowers, which bloom earlier than those of Galtonia candicans, this species can accent the color and texture of Campanula ‘Kent Belle’.
Blooms July–August. Size: 3' high x 12" wide; hardy to zone 7.
Galtonia viridiflora (P-0297)
Each $6.50
Add to Cart Gaura
This new floriferous cultivar of the popular Southwest native was introduced by Plants Delight Nursery. Like a celestial shroud, myriad deep pink blooms appear to envelope its upright stance for months on end. With arching, wiry, reddish stems, wine-colored buds and narrow, maroon-mottled foliage, we plant it amidst Oenothera stricta, Nepeta, Lavenders and hardy Geraniums for an overall relaxed look. A late spring pruning and lean, well drained soil will ensure countless flowers and a more compact shape.
Blooms June–November. Size: 2-1/2'–3' high x 2'–3' wide; hardy to zone 6.
Gaura lindheimeri ‘Pink Cloud’ (P-1214)
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Like luminous butterflies on a breeze, four-petaled pure white blossoms with sparkly centers adorn slender, loosely arranged flower wands. This new, compact dwarf hails from Australia, and its narrow green leaves possess a willowy relaxed look that softens edges or nearby plants such as Boltonia ‘Snowbank’ and Artemisia ‘Valerie Finnis’. Asking only for good drainage, long blooming ‘So White’ deserves a place in your garden where it easily tackles heat, humidity and some drought. Zone 5/6.
Blooms June – October. Size: 18"–2' high x 2' wide; hardy to zone 6.
Gaura lindheimeri ‘So White’ (p-1521)
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Originating in Austria’s Sarastro Nursery and introduced by Jelitto in 2008, this robust selection boasts not only exceptional cold hardiness, but a bevy of beautiful white blooms. Slim burgundy dappled, green leaves send up long, gracefully arching scepters, dressed in pink buds and pearly flowers from early summer ‘til frost. Adored by honey bees and flower arrangers, ‘Summer Breeze’ is aptly named, exhibiting an airy carefree look that can be partnered with Salvia reptans West Texas Form.
Blooms July – October. Size: 4' high x 2-1/2' wide; hardy to zone 5.
Gaura lindheimeri ‘Summer Breeze’ (P-1595)
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Gentian
Truly beguiling, our Gentian selections display tubular flowers, colored in some of the most dazzling shades of blue imaginable. Once good drainage and a cool position are provided, these low spreading beauties are relatively undemanding.
A loose, handsome base of shiny, long and narrow, deep green leaves gives way to lax flowering stems, each enhanced with bouquets of white-throated, darkly blue blooms, borne at the leaf axils and crowning the very tips. Once good drainage and a cool position are provided, this low spreading beauty is relatively undemanding.
Blooms July–August. Size: 12" high x 12" wide; hardy to zone 4.
Gentiana dahurica (P-0900)
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Cranesbill
We’re talking about hardy Geraniums, not the better-known, anything-but-subtle Pelargoniums. True Geraniums are sturdy yet refined, with five-petaled flowers borne on dainty stems close to the palmately-divided leaves.
Their spectrum of colors, from cool to electric, is rivaled only by their ability to create soft mounds and flowing carpets of lush foliage in ordinary garden soil. We plant a succession of varieties to always have some in bloom from spring to fall. Our selections are easily grown and will rebloom after flowering if lightly trimmed. Most die back in winter.
This hybrid between Geranium procurrens and Geranium psilostemon was raised by the amateur gardener Rev. O. G. Folkard. Its deeply cut, bright, yellowish green leaves trail and twine gracefully amidst stunning saucer-shaped, black-eyed, dusky magenta flowers. Such color and form make ‘Ann Folkard’ an uplifting neighbor for bluish or dark green foliage plants like Panicum ‘Cloud Nine’ and Euphorbia ‘John Tomlinson’.
Blooms May–September. Size: 18" high x 3'–4' wide; hardy to zone 5.
Geranium ‘Ann Folkard’ (P-0404)
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A hybrid of Geranium pratense and Geranium clarkei ‘Kashmir Purple’, ‘Brookside’ displays its deep violet-blue flowers all summer long. Against a backdrop of finely divided foliage, the pink-veined flowers with pale central eyes appear even more striking.
Blooms May–August. Size: 2-1/2' high x 2-1/2' wide; hardy to zone 5.
Geranium ‘Brookside’ (P-0525)
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Awash in soft bluish rose hues with lighter colored centers, the flowers showcase a unique and highly welcome chroma for this group of Geraniums. Winsome, deep green lobed leaves sculpt an energetic and easy-to-maintain cover that’s compact, nearly evergreen and gleaming all season long.
Blooms May–September. Size: 8" high x 18" wide; hardy to zone 5.
Geranium x cantabrigiense ‘Cambridge Blue’ (p-1351)
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An excellent choice for the north side of the house, this robust new hybrid between Geranium dalmaticum ‘Album’ and Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Album’ is similar to Geranium ‘Biokovo’ but much more vigorous, forming a lush and leafy evergreen carpet. ‘St. Ola’s white overlapping flower petals fade with just a hint of pink and create a pearly carpet beneath Hydrangea ‘Snowflake’.
Blooms May–September. Size: 8" high x 18" wide; hardy to zone 5.
Geranium x cantabrigiense ‘St. Ola’ (p-0753)
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This splendid new cultivar was bred by British Geranium enthusiast, Alan Bremner, who named it after his father’s homeland—the Orkney Island of Westray.
Wafting a spicy scent, quantities of rounded, deeply lobed leaves define a low growing evergreen ground cover that imparts warm orange-red hues in autumn and tolerates some drought. Just above the neat, densely arranged foundation, Westray’s fanciful, circular red buds give way to copious, ample-sized carnation pink flowers with sprightly anthers. (pp#13716)
Blooms May–September. Size: 8" high x 18" wide; hardy to zone 5.
Geranium cantabrigiense ‘Westray’ (P-1380)
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Elegantly chiseled in deep, narrow cuts and sharp pointed segments, each green leaf resembles a snowflake’s silhouette. The upward facing, large purple blooms are nearly 2 in. across, premiering butterfly-like petals with shimmering lilac-pink veins. Hailing from Kashmir, this attractive mounding Geranium establishes itself quickly by underground rhizomes, requires little care and can be massed amid Alchemilla glaucescens.
Blooms June–August. Size: 18" high x 18" wide; hardy to zone 4.
Geranium clarkei ‘Kashmir Purple’ (P-1378)
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With silky, fine-feathered foliage, this mountain dweller from South Africa fashions an alluring mound. Willowy stems elevate magenta blooms above a low, luminous mass of small, silver leaves and long, whitened trailing stalks. A sun-loving Geranium that thrives on warmth, little water and good drainage, Geranium harveyi is tailor-made for cascading over rocks and pots in exposed sites, or growing as a small-scale ground cover.
Blooms June–September. Size: 8" high x 2' wide; hardy to zone 8.
Geranium harveyi (P-1265)
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A little plant with big color, ‘Baby Blue’s flowers are larger, lighter and more open than those typical of the species. Blue petals with dark fuchsia veins surround lovely white centers. After a long flowering season, the handsome, deeply dissected leaves put on a fall display with hints of red and gold.
Blooms late April – July. Size: 12" high x 2' wide; hardy to zone 5.
Geranium himalayense ‘Baby Blue’ (P-0623)
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This outstanding hybrid between Geranium himalayense and Geranium pratense originated in a Dutch nursery around 1950. Its lavender-tinted blue flowers have
pale mauve centers, and bloom continuously atop elegant, deeply divided leaves that densely cover the somewhat creeping stems. Enjoy the graceful form of ‘Johnson’s Blue’ in the border next to golden-leafed Carex ‘Kaga Nishiki’ or yellow-orange flowering Kniphofia ‘Bee’s Sunset’.
Blooms May–October. Size: 10" high x 2' wide; hardy to zone 5.
AVAILABLE SPRING 2012
Geranium ‘Johnson’s Blue’ (P-0221)
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Named for the thick fleshy rhizomes by which it spreads, ‘Bevan’s Variety’ is one of the best ground cover plants for shady areas. Flourishing year after year in our older border with early flowering Brunnera and Euphorbia ‘Great Dixter’, this deer tolerant Geranium bears clusters of intensely colored dark magenta flowers and decorative deep red sepals above soft green aromatic foliage.
Blooms May–August. Size: 12" high x 2-1/2' wide; hardy to zone 5.
Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Bevan’s Variety’ (p-0648)
Each $7.50
Add to Cart Ingwersen’s Bigroot
During a 1929 hiking expedition to Mount Koprivnik, Yugoslavia, Walter Ingwersen, the renowned German plantsman and nursery owner who penned The Genus Geranium, fortuitously happened upon the lovely soft lavender-pink flowers of this particular G. macrorrhizum. Enormous thickset, brown winding rhizomes store up water that keeps the large pale green foliage fresh-looking even during periods of drought and heat,
and earn the name ‘bigfoot’.
Described by a spicy scent and fiery fall color, fuzzy lobed leaves forge an attractive weed smothering ground cover, while profuse clusters of dainty blossoms with rounded petals and showy stamens linger above. A superb AGM winner, it is well-suited for the perennial border, outshining others in the species, as well as exhibiting more tolerance for tough, dry sites than most in the genus.
Blooms May – September. Size: 12" high x 15"–18" wide; hardy to zone 4.
Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Ingwersen’s Variety’ (P-1028)
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With a distinctive fresh fragrance and stamina galore, this mat-forming perennial yields a natty carpet of long-petioled, thick and broadly lobed pubescent leaves. Plentiful clustered white flowers blush the palest pink in summer, sporting pink calyxes and stamen filaments.
Spreading by a hearty underground rootstock, the dense semievergreen foliage manifests bright reds and yellows during autumn and makes a suitable understory for Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Amethyst’.
Blooms May – August. Size: 12" high x 15"–18" wide; hardy to zone 4.
Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Spessart’ (P-1029)
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Collected on the slopes of Mt. Olympus during a Ness Botanic Garden expedition, this relatively new choice cultivar hosts delicate pure white flowers. Long, sprightly looking yellow-tipped stamens and green calyxes distinguish the bright bountiful blooms that bring cool tranquil accents to summer borders.
Compared to other macrorrhizum, ‘White Ness’ shares the same enduring constitution, though its aromatic, rounded apple green leaves are slightly smaller and its habit more compact.
Blooms April–August. Size: 8"–10" high x 15"–18" wide; hardy to zone 4.
Geranium macrorrhizum ‘White Ness’ (P-1699)
Each $7.50
Add to Cart Spotted GeraniumA superb selection of an Eastern native, this toasty hued Geranium was discovered in the woods of Landenberg, PA. by the astute folks at North Creek Nurseries. Serving up large, bold cafe au latte-colored foliage—5 to 6 in. wide, deeply lobed and held flat—the compact rounded clump maintains its color all season. Myriad 5-petaled lavender-pink flowers are adored by butterflies and later, prominent beaked seeds capsules add interest. ‘Espresso’ is an alluring, yet rugged, low growing ground cover, preferring partial shade with average moisture, and is unfazed by deer, bunnies or other pests, as well as heat, humidity and dry soil. Zone 3/4.
Blooms June–July. Size: 16" high x 18" wide; hardy to zone 4.
Geranium maculatum ‘Espresso’ (P-1452)
Each $6.50
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