Remember These Names By Abby Lapides
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t the end of the growing season I like to reflect on my favorite plants from the year. Some come from my garden, some from friends’ and some from trial gardens throughout the country. Learn about the plants whose names I, and you, need to remember.
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I’ve grown ‘Twinkle Toes’ lungwort, Pulmonaria, in my garden for about 3 years and am still in love with its perfect foliage. April brings baby blue and pink bell-shaped flowers about 8” tall over the green and silver speckled foliage. The foliage always looks great, even after my neglectful summer water schedule and, magically somehow, once the flowers are spent the old stalks
just go away, no brown stems loitering. The short nature and clean foliage make it a perfect front of the garden plant. This perennial requires part to full
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Cascade’ are neck-and-neck in the great contest for my favorite butterfly bush. Both weeping butterfly bushes feature mindboggling-sized panicles that can grow over 1’ long. ‘Lilac Cascade’s flowers are a little longer, sometimes up to 1.5’! ‘Violet Cascade’ is more petite, growing about 4’ tall and wide, ‘Lilac Cascade’ grows about 1’ larger. Their great habits, color and flower power wowed me when I viewed them in a test Pulmonaria garden in Michigan, so much ‘Twinkle Toes’ so that I couldn’t pick which one was the best. Neither sets shade and well-drained soils. seed and both will continually Usually when comparing bloom all summer. These excel similar plants, it’s easy to tell in the back of sunny gardens or which is superior, but not this as showy accents. time! Two new introductions to Shade loving perennials tend the Cascade series of butterfly be more subtle that their sunbush ‘Violet Cascade’ and ‘Lilac loving cousins. An excellent cont’d. on page 6 Abby Lapides is owner and a speaker at Sugar Creek Gardens Nursery. She has degrees from the University of Missouri, and is a member of the Landscape and Nursery Association of Greater St. Louis. You can reach her at (314) 965-3070.
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720 South 11th St. • Belleville (618) 234-4600 • www.effingergarden.com
The Gateway Gardener™ WINTER 2021-2022
