Whoa campers! This is a winter’s winter. My sympathies for all those who lost power and are encrusted with ice. We are enjoying the warmest winter since 1895 In Oregon, strange weather, strange times. But when you are dreaming of summer, we can’t forget the pollinating powerhouses that coneflowers and Liatris (Gayfeather) are. While I was at the Governor’s mansion in Iowa, I saw these plants working overtime with the Liatris clustered by Monarch butterflies and the coneflowers doing double duty of flowering and supplying food to our winged friends.
So... I hear a lot from people, (even my old college roommate), “Where can I get Terra Nova’s plants?” I mention the independent garden centers, then the box stores, and finally, the mail-order sources. I have witnessed in a Seattle Garden Center named Swanson’s, where a rack of Terra Nova plants was wheeled into the sales area and it actually got mobbed! I enjoyed the action, of course. But I would see customers not just buying a plant, one lady bought 24 Heuchera, another, eight per variety. I had lunch in their beautiful café (with the butterfly koi) and emerged to find the rack decimated! That’s where the plants went! I hereby am suggesting these mail-order companies that carry the most Terra Nova plants so everyone can get a chance. Thanks goes to GardenSMART to allow me to provide the hyperlinks to these fine nurseries:
At Terra Nova, we don’t just copy another company’s plants. We use our brains. We create. We revolutionize perennials and reinvent new annuals and houseplants. Yes, dear campers, you smart people are reading this article to collect the news on the fresh, and we have it. Let’s see some Delightful™ new intros!
Our catalog, linked below, is an informative tome. Have you ever downloaded it? You will learn about the ways of our breeding and witness the remarkable introductions we have introduced over the last thirty-four years. Besides, there’s a lot of groovy pictures, container combos and especially gigantic installations in Australia and China that use our plants on a huge scale. Who has seen the Chinese forest filled with Terra Nova plants? It’s stunning.
Come explore these three remarkable offerings by the ORIGINAL innovators: Terra Nova™.
Echinacea ‘Fringe Festival’
There is nothing like this beauty in the marketplace! Searing, pink petals fill the entire flower. ‘Fringe Festival’ has no cone at all, just masses of petals, so thick, it looks like shag carpeting from the seventies. Its medium-sized, stocky habit makes this an incredible garden addition. Deep, pine green foliage is long, strap shaped and goes right to the ground. This flower style is very novel! Hardy in USDA zones four to nine. The pink flowers on strong stems grow to sixteen inches high in a dense habit, sixteen inches wide by eight inches high. Full sun is great, and you can expect blooms from July to October! These lightly fragrant flowers make good cut flowers as well and return with more blooms.
A blooming machine! Long lasting yellow and white flowers; an egg yolk yellow center and white ray petals look just like a tasty farm fresh egg sunny side up. The flowers last an exceptional amount of time and just keep on coming, all summer long. Sweetly fragrant, a favorite of butterflies and other pollinators, too. Excellent mounding habit. Hardy in USDA zones four to nine. The white and gold flowers on deep green stems grow to sixteen inches high in a dense habit, fourteen inches wide by ten inches high. Full sun is preferred. You can expect bloom from July to October!
An amazing new type of Liatris! Take a look. This fast growing, robust and very showy gayfeather has the largest blooms of any other form in the marketplace! Native to the United States, ‘White Feather’ exhibits the best habit of any Liatris that we’ve bred. Flowering in year one, its ability to draw pollinators is remarkable. It’s not unusual to see both butterflies and bees working the flowers at the same time. Luckily, there are plenty of flowers to choose from! Hardy in USDA zones three(!) to nine. The white flowers on deep green stems grow to eighteen inches high in a dense habit, twelve inches wide by ten inches high. Full prairie sun is preferred. These make great cut flowers too. You can expect bloom from August to October!
Dan Heims is an award-winning author who lectures throughout the world. He was honored by The American Horticultural Society with the Luther Burbank Breeding Award, as well as the Perennial Plant Association’s Award of Merit. He was also honored in receiving the Royal Horticultural Society’s Reginald Cory Cup for advancements in breeding. A 2025 Silver Laurel Award was granted by GardenComm International for Terra Nova’s unusual 2025 Commercial Catalog.
You may contact Dan at [email protected] Questions on culture and care or availability for a speaking engagement can be had at this email.
This article was written by hand.
All articles are copyrighted and remain the property of the author.
By: Natalie Carmolli for Proven Winners® ColorChoice® Shrubs
A Freely growing rose garden has plenty of natural charm, but thoughtful plant pairings can make your roses stand out even more. To learn more click here for an informative article.
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