Hiya campers! Is it spring? Is it winter? Is it summer? All I know is my garden state is early - probably two weeks earlier than normal. I find it useful to look at OneDrive’s “What happened on May fifth?” What it shows me are pictures of plants that I highlighted in previous years. It helps me plan my big Open House on May 16th from nine am to two pm. Yes, you can come. (Drop me an email and I’ll send the location.) I have to admit it looks pretty darn faboo! Four years of jamming and cramming (artfully), has produced a tapestry of colors and textures that I and my garden helper are proud of. Many items are in the twelve-to-eighteen-inch range as that is what the box stores ordered; compact plants so they can be stacked six high in a cart. But it’s very unnatural. Take a wander through the woods. Are all plants twelve to eighteen inches tall? Heck no! You have the ground covers and ephemerals, and you have trees.
What’s remaining? Call them what you will: mid-story, exclamation points, mid-range. It’s where the rhodies and many shrubs thrive. It’s where perennials like Polygonatum, tall ferns (many up to three feet tall), Veronicastrum, Alcea, Actaea, Eutrochium, and Lilies wait for their moment in summer, and explode into massive bloom. They fill the void between the tall and the short. They punctuate the landscape and almost add another dimension to the garden. We like these. Upon our customer’s request, we are bringing our thirty- to thirty-six-inch-tall Echinacea out of the shadows. We are also going to focus on several great Thalictrum and a stunning Penstemon that stands out by not only its height, but by the deep violet it affords us.
Our catalog, linked below, is a colorful and informative magazine. 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.
Come explore these three remarkable offerings by the ORIGINAL innovators: Terra Nova™.
This article is handwritten.
Thalictrum NIMBUS™ ‘Pink’
This perfect match in the NIMBUS™ series has lavender pink flowers in massive puffs at the top of the foliage. The striking dark stems and lovely fern-like green leaves are showy even before the bloom. Great crown count. Take a good look at the picture and see how it integrates with smaller plants, allowing light to penetrate through the foliage. Blooms the first year, but much better after a winter chill. Hardy in USDA zones five to nine. The fragrant soft-pink flower stems grow to twenty-eight inches high in a strong upright habit, twenty-eight inches wide by twenty-eight inches high in its first season. Full sun to partial shade exposure is great, but full sun is preferred. You can expect blooms from May-July!
White, cloud-like masses of white flowers over dark stems and fern-like leaves. I love the combo of black and white! It has an excellent habit of having many stems giving multiple, huge inflorescences. The striking dark stems and lovely fern-like green leaves are showy even before the bloom. Great crown count. Take a good look at the picture and see how it integrates with smaller plants, allowing light to penetrate the foliage. The white flowers turn into lavender pink seed heads extending the showy season. Blooms the first year, but much better after a winter chill. The fragrant white flower stems grow to twenty eight inches high in a strong upright habit, twenty-eight inches wide by twenty-eight inches high in its first season. Full sun to partial shade exposure is great, but full sun is preferred. You can expect blooms from May-July!
A fabulous fresh look in Penstemon! Clouds of violet-blue flowers float at the top half of the neat, upright plant. So nice for garden or container work. The medium-sized flowers are great pollinator attractors and continue for months. Especially loved by bumblebees. It's an exceedingly long time since an entirely new type of Penstemon has been introduced! And this is it. Hardy in USDA zones seven to nine. The violet flower stems grow to twenty-eight inches high in a strong upright habit, fourteen inches wide by twenty-eight inches high in its first season. Full sun is great. You can expect blooms from June to October.
Dan Heims is an award-winning author who lectures throughout the world. He was recently 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.
All articles are copyrighted and remain the property of the author.
By Natalie Carmolli, Proven Winners® ColorChoice®
Photographs courtesy of Proven Winners® ColorChoice®
We can add a pop of pink to existing gardens or mix deep pink flowers with mid-to-pale pinks to make a gorgeous monochromatic garden statement. To learn more Click here for an interesting article.
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