Get a sneak peek of some of our new selections and why we think these plants will be great additions to your landscape this year.
Tropicals
Transform your midwest yard into a tropical oasis this summer with this fast-growing Colocasia gigantea ‘Thailand Giant’. The massive heart-shaped, blue-green leaves get up to 6 feet long and five feet wide in a season! With an overall size reaching 8 feet high to 8 feet wide, it is sure to be a showstopper in any landscape. These jurassic-like plants thrive best in moist, well-drained soil with full sun.
Houseplants
It’s not often you come across an indoor plant with proficient blooms. This is why we love the addition of Exacum ‘Jupiter Blue’ and ‘Jupiter White’ to our 2023 houseplant collection. Also known as Persian Violet, these fragrant double blooms with shiny green leaves can be enjoyed indoors year-round, but also thrive outdoors in shade during the summer months.
Edible Plants
Herbs
Lavendula angustafolia ‘Imperial Gem’ (Lavender English Imperial Gem) is a compact, early flowering variety that is great for pollinators, such as hummingbirds and butterflies. This densely flowered, mounding herb is also used as an ornamental, culinary, tea or medicinal plant. A top-rated performer at the Chicago Botanical Garden, this perennial herb does best in full sun with average, well-drained soil.
Vegetables
We love the sweet, tasty tomato-pineapple flavor of this Physalis pruinosa ‘Husk Pineapple Ground Cherry’. This heirloom tomatillo is wrapped in a lantern-like papery husk. The fruit falls to the ground when ripe, so you’ll know when they’re prime for eating. Add them to salads, pies, sauces, jams and jellies.
Annual Flowers
Many gardeners want to attract more butterflies to their gardens, especially monarchs. The Asclepias asperula ‘Antelope Horn Milkweed’ is native to the southwest and northern Mexico where many monarchs go to overwinter. We love this plant as an annual here in our zone 5, because it is a familiar food source and host plant for monarchs during their summer migration to the north.
Photo credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Lunch
Perennials
Natives
The National Garden Bureau named 2023, ‘The Year of the Rudbeckia’, so we couldn’t be more excited to add Rudbeckia hirta to our collection. The mid to late summer blooms of this native Black-eyed Susan attract a variety of pollinators, while the seed heads provide food for birds. The bountiful golden yellow flowers with dark brown centers prefer full sun to part shade with well-drained soil.
Roses
Rosa ‘Patriot Dream’ is one of our new shrub roses named in honor of those lost when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. These hybrid tea shaped blooms in a deep salmon-orange have a fruity fragrance. This landscape rose has prolific blooms and does well in full sun.
Early Blooms
If you’re looking for a perennial that will add a pop of color in early spring , you’ll love the new varieties of Helleborus ‘Lenten Rose’ we added this year, including ‘Picotee Pearl’, ‘Fire and Ice’ and ‘Berry Swirl’. Our Hellaborus varieties are considered Growing Place Choice plants because we find them to be strong performers year after year, staying attractive with less maintenance. They prefer part shade in rich, moist, well-drained soil.
Trees & Shrubs
Natives
The Populus tremuloides ‘Prairie Gold’ is a Quaking Aspen that is native to the midwestern prairie. Accustomed to the heat, drought and humidity of our region, this shade tree offers lowland adaptability and disease tolerance to a high elevation favorite.
Small Spaces
The Magnolia lilliiflora x stellata ‘Genie’ is the perfect tree to bring dramatic spring blooms into a small garden. With a spread of only 6 feet, this small pryamidal tree makes a wonderful accent in shrub boarders or next to a patio. With stunning, deep maroon-purple fragrant flowers in late spring, you get all color without it taking up too much space in your garden.
Favorite Plant Name
We love finding clever plant names. This is why we chose this Echinacea variety, ‘The Fuschia is Bright’ as our favorite plant name for 2023. This coneflower blooms mid summer with bright fuschia pink petals that radiate around dark cones. A favorite food source for birds and butterflies, this plant will be a bright, welcoming addition to any pollinator garden.
Plant Search
Use our plant search to find trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals that meet your needs and start making your wish list for opening day, April 1.
