Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’Dark blue buds open to clusters of bright, lavender-blue, star-like flowers from May into June for about 6 weeks. Each star-like bloom is ¾ inch wide.
Astilbe X arendsii ‘Beauty of Ernest’This Astilbe has airy plumes of fragrant, pale pink. The flowers are supposed to bloom June through August; however, one evaluator noted its bloom time as being only in August and some evaluators noted it did not flower at all. It was observed that Color Flash® was not as floriferous as Astilbe ‘Hennie Graafland’.
Aster tataricus ‘Jindai’Small, ¾-inch, lavender-blue daisies with a yellow center are clustered at the tips of the stems. ‘Jindai’ blooms in September and October.
Athyrium ‘Ghost’Ghost fern with its soft silvery gray fronds and dark maroon midrib is a cross between Athyrium nipponicum var. pictum (Japanese painted fern) and Athyrium filix-femina (lady fern).
Baptisia x variicolor ‘Twilite’ PPAFSlow to establish flowers are often hidden in foliage or may not flower in year one. Once set, dark chocolate/ purple flowers highlighted by lemon yellow tips on tall stems up to 32" above the foliage create a striking floral effect. Flowers fade to violet-purple. Blooms approx. three weeks from late May into June. Good cutting flower attracts many types of butterflies.
Bergenia ciliataFlowers bloom in early spring as foliage is just emerging. By June foliage has matured and is the best feature of the plant. Leaves can be 6-8 inches in diameter and are reminiscent of African Violets. Dark green, hairy foliage remains lovely all summer and gives great texture to the garden border. In the fall the foliage declines and remains green.
Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’Jack Frost has China-blue sprays of flowers in April and May for 3 to 4 weeks with no repeat flowering later in the season. However, flowers are not Jack Frost’s main feature— flowers only received a ‘good’ rating over the evaluation period.
Calamintha nepetaCalamintha has masses of dainty white flowers that change to soft blue as they age. The tiny blooms dance airily just above the foliage continuously from June through October! Calamintha is a fine-textured plant with rich, shiny green foliage. A member of the mint family, the leaves have a peppermint fragrance when crushed.
Campanula glomerata ‘Freya’Campanula ‘Freya’ is a clustered bellflower touted for use in front-to-middle of a border, in foundation plantings, mass plantings, butterfly gardens, cutting gardens and cottage gardens. Star-shaped clusters of deep violet/purple flowers bloomed from June into July.