Compacted ground can decide whether urban shrubs establish, flower or survive. Evaluating the compaction tolerance of Ceanothus americanus in high-traffic…
Evaluating Perennials for Chicagoland Gardens
Perennials in Focus is a plant evaluation program that examines new and underused plants for Chicagoland, the third largest metropolitan area in the country. A group of horticultural experts trials and evaluates plants at numerous locations across the region. Results help consumers, public gardens, growers, landscape designers, breeders, and other industry professionals make informed plant choices.
Blog
Perennials that provide orange flowers for hot colour schemes like Heliopsis helianthoides can make a summer border feel sunny even on a cloudy day. False…
A strip of perennial planting along a fence can become much more than a tidy garden edge. With the right mix of flowering plants, grasses and groundcovers, it…
Testing the overwintering survival of Gaillardia aristata in mulched beds can show whether a plant genuinely weathered winter or merely survived until spring…
Rock gardens can look effortless, but the plants rarely are. A heap of stones does not create the dry, oxygen-rich root zone that many alpine perennials need.…
Deer browsing can quickly change the character of a perennial bed. It may remove flower buds, strip tender leaves or shorten stems, reducing both the display…
Asclepias syriaca, commonly called common milkweed, is a tall North American perennial valued for its rounded flower clusters, broad leaves and distinctive…
Cottage gardens work through abundance rather than strict formality. Pink flowers soften paths, picket fences and mixed borders, while loose planting disguises…
Tall, grasslike perennials can perform the job of a fence while keeping a garden open to light, movement and wildlife. Upright iris leaves, arching daylily…
Restoring a wet prairie calls for plants that can handle two very different stresses: saturated soil in spring and sharply drier conditions later in the…
In the Garden
Evaluator gardens are located across the Chicagoland area, representing a range of growing conditions. Visit our retail and wholesale partners to find trialled perennials for your own garden.
Retail & Wholesale: Hinsdale Nurseries (Willowbrook, IL), Mariani Nurseries (Kenosha, WI & Garden Prairie, IL), Northwind Perennials (Burlington, WI), The Growing Place (Aurora, IL).
Wholesale Only: Hinsdale Nurseries (Plano, IL), Intrinsic Perennial Gardens (Hebron, IL).
Our Evaluation Program
The 2017–2020 evaluation cycle included Agastache 'Blue Boa', Allium senescens 'Blue Eddy', Amsonia ciliata var. filifolia 'Georgia Pancake', Astilbe 'Chocolate Shogun', Boltonia astroides 'James Crocket', Brunnera 'Alexander's Great', and Geranium cinereum 'Jolly Jewel Purple'. Completed evaluations include Amsonia 'Blue Ice' (2004–07).
On April 10, 2020, the program published snapshot profiles for Vernonia lettermanii 'Iron Butterfly', Stokesia laevis 'Elf', Stachys officinalis 'Pink Cotton Candy', Lobelia 'Monet Moment', Helleborus 'Winter Thrillers', Geum 'Mai Tai', Geranium soboliferum 'Butterfly Kisses', Gentiana x intermedia 'True Blue', Eurybia divaricata, Asparagus 'Purple Passion', and Agastache 'Bolero'.
Browse the full collection of snapshots organized alphabetically — from A–D, E–H, I–Q, and R–Z — to find detailed performance data on perennials trialled across Chicagoland.
