A perennial meadow can turn an ordinary suburban lawn into a layered planting that supports pollinators, handles seasonal weather, and offers changing color…
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
Beneath mature trees, gardeners face a difficult combination of dry soil, filtered light, and persistent competition from weeds. A useful groundcover must…
Perennial bloom dates are often treated as fixed characteristics, yet they are shaped by the weather and growing conditions surrounding each plant. In…
A garden can support birds through more than flowers and seedheads. Berry-producing plants provide seasonal food, cover, and vertical structure, especially…
In a shaded Chicagoland garden, ground cover performance depends on more than summer density. A plant may create a thick green carpet in June yet leave bare…
Utility corridors can be difficult places to soften visually. They often combine overhead wires, access requirements, compacted soil, reflected heat, and…
By late summer, monarchs moving through the Chicagoland region need dependable nectar as they build energy for the journey south. Many spring and early-summer…
A pollinator-friendly garden should offer food from early spring until the final hard frost. In the Chicagoland region, that means combining plants with…
Symphyotrichum novae-angliae, commonly called New England aster, is a dependable late-season perennial for gardens around Chicago. Its generous display of…
Reblooming daylilies can extend the color of a perennial border well beyond the first flush of summer flowers. In a Zone 5 garden, however, their repeat…
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.
