Hardy geraniums bring dependable foliage, long flowering periods, and useful groundcover qualities to gardens where sunlight is limited. Their differences…
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
Wet meadows can be productive planting spaces, but they demand careful plant selection. Seasonal saturation, compacted soil, summer heat, winter exposure, and…
A rain garden can turn a soggy, compacted part of a Chicagoland yard into a useful planting area. Designed as a shallow depression, it temporarily holds runoff…
Campanulas bring a distinctive cool-colored accent to a rock garden, with flowers ranging from clear blue and violet to white. Their bell-shaped blooms suit…
Threadleaf coreopsis, or Coreopsis verticillata, is valued for its fine-textured foliage, drought tolerance, and cheerful daisy-like flowers. In the…
In a Chicagoland woodland garden, the weeks between winter and summer can feel surprisingly brief. Spring ephemerals emerge quickly, bloom beneath open tree…
A narrow planting strip beside a Chicago sidewalk can be one of the harshest places to grow a perennial. Plants must cope with winter deicing salt, compacted…
Gardeners planning a long season of color often look for perennials that overlap without competing for the same visual space. Garden phlox (Phlox paniculata)…
Gardening beneath mature oak trees requires a different strategy from filling a sunny border. The canopy reduces available light, the extensive root system…
Dwarf irises bring some of the earliest and most dependable color to a Midwestern garden. Their compact size suits rock gardens, edging, containers, and sunny…
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.
