Spring ephemerals offer some of the earliest woodland colour in temperate climates, yet many Australian gardeners assume they are impossible to grow locally…
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
Rain gardens with intermittent standing water need plants that can handle sharp changes in moisture. A basin may fill after a summer storm, remain saturated…
Echinacea purpurea, commonly called purple coneflower, is often described as a tough, drought-tolerant perennial. That reputation depends heavily on the soil…
When gardens wind down in autumn, the blossoms lingering into the final weeks before a hard frost become lifelines for pollinators preparing for winter. In the…
In restored prairies, a few weeks can change the balance between flowering perennials, cool-season weeds and emerging grasses. Spring mowing is often used to…
Australian gardeners in the cooler corners of the continent often look overseas for guidance on truly cold-tolerant perennials. Places like Canberra, the…
When a new woodland border goes in, the race begins between your young trees and shrubs and the opportunistic weeds that colonise bare soil. Shaded edges…
Specialist pollinators, particularly solitary bees that collect pollen from a narrow range of plants, quietly sustain much of the world's pollination services.…
The Perennials in Focus program has spent several seasons evaluating Penstemon digitalis, commonly called beardtongue, in the demanding parkway strips that…
Across Australia, gardeners often notice a familiar lull. Spring-flowering bulbs put on a brief, brilliant show, then the border settles into green just as 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.
