Big leaves bring drama and permanence, offering texture long after flowers fade. While roses and perennials often take centre stage for blooms, a quiet shift…
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
Gardens across southern Australia rarely face the deep freezes that shape plantings further north, yet many home gardeners still crave the layered, four-season…
The collaborative evaluation work carried out by Perennials in Focus brings together growers, designers, and public garden staff to test how lesser-known…
Across Melbourne's western growth corridor and Sydney's outer Cumberland Plain suburbs, fragments of original grassland and grassy woodland persist in odd…
Comparing the flowering period of Eupatorium maculatum ‘Gateway’ versus ‘Purple Bush’ is useful when planning a late-season display. Both are commonly treated…
The Perennials in Focus evaluation program has turned its attention to a classic North American prairie legume, testing how well Baptisia australis copes with…
Shade gardens often rely on flower colour to create interest, yet foliage usually carries the display for far longer. This is particularly true beneath trees,…
The first warm days of the season can bring bees out before many garden plants have fully awakened. In a Chicagoland garden, this often means short visits to…
New developments often leave gardens with difficult ground conditions. Heavy machinery compresses soil, buried rubble interrupts drainage, and imported fill…
Trialing the moisture retention of different mulches around newly planted perennials can reveal why some beds establish quickly while others need frequent…
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.
