Iris, Hedera, Jovibarba, Kniphofia - 1, Kniphofia - 2,
Large leaved perennials, Pelargonium x domesticum, Grasses, Primula, Seeds,
Sempervivum, Viola, Western Natives, Shrubs & Trees, Additional Plants
They are used to indicate if a plant will survive our winters outdoors when planted in the ground. This list of additions contains both plants that can and cannot take freezing weather. All of the other plants on this website are winter hardy in our climate, the only exception is the group of Martha Washington geraniums, that are tender perennials. The symbol with the red circle indicates the plants that will not survive outdoors when planted in the ground. The symbol with the blue circle is used to show plants that will survive colder temperatures and will come through our winters when planted in the ground. When planted in container gardens, plants from both groups should be brought into a garage or porch during severe cold. How cold does it get here ? In the tweny-five+ years we have lived here, we have seen a low temperature of +6° F.
Gardeners in North America where winters are colder know that some of these plants listed as "hardy perennials" will not survive their winters. So, to stress this point, plants listed as "hardy perennials" are cold hardy in Sequim. And elsewhere, even as close as the nearby foothills of the Olympic Mountains, some of these plants may not survive exceptionally cold years.
Nemesia 'Lavender Festival'Flowering all summer, the colors of the flower are dark purple on the upper petals and a light purple on the lower lip. The leaves are variegated a creamy white and green. Because of its long-flowering and colorful foliage, it would make a nice addition in a flower garden or in a container of flowering plants. Likes more sun than shade. Mature height is eight to twelve inches.
Thymus 'Highland Cream'The color of the foliage is a delicate cream and green. It will drape over the edge of a container like a curtain and is a choice plant for a container garden. It grows more slowly than most creeping thymes. And you will never want to cut this one back. Make sure it is on the sunny side of the container or the leaves will suffer and it will fade quickly. Evergreen.
Hebe 'Tricolor'This tender perennial needs protection during the winter. It may survive outside in the ground in most winters, however during our severest winters it may die, so we prefer to grow it with other attractive plants in a mixed planter, that can be brought into a garage or porch in the wintertime. Small clusters of purple flowers come at the end of summer, Its yellow, green and pink lustrous foliage is the main attraction. Can grow two to three feet tall and as wide, but looks very nice also as smaller plants.
Lobelia 'Laguna'Laguna is excellent in containers and the landscape. It is compact and upright. The plants will bloom under the short days of spring and can tolerate cool temperatures but will keep performing right through the heat of summer. Its rich blue color is accented by its large white eye. Laguna makes a great pot or landscape plant.
Salvia officinalis 'Tricolor'This is a more colorful version of culinary sage, with three colors of cream, green and pink to its leaves. Although more attractive, this can also be used in the kitchen since it imparts the same taste. It has become an old standby for container gardening because it does not need to be pampered, and will withstand being pot-bound better than most plants. All it asks is lots of sunlight, and it may produce lavender flowers seasonally.
Persicaria 'Red Dragon''Red Dragon' easily grows to three feet if you let it, though it is easily controllable to a lower size. It has broadly pointed leaves. The new growth is three shades of burgundy. More mature leaves are burgundy and jade green, with the edges of the leaves tinged in burgundy. The shape of a plant is bushy, with wiry red stems. In container gardening we restrict it to our largest containers.
Salvia rutilans 'Honeydew Melon'The flowers are small but a very bright red that hummingbirds love. The leaves are light green and strongly scented. The scent is variously described as reminiscent of melons or pineapple. It cannot stand being outdoors over winter, even when planted in the ground. So carry a small piece of it potted up in a sunny window during the dark months. It is said to be flavorful in fruit salads or on roast pork.
Salvia greggii 'Variegata'This salvia is woody and will grow into a shrub several feet tall. It must be carried over winter in a greenhouse to survive. Beginning to flower in the middle of summer, it continues non-stop until it is brought indoors and cut-back. Hummingbirds like its red flowers. The leaves are variegated in green and white. Give it as much sunlight as possible.
Arabis 'Variegata'A low plant similar to aubrieta, this has much larger leaves of green and cream and grows into a taller plant. It is not as ground-hugging as is aubrieta. Arabis has pure white flowers.
Aubrieta 'Variegata'A mat-forming low perennial, this flowers in spring in various colors of blue or purple. The variegated leaves make it eye-catching even when out of flower.
Aurinia 'Dudley Nevill Variegated'Apricot flowers bloom for weeks on end in spring. The evergreen leaves are a glorious gray-green and cream. The plant is very cold hardy. It doesn't grow tall, only a foot or so and spreads wider.
Vinca major 'Wojo's Gem'(vinca vine) Much of the leaf surface is a cream. The stems of the plant arch gracefully and trail. Lavender flowers open during spring. Two or three of these stuffed into a crowded container of mixed plants adds a lot of charm to the container's appearance without crowding the other plants, because this plant is not bulky. The stems of the plant will grow longer and longer and may need to be trimmed halfway through summer, although if you were to leave them, their long trailing tails falling below the pot might be a nice touch.
Penstemon 'Scarlet Queen'This penstemon as large flowers of scarlet with white throats. It might not survive as long as some of the other penstemons, being a tad less perennial in nature. Blooms for a long time.
Convolvulus mauritanicus Not a weed, this is low and spreading, but never too fast. The lavender flowers appear in waves all summer on older plants. At night the flowers spiral-up to close, like little blue umbrellas (bumpershoots to you Seattleites). Prefers sun but will take light shade. Grows four to six inches high and spreads to a foot or two. Several planted in a group make an extraordinary edging, as we do in one of our gardens.
Convolvulus cneorumAt first glance, this photo might appear to be a monochromatic gray and white. In truth it is a color photo. The gray leaves and the pearly white flowers with pale pink stripes on the backs are wonderful. Other words that come to mind that describe the plant are refined and too-little-used. It is evergreen and the leaves are downy, so the plant is drought resistant. And also long flowering, throughout summer. This convolvulus is more upright and shrubby than the other convolvulus listed ahead of this.
Penstemon 'Apple Blossom'Tubular flower of light pink and cream blossom summer into fall on a plant that likes sun and reaches a height of two feet. Penstemons are one of the easiest perennials to grow, as they survive well with less than perfect conditions.
Euphorbia 'Helena'Variegated leaves of cream and green adorn this evergreen, low euphorbia. She needs at least a half a day of sun. Would be great either planted out in the ground or in a container with other interesting plant selections. There is some pink shading to the stems and the undersides of the leaves. During the dormant season, cold weather changes the cream to fuchsia pink.
Penstemon 'Pike's Peak Purple'The flowers are dark purple from mid summer onwards into autumn. Leaves of rich green are evergreen. Height of a plant will be two feet.
Saxifraga stolonifera 'Tricolor'Quite cold hardy, this does not have to be confined inside a house where it is often seen as a houseplant. It can spread by runners to solidly cover the ground if you wanted. The leaves of 'Tricolor' are pink, cream and green, are round and lightly hairy or fuzzy. The leaves are usually one to two inches across although they may sometimes be larger. This plant does not want to be watered frequently, but should be allowed to dry out considerably. It is often best to water it by misting the foliage. You will see it planted as a groundcover underneath one of our greenhouse benches.
Fuchsia 'Isis'An upright fuchsia bearing small, green leaves and small, pendant, pink flowers all summer makes a worthwhile candidate to be planted solo in a pot, or combined with other choice container plants to decorate a garden in the summer.
Asarina procumbensNative to parts of the southeastern U.S., it is frost hardy. The leaves are soft and fuzzy. The flowers are two inches long, a light yellow and shaped like a snapdragon. Because of its trailing, spreading growth, we use is in our hanging baskets of mixed, sun-loving flowers. And it is also good at the edges of pots of mixed perennials and annuals that are set on the ground.
Oxalis spiralis ssp. vulvanicola ('Sunset Velvet')Although this plant looks delicate it is as tough as nails, as long as you do not overwater it or expect it to withstand freezing. Keep this plant on the dry side. It is succulent, to a degree, and can handle drying out better than it can handle constantly moist soil. Plants are perennial if keep indoors on a windowsill over winter. In a larger, clay pot older plants can grow over a foot wide, and become striking. Small yellow flowers come in summer.
Oxalis 'Zinfandel'The height of this dark plant is eight to ten inches. It will grow in sun or part shade. And if purple is your passion you should grow it in full sun to get the darkest purple leaves. The extra dark purple leaves are sprinkled with contrasting bright yellow flowers all summer long. And it will cascade nicely from hanging baskets.
Artemisia 'Silver Brocade'This has the best trailing, silvery foliage for a sunny container. 'Silver Brocade' grows easily. If during the summer the shoots become too long, just prune them back lightly. The tops die back to their base at the end of the growing season and need to be completely removed, however it is a cold-hardy perennial and will come back again early next spring. Growing low and wide, 'Silver Brocade' also makes a very good edging plant, outdoors in the ground.
Erysimum linifolium 'Variegatum'(wallflower) A low, woody shrub, this can flower non-stop all year long once it begins to flower. When first set out in the ground as a young plant you might think that it is not doing anything, but is just sitting there. Low and behold, at the end of summer as other plants are going dormant or dying back, this plant comes into its own. Without your realizing it, it has become much larger and has lavender flowers that keep blooming and blooming despite the cold weather. This is perennial and cold hardy along the Northwest coast. But it usually does not live but a short number of years. Be content if it lives three or four years, and then replace it with a new, young wallflower in the spring. Height and width will be two to two and a half feet.
Diascia 'Katherine'(twinspur) Turning over one of these flowers, you will see two little spurs on the backside, hence its name of twinspur. 'Katherine' has strawberry pink flowers all summer. Her small leaves are white and green. The plant does not not want to grow tall. It will spread sideways and droop over the edge of a planter in a lovely fashion.
Bacopa 'Copia Golden Leaves' (a.k.a. Sutera)Long-blooming light lavender flowers. Golden yellow leaves. Spreading, draping growth habit. These add up to a universally appealing plant for the summer in a sunny garden.
Salvia chamaedryoidesSmall gray scented leaves and small blue flowers on a low shrub define this plant. It can be planted in the ground, although it cannot take any greater cold than what we have. Starting with new plants each summer is better. It is very nice, being easy to grow in full sun and flowering all summer, well into fall. Our preference is to use it as one component in a pretty pot of sun-loving plants.
Sedum alboroseum 'Mediovariegatum'Plants grow up to two feet with the hearts of the leaves a light yellow. Being succulent the plant is easy to grow in the sun. Consider adding it to a container of mixed perennials for something unusual to enjoy on a patio or deck.
Heucherella 'Sunspot'This has both attractive leaves and pink flowers. The leaves are golden in spring with red veins. In summer the leaf color is a more subdued green. This photo shows its winter colors.
Hypericum x moserianum 'Tricolor'This plant could grow outside all year. Its arching stems form a mounding plant up to three feet in height. Because of its colorful, evergreen leaves it is a good choice for a mixed planter. In summer the leaves are cream and green. In the winter a rich red is added to the leaves. Golden flowers two inches wide bloom in summer.
Streptocarpus 'Black Panther'This is a wonderful houseplant. Give it the same care you would with an African violet inside your home. It also can be planted as part of a larger group of shade-loving plants in a mixed container. We have had a lot of fun growing this for its exotically dark flowers. Seeing it in flower is to want one.
Osteospermum 'Flower Power'Darkest in the center with a purplish-red eye, the petals are pink lightening to cream towards the center eye. Hot summers are to this plant's liking. Flowers come all through summer. The plant branches as it grows.
Nemesia 'Blue Red Eye'Blooming all summer with colorful flowers, the size of the plant is eight to twelve inches. Usually grown as an annual, it does survive as a perennial if brought indoors over winter. Small plants are not expensive, and it is easier to begin each summer with fresh plants.
Solanum jasminoides 'Variegatum'(variegated potato vine) Liking full sun, this potato vine can either grow unsupported to trail or can be tied to a support, to climb. It does not get too big only two or three feet in a season, nor does it grow fast, like some other members of its family. Small white flowers appear in summer. It will not survive frezing temperatures, although it is perennial in warmer climates. It is especially goodlooking trailing over the edge of a pot.
Felicia amelloides 'Variegata'(kingfisher daisy) In a warmer climate this is perennial. The foliage is attractively variegated in green and cream. The flowers are one-inch wide light blue, yellow-eyed daisies that bloom throughout summer. The flowers stand atop of the foliage. The more sun, the better for it. Not every plant in a hanging basket needs to be a trailing plant, and with this idea in mind, this is one of the plants to use in a hanging baskets where it will billow out and over the edge. It is also great for a mixed planting in a container on a patio or deck.
Fuchsia procumbens 'Variegata'This fuchsia is low and spreading. Its leaves are cream and white. Its flowers are an amazing combination of yellow, red and green, and are held upright. The flowers become large, black fruit the size of grapes. It can survive outdoors in the Seattle area . Planted in the ground inside a greenhouse I have seen it grow large, several feet in every direction, and clambering up shrubbery.
Parochetus communis -blue-flowered "clover"
From the mountains of Africa, this low spreading plant forms a dense mat of green leaves with reddish highlights. The true blue flowers are a great surprise. Plant it outdoors in the spring to give it a good start, and it will survive in our climate over winter. Flowers are produced for a long season. In a greenhouse it may well flower all winter.
Ajuga 'Rainbow'The leaves are highly multi-colored. In sun they will be green and shades of tan, orange, rose and cream. In shade they will be more subdued with lime green, a darker green and cream. In winter the colors will darken a little. Can either be planted outside in the ground where it will spread and root as it spreads. Or, as we use it, can make an attractive, evergreen, multi-colored edging plant where it will drape over the sides of a container.
Aeonium arboreum 'Zwartkop'(pronounced ee-own-ee-um) A tender succulent is this. The rosettes of fleshy leaves become very dark, almost black, and can grow large, to a foot across. Older plants can grow to three feet in height. In winter the color of the center of the rosettes becomes green. It is very drought tolerant. Makes a nice addition to a pot planted with an assortment of other things. Susan especially likes to combine it with other darkly-clothed plants such as black mondo grass and dark phormiums.
Phormium 'Platt's Black'(New Zealand flax) This could have the darkest leaf of the phormiums. A lot depends on where you place it. In full sun its color will be darker than if planted in any shade, where it will be greener. Being a newer plant its mature height is uncertain. As a guess, three to four feet ?
Tradescantia 'Blue and Gold'(spiderwort) Golden leaves complement its royal blue flowers. This plant grows easily in either sun or shade. For the leaves to be their brightest gold, more sun is necessary. The plant is a bit floppy. The length of its stems will be about twenty-four inches. Flowers through summer.
Athyrium 'Ursula's Red'(Japanes Painted Fern) The new leaves in spring are colored silver and wine red. Later in the season the leaves are more green and have less red. Selected by Ursula Herz in South Carolina.
Echinacea 'Hope'This photo is courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries in Tigard, Oregon. To quote their catalog, "...fragrant, soft pink flowers of great size and substance adorn this long blooming perennial. It is dedicated to the breast cancer survivors and the memories of those who have succumbed to breast cancer. Terra Nova will make a donation for each plant sold, to the Susan G. Komen Foundation (OR, and S.W. WA affiliate), to help further the search for a cure ..."
Heucherella 'Stoplight'In spring the leaf is a brilliant yellow with dark red veins in the center of the leaf. In summer the leaf color is more subdued, and greener. The leaves are evergreen. Used in a fall/winter planter, it can be left outdoors through the winter, as long as temperatures do not drop below twenty degrees Fahrenheit, and it will survive and regrow the following year. In spring white flowers will show on thin, tall stems of eighteen inches.
Polemonium 'Stairway to Heaven'(jacob's ladder) This variety of jacob's ladder has larger leaves than usual. The cream and green leaves are additionally colored in pink. Light blue flowers appear in late spring.
Tellima 'Forest Frost'(fringe cups) Growing in the nearby forests, this plant is evergreen here although it is deciduous when growing in colder parts of the Northwest. The color of the leaves is brighter in winter. In the wild the plant's height can be up to thirty inches with leaves four inches across. For us, because we grow them most often in facy glazed pots with an assortment of other shade lovers such as ferns and vinca vines, they are smaller. The tall flower stems carry a row of urn-shaped flowers with tiny fringed petals that start out green and become deep red.
Persicaria 'Painter's Pallette'The three to four inch-long leaf is mottled in green and cream, and bears a single chevron of blood red across its surface. The creamy flowers are in clusters, however the plant is grown more for its foliage. A plant will grow large in time, reaching four feet or more by its second year.
Iberis 'Purity'(candytuft) Candytuft is not at all difficult to find, it just seems that way when you want to purchase one. When they are in flower in your neighbor's garden, it is then when they can be hard to find at nurseries. Iberis is a wonderful plant, for several reasons, its pure color, the quantity of its flowers, how well the flowers last through spring, and the fact they they always rebloom again in autumn. In this climate older plants are longer in bloom than out of bloom.
Fuchsia thymifolia 'Elizabeth Hobby' (variegated leaves)Being a new plant for us we are not sure if this will grow as tall as the green form of thymifolia. For now it is a low, small-leaved fuchsia. Its leaves are variegated with green and white. The flowers are no larger than half an inch and are pink. Green-leaved thymifolia is winter-hardy here, so this may survive outdoors in the Northwest.
Cypella coelestisThis plant is in the iris family, and resembles an iris, having long, upright thin leaves and two-inch wide sky blue flowers atop eighteen to twenty-four inch stems. The shape of the flower is more like a tigridia than an iris. Their flowering season is very long, all summer on older plants. Borderline hardy over winter outdoors, they will survive outdoors in Sequim but do not flower as well as when they are carried over winter indoors and transplanted into the ground every spring.
Tweedia coerulea (Oxypetalum)(Southern Star) Because this plant is in the milkweed family, the powder blue flowers change into large pods that later will split open to release many small seeds with silky hairs to be carried off by breezes. It is perenial, although being from South America, cannot take freezing winter temperatures. The baby blue flowers come all summer long. The height of a plant will be a foot its first year, and if carried over the winter in a greenhouse will grow taller to three feet.
