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Lamium maculatum: Please, learn the Latin!Gardeners and designers know Lamium as a lovely shade-friendly ground cover. Retailers despair at its cringe-worthy common name: “Spotted dead nettle.” Try and build a marketing campaign around THAT. By any name, Lamium is a brilliant solution for not-so-bright places. We grow three varieties. All feature silver/green foliage that’s semi-evergreen depending on the severity of winter in your area. All stand just 8” high and are hardy in Zones 3 – 8.L

The word “Low” does not describe the height of this lovely, fragrant perennial. It stands 2½ – 3’, which makes it a good fit mid-border, or even back-of-the-border in smaller settings. It brings a cheerful, informal look to plantings of any size. Rather, the name honors the owner of the Irish garden where ‘Walker’s Low’ originated – where its soft mounds of gray-green foliage and loose spikes of lavender-blue flowers, from late spring well into summer, were first appreciated. ‘Walker’s

Back in 1997, Emerald Coast Growers was just six years old. Bill Clinton was in the White House. A new Honda Civic cost $10,000. The Marlins beat the Indians in the World Series, the Packers whupped the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI, and Princess Diana went for her last car ride in Paris. Au revoir, England’s Rose. But the big news that year? The Perennial Plant Association chose Salvia May Night as its Perennial Plant of the Year. All other phenomena were just fighting for silver.May Night i

Here’s an interesting native grass: Its foliage reminds you of bamboo. Its highly-decorative seed heads look like oats. Emerging green, they turn purple/bronze in summer and finally tawny in fall and winter.Chasmanthium tolerates more shade than most ornamental grasses. It’s also juglone tolerant, so even the notoriously unfriendly shade under black walnut trees is available for gardening.Those pendulous seed heads are dazzling in late-afternoon sunlight. At any color stage, they make a fabulous

‘Ice Dance’ has long been one of the most popular and versatile varieties in our ornamental grass lineup. Carex, of course, is not a true grass; it’s a sedge. But let’s not quibble. This petite gem works in the border, as edging, or in containers. It’s even used as a substitute for Hosta!‘Ice Dance’ features wide green leaves with creamy white margins, charmingly displayed in a gracefully-arching habit. It gleams in full sun and glows in light shade. The warmer your climate, the more shade it wi