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Our Rock Star award honors ECG employees who demonstrate a sustained high level of performance and inspire others. This month we honor Constantino Ramirez Blanco – better known to everyone around here as “Tino.” Pictured: "Tino" Ramirez Blanco with Greg Mandel (Ornamental Grass Production Supervisor) Tino joined our work force 17 years ago. Production supervisor Greg Mandel confirms, “His experience shows every single day. This guy is a machine!” Tino has worked mos

Many a gardener treasures their earthly creation as a little piece of heaven, and we wouldn’t dream of arguing with them. Why not take things a step farther and offer them some of our favorite “heavenly” cultivars?Dianthus “Pinks”This Greek-derived genus name literally means “Divine flower” or “Flower of Zeus.” It’s a mashup of “Di,” deity, and “anthos,” flower.We don’t know exactly what heavenly members of the carnation clan the ancient Greeks were admiring, but we’re pretty confident it wasn’t

How sweet the sight! This lovely bicolor's namesake hymn, widely associated with the Civil War, was actually written before the Revolution by an English slave-trader turned abolitionist and minister. Among the world’s most recognized tunes, it’s sung an estimated 10,000,000 times a year!Phlox subulata ‘Amazing Grace’ “Moss phlox”How sweet the sight! This lovely bicolor’s namesake hymn, widely associated with the Civil War, was actually written before the Revolution by an English slave-tra

Many gardeners believe their earthly creation is a little piece of heaven, and we wouldn’t dream of arguing with them. Why not take things a step farther and offer them some of our favorite “heavenly” cultivars? Nepeta Neptune (‘Bokratune’ PP29556) “Catmint” Aside from phonics, the Roman god of the sea isn’t exactly a natural fit for a plant famous for attracting cats, who are famously averse to getting wet. But when you see the sky blue flowers floating above a sea of blue-green foli

A good mixed perennial garden contains a trip around the world – or at least across a continent or two. Today’s tour guides: a native that sounds exactly like where it came from, and an immigrant whose name bears echoes from long ago and far away. Aster novae-angliae “New England Aster” Here’s a case where Latin and common names mean precisely the same thing. This fall-flowering plant was first collected in the original northeastern American Colonies and shipped home to Europe, where th