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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

WHERE IN THE WORLD DID WE GET THIS PLANT?Geography Lessons in the Garden, Part 3A good mixed perennial garden can be a trip around the world or, in this case, across a continent or two. Today we’ll meet a couple of immigrants from the Old Country.Campanula carpaticaOur favorite “bellflower” hails from the Carpathian mountains, which arc through seven nations in central and eastern Europe. The Carpathians are also home to brown bears, wolves and lynxes. We’re not suggesting you invite those speci

WHERE IN THE WORLD DID WE GET THIS PLANT?Geography Lessons in the Garden, Part 2A good mixed perennial garden can be a trip around the world or, in this case, around a continent. Today we’ll meet a couple of denizens of eastern North America.Andropogon virginicus “Broom sedge”If a specific epithet sounds like the name of a state or a country, it’s a pretty safe bet that it’s native there. This one means “from Virginia,” where it was first collected. But “broom sedge” is native to much of eastern

WHERE IN THE WORLD DID WE GET THIS PLANT?Geography Lessons in the Garden, Part 1A good mixed perennial border is like a trip around the globe. Let’s start up north and work our way south, as wise migratory birds and human snowbirds do before winter sets in. This particular migration takes us from the world’s largest island to the USA.Polemonium boreale ‘Heavenly Habit’The specific epithet is the ticket. “Boreal” is Latin for north, as in the Aurora borealis, a.k.a. the northern lights, a common