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About the Rock Star AwardOur Rock Star award honors ECG employees who demonstrate a sustained high level of performance and inspire others. For the month of March, 2021, our honoree is Tabitha Samuels Slatery.As a grower at our Milton, FL location, Tabitha puts her Bachelor’s Degree in Plant Science and Environmental Horticulture from the University of Florida to work every day. She’s responsible for plant care in multiple greenhouses, including the R&D facility and FL trial garden.(Mil

Lavandula angustifolia ‘Hidcote’Absolutely nothing else smells like “English lavender” -- which is, of course, not English; the genus is of Mediterranean origin. It acquired its nickname because it grows great in Great Britain. Jolly good, wot?‘Hidcote’ typifies the species, with handsome, subtle grey-green foliage, rich purple flower spikes, and that wonderful clean, fresh, trademark fragrance. It’s a garden classic that still works beautifully in border or container.Hardy in Zones 5 – 9, ‘Hidc

Talk about intoxicating beauty! Spirits and flowers go together like, well, like wine and roses. Today’s Happy Hour special is one of our favorite ornamental grasses. Like the others in this category, it shares its name with some interesting adult beverages.  The PlantAndropogon gerardii ‘Rain Dance’Gardeners and designers know: Nothing brings movement to the border like ornamental grasses. This native variety, an ECG exclusive, dances up a storm in the slightest breeze.‘Rain Dance’ f

If there’s a sedge worth screaming about, it may just be ‘Ice Cream’.This garden confection’s winning recipe features minty green stripes alternating with creamy white stripes. Its neat, mounded, spherical habit completes the picture.But don’t keep it in a bowl. Serve it up in a decorative container, or sprinkled generously around the border. ‘Ice Cream’ stands a tidy 12” tall, and is hardy in Zones 6 – 9. And it won’t melt in sun or part shade.Order up a heaping helping of this cool Carex. No n

Echinacea purpurea and hybridsOf all the native plants that have gone from America’s prairies to the world’s gardens, few have a history to rival that of the purple coneflower.For many years gardeners had two choices: Pinky-purple, and Not-quite-white. Then came 2002, when breeder Jim Ault of Chicago introduced the first orange and yellow hybrids. That was the genus’s Big Bang, and like the universe, it’s still expanding.Now, you can have your “purple” coneflowers in myriad hues, solids and bi c