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In perennials, true blue and true red can be hard to find. Some of the best examples of each are found in the same genus: Salvia. Salvia nemorosa Blue Hill (‘Blauhugel’) boasts one of the truest blue flowers you can grow. At maturity, it lives up to its name, forming neat, uniform mounds of sturdy blue spikes. Blue Hill’s size makes it a natural for the middle of the border. At retail, it makes good-looking gallons with minimal fuss. It’s not as well known as some other hardy Salvia varieti

Right now, you can save 35% on this compact, upright beauty.Sedum 'Mr. Goodbud'PP17671 (72 cell)LIST .75 each (add .20 royalty) SALE .488 each (add .20 royalty)Everybody loves succulents for carefree performance. Everybody loves Sedum for beautiful late-season blooms. And everybody loves a sale for... well, you know!Sedum ‘Mr. Goodbud’PP17671 won the prestigious RHS Award of Garden Merit in 2006, and still stacks up beautifully against later introductions.‘Mr. Goodbud’ features large, persi

Say Veronica, and many of us picture flower spikes rising a foot or two in mid-border. But another category of “speedwell” keeps a lower profile. These varieties charm as groundcovers and edging, or planted as a “spiller” in containers or beside stone walls. Here’s the lowdown.Veronica peduncularis ‘Georgia Blue’Mats of small round leaves disappear under a slathering of tiny blue flowers with white eye zones. The foliage turns dark green in summer, then bronze in fall. The name is from Eura

Artemis, Greek goddess of the hunt, was the daughter of Zeus and twin sister of Apollo. Wielding a bow and arrow, she drove a chariot pulled by golden-horned stags.Which fails to explain why a genus of soft, silvery perennials, medicinals and annuals is named for her -- if it is: The name may actually honor Artemisia II of Anatolia (now Asia Minor), a botanist, doctor and 4th century BC queen.Whichever eponym you prefer, here are two newcomers that belong in your perennial selection. Introduce y

Purple is such a striking hue, Rome once decreed that only the emperor could wear it. But it’s also one of Nature’s favorite colors. She bestowed it lavishly upon numerous genera in the plant kingdom and even some in the animal (think birds and fish).Verbena ‘Homestead Purple’ straddles the annual/perennial line: Technically it’s a perennial, but it’s tender enough that in northern climes, it’s used as an annual and replaced each year. Whichever way works in your zone, it’s a worthy additio