(Joystick Red Sea Thrift, Sea Pink, Sea Thrift)

Joystick red ball thrift is a compact, clump forming herbaceous perennial that originates from the coasts of Portugal. In early to mid summer, upright, leafless stems topped with large clusters of ruby-red flowers spring up from dense clumps of medium green foliage. Spent blossoms should be removed to encourage more flowers. This sun-loving ornamental requires well drained average to poor soil. Ball thrift makes a fine addition to rock gardens, border edges, or trough and container gardens. These...

(Joystick White Sea Thrift, Sea Pink, Sea Thrift)

This long-blooming perennial, ‘Joystick White’ is a white-flowered selection of a small woody or semi-woody sea thrift native to the coast of Portugal. The plant is a much-branched low clump with lance-shaped green leaves. It blooms in summer with large, round clusters of small flowers atop a forest of leafless upright stems. It is a charming, extravagant show for a small plant and can be prolonged into autumn by deadheading.

In its native region, sea thrift is often found in full sun on very...

(Ballerina Sea Thrift, Sea Pink, Sea Thrift)

Flowering within 110 days of sowing, plants in the Ballerina Series are early-blooming selections of Armeria pseudarmeria, a low clump-forming perennial from west-central Portugal. They are available as plants or seed.

Dense rosettes of lance-shaped evergreen leaves give rise in late spring to spherical heads of red, white, or lilac flowers on compact leafless stems. Deadheaded plants rebloom sporadically through summer.

Sea thrift prospers in full sun and well-drained soil, and...

(Ball Trift, Joystick Ball Thrift, Plantain Thrift, Sea Pink)

Joystick ball thrift is a compact, clump forming herbaceous perennial that originates from the coasts of Portugal. In early to mid summer, upright, leafless stems topped with large clusters of white, ruby-red, bright pink or lilac flowers spring up from dense clumps of medium green foliage. Spent blossoms should be removed to encourage more flowers. This sun-loving ornamental requires well drained average to poor soil. Ball thrift makes a fine addition to rock gardens, border edges, or trough and...

(Tall Oatgrass)

Tall oatgrass is a perennial tufted grass. It is native to Eurasia but is widely introduced in North America, Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand because it was originally planted as a pasture grass. It is now considered an invasive weed of old fields, prairies and natural meadows.

This prolific grass has medium green blades that are tall, upright, linear and rough to the touch. The inconspicuous pale green or purple flowers are produced in late spring and early summer and resemble oats. Oatgrass...

(Powis Castle Wormwood, Wormwood)

When it comes to super silver foliage nothing performs like ‘Powis Castle’!

This distinctive wormwood is a large, semi-woody, mound-forming, deciduous perennial. From spring to fall it offers feathery silver leaves that partner well with many other flowering ornamentals. In late summer insignificant silver and yellow tinged panicles of blooms may appear, though ‘Powis Castle’ often does not flower. If blooms do appear simply remove them to keep the distinctive soft textured foliage neat looking....

(French Tarragon)

The fragrant leaves of tarragon lend herbal sweetness to vegetables, salads and meats. Native from Europe to western North America, it is a clump-forming, shrubby perennial herb that's sun-loving and quite easy to grow. It is related to wormwood and absinthe and a member of the sunflower family, Asteraceae.

The aromatic, green, strap-like leaves of tarragon appear in spring, when they are at their sweetest. In summer insignificant clusters of yellowish white flowers may be produced. Stems of...

(Star Wormwood)

Despite its close resemblance to the tender perennial Senecio cineraria (better known as dusty miller), this herbaceous perennial from the coasts of Northeast Asia is rock hardy. It is also highly adaptable, having naturalized in both Northern Europe and the Northeast United States. It creeps and sprawls to form carpets of lobed leaves that are densely covered with silver-white fuzz. The leaves are concentrated toward the tips of the stems. Clusters of dull yellow nondescript flowers appear...

(Common Wormwood, Mugwort, Oriental Limelight Mugwort)

This variegated form of the weedy common wormwood has pretty enough golden variegated foliage but is profoundly invasive in the garden and beyond. It is next to impossible to get rid of once it takes hold. Plants aggressively spread via underground stems, called rhizomes, which form large matted colonies—even the smallest rhizome left in the ground will result in a new plant.

Common Wormwood is an herbaceous perennial that originates from areas across Europe, Africa, Asia and arguably northwestern...

(Arum, Cretan Arum)

At first glance of the Cretan arum in bloom, you'd think it was a lemon-scented calla lily. Native to the rocky mountainous hillsides of the Greek island of Crete, and adjacent western Turkey, it prospers in sunnier conditions, unlike many other arums which prefer shade.

The medium green, satiny leaves look like small arrowheads and appear from fall to spring. They die back in summer during the arid heat of the Mediterranean. Any time in spring, flower stems will rise above the leaves. Each bloom...