(Creeping Zinnia)

This wonderful little heat-loving annual is an underused bedding or container ornamental. The creeping zinnia creates a mounded carpet of fine, green foliage that becomes covered with tiny, golden yellow daisies with large black centers. The blooms of this Mexican native appear non-stop from early summer to frost. It is an easy annual that is even easier to grow from seed.

The green foliage is small, oval and densely covers the plant’s prostrate stems. The daisies have short yellow ray petals...

(Creeping Zinnia)

The Starbini creeping zinnia, also dubbed 'Aztekengold', is a dynamic, heat-loving annual ideal as a bedding or container ornamental, but underused. This creeping zinnia selection was developed in Deitingen, Switzerland and forms a sprawling but semi-upright mound of fine, green foliage. The leaves and flowers of Starbini are larger than other creeping zinnia; the bright yellow daisies have green centers that become nearly black. Descended from a species native to Mexico, Starbini flowers non-stop...

(Summer Savory)

The prized culinary herb, summer savory, is a must for herb and kitchen gardens. This annual mint has been cultivated for centuries to flavor food. It is thought to have originated in southeastern Europe, the Mediterranean and western Asia and has a delicious, peppery, herbal taste that compliments eggs, beans, peas, vegetable salads and summer stews. The leaves are a bit milder than the closely related, winter savory (Satureja montana).

Fragrant, lightly fuzzy, narrow leaves line...

(Siberian Squill, Siberian Wood Squill)

Siberian squill is a charming, diminutive bulbous perennial that’s among the earliest of spring-blooming plants. The sweet blue-flowered ephemeral originates from Russia and western Asia and naturalizes readily in wooded areas because it blooms and disappears into dormancy before most deciduous trees and shrubs leaf out to block the sun.

This small bulb appears very early in the spring, just after the snowdrops and winter aconite. Each sends up two to four semi-erect leaves and thin flower...

(Cereal Rye)

Often called "poor man's wheat", the annual grass grain rye is more tolerant of nutrient poor soils and cool summer temperatures, making it a vital foodsource for people in areas of the world where wheat is difficult or impossible to raise to harvest. A tall annual grass native to extreme western and southwestern Asia, it was regarded as a domesticated grain by about 1800 B.C. in the Balkan region. Ironically, rye came into man's favor only after being discovered as a weed growing alongside wheat...

(Autumn Fire Sedum, Hybrid Showy Stonecrop)

This popular garden perennial is beautiful and virtually indestructible if given the right growing conditions. 'Autumn Fire' is valued for its late season of bloom and waxy, succulent green leaves. In late summer to fall, strong, upright stems support broad, rounded clusters of flowers. These are small, numerous, star-shaped and light pink in bud opening to russet rose. Stonecrop are herbaceous, so their foliage dies back in winter, but their dried, brown, upright flower heads may be left to provide...

(Autumn Joy Stonecrop, Hybrid Showy Stonecrop)

Autumn Joy stonecrop is a popular garden perennial because it is beautiful and virtually indestructible, if given the right growing conditions. It is valued for its late season of bloom and waxy, succulent green leaves. In late summer to fall, strong, upright stems support broad, rounded clusters of flowers. These are small, numerous, star-shaped and light pink in bud opening to pale pink to rose. Stonecrop is herbaceous, so its foliage dies back in winter, but the dried, brown, upright flower heads...

(Bertram Anderson Stonecrop, Hybrid Showy Stonecrop)

Smoky purple foliage and a prostrate habit make this succulent an excellent groundcover or rock garden specimen. 'Bertram Anderson' is much like the popular 'Vera Jameson' but nicer. Its densely held, rounded leaves are the size of a small coin and cover spreading stems that form a low mound. New growth has a blue hue and quickly darkens to purple. In climates with cold winters, its leaves will die back, but in warmer climates it's semi-evergreen.

This late season bloomer offers welcome color...

(Cloud Walker Showy Stonecrop, Hybrid Showy Stonecrop)

Lush, large leaved, and spectacular in bloom, this clumping sedum holds its upright vase shape better than most. Bred by Terra Nova Nurseries in Oregon, ‘Thunder Cloud’s heritage is murky due to the long history of cross breeding hardy sedums. The plants develop mounds of upright stems bearing thick leathery leaves in deep green edged with red highlights. Foliage takes on more vivid hues in the fall. With gentle shaping they plants remain tidy, but if allowed to sprawl they may root where stems...

(Elsie's Gold Showy Stonecrop, Hybrid Showy Stonecrop)

Truly spectacular in every way, ‘Elsie’s Gold’ offers a near perfect perennial. Its form, texture and color rescues the late summer garden from doldrums. It was first discovered in New Zealand as a sport of popular Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ and therefore asks for similar conditions in the garden. This beauty bears deeply serrated foliage in cool silvery green with outstanding golden leaf margins that fade to cream by summer’s end. Mounds of upright stems are tidy and less prone to flop, offering...