Sneak Peek 2024

Peek into the future this winter with new varieties from Creek Hill Nursery, formally announced at the January MANTS trade show in Baltimore, Maryland. Available for shipping this spring, these crops can be ordered through your favorite broker, via the Creek Hill shopping cart, or directly by email or phone. Below are a few highlights from this year’s collection.

Hakonechloa 'Lemon Zest'

Think of 'Lemon Zest' as the striped golden version of 'Aureola', with the same thriving habit in the shade and the same waterfall cascade of leaves that tremble in the wind. It’s also the same height and requires the same care but 'Lemon Zest' has the lightest shades of of lemony yellow we’ve seen, sporting a creamy white racing stripe down each blade. You’ll find that the foliage spreads very slowly, dies back in autumn, and returns faithfully in spring. Living up to its common name, Japanese forest grass, this is an excellent choice for shade landscaping.

Baptisia 'Aurora'

Unusual sprays of color drew us to this Baptisia. 'Aurora’s' buds are purple on the bottom and yellow on the top, with the flowers in between airbrushed in a mix of the two. Beyond the blooms, this is a statuesque plant with strong stems. Spires go high, and the foliage stays upright for a very long time. 'Aurora' is a Creek Hill introduction, so the cultivar has all the features we admire in a good Baptisia.

Shipping Now	Cart
NEW PROGRAM (full line)	GO
ECH Double Scoop Watermelon Deluxe 72 14 Trays	GO
POL Hurricane Ridge 50 12 Trays	GO
SAL Feathers Flamingo 72 8 Trays	GO
HEU Forever Midnight 72 6 Trays	GO
ECH Kismet Pink Lemonade 72 6 Trays	GO
ANE Puff Pink 50 4 Trays	GO
ECH Panama Red 72 4 Trays	GO
SAL Dark Matter 72 3 Trays	GO
CEN Silver Swirl 72 2 Trays	GO

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ANE Puff Pink 21 W6,18	GO
BAP Aurora 72 W10	GO
CAR Moon Falls 72 W1	GO
CEN Silver Swirl 21 W19	GO
DIC White Gold 21 W10,15,18	GO
ECH Double Scoop Watermelon Deluxe 21 W6	GO
ECH Kismet Pink Lemonade 21 W12	GO
ECH Panama Red 21 W7	GO
HAK Lemon Zest 21 W5,29	GO
HEU Forever Midnight 21 W12,25	GO
POL Hurricane Ridge 21 W6	GO
SAL Dark Matter 21 W1	GO
SAL Feathers Peacock 21 W9,16	GO
SAL Feathers Peacock 72 W11	GO

Salvia Feather series

Over the past decade, Salvia breeding has presented exciting avenues to explore. Some of that innovation has appeared among the nemorosas. Feathers 'Flamingo' is a good example, with much larger calyxes, a dark hood over a light lavender flower, and lots of stems to produce high spire counts. The foliage also has unusually high serration along the leaf edges.

A sister cultivar to 'Flamingo' is Feathers 'Peacock', a dark blue version of the unusual nemorosa. This isn’t a tight twin but the family resemblance is definitely there. Blossoms are smaller, tighter, and more angular on the spires, and the spires like to lean and wander in the air a little more. When it comes to the foliage…wow. It’s dramatically different, with leaves that are so deeply cut the plant resembles an ornamental thistle.

Standout Variegations

Two new cultivars enter our production line backed by strong pedigrees. First is Echinacea Kismet 'Pink Lemonade'. Kismet is one of the strongest Echinacea series we sell: beefy plants, long lifespans, and classic colors—the pinnacle of Echinacea breeding. 'Pink Lemonade' is the first cultivar to walk on the wild side with bicolor blooms. We think this is a red flower with yellow tipping, but maybe its a yellow flower with a huge red eye.

Polemonium 'Hurricane Ridge' is the other strong entrant. This is the classic Polemonium, well done. Flowers emerge dark blue and mature to a medium tone with the aggressive scallop pattern that is famous among Polemoniums. The plant generates a large mound from a central crown—you just might mistake it for a mini-Boston fern when it is out of flower. A bonus feature: 'Hurricane Ridge' handles longer hours of direct sun more gracefully than the species.

Anemone 'Puff Pink'

We like 'Puff Pink' for its cheeky take on the double Anemone flower. Usually, the petals are flat and spade-like, so doubles surround themselves with a rose-like vibe. Not 'Puff Pink'. Petals are thinner but there are so many of them that the flower comes across as a rosy pink puff ball surrounding a golden ring buried within. It's a new form factor for the genus. The plant itself is very Anemone and grows thigh-high when mature. We hope 'Puff Pink' gets market traction and inspires some exploration into what this novel bloom can do.

Variations on a Theme

'White Gold' forms a tryptic with two other golden Dicentra, 'Ruby Gold' and 'Gold Heart'. Leaves on all three varieties are lime yellow, which helps to brighten the shady spots that Dicentra prefers. Unlike other whites, 'White Gold' is vigorous, keeping up with the pink and red cultivars we sell alongside it. All three maintain their citrus foliage throughout the season.

'Moon Falls' is an extension of the increasingly successful Falls series of Carex. These are unabashedly decor-oriented grasses, small enough to fit in a perennial container as a specimen or line the front border of a landscape. 'Moon Falls' has a broad white stripe down the center of each blade, the opposite of 'Feather Falls', and whereas 'Ribbon Falls' is the tallest variety, 'Moon Falls' is the shortest.

Hydrangea 'Early Evolution'

If you’re looking for peach-colored blossoms in Hydrangeas this year, consider 'Early Evolution'. Peachy pink pigments overlay a base of very light yellow. A second important feature is the teacup nature of the plant. This is a Hydrangea sized down to dimensions akin to a herbaceous perennial.

Two New Echinaceas

'Panama Red' does the same landscape job as 'Cheyenne Spirit' or the PowWow series, but this Echinacea is one single color. Red sits in that zone it shares with orange, and the cone is strikingly dark. A compact Echinacea, it gives landscapes another color choice.

Echinacea Double Scoop Watermelon Deluxe

Deluxe is the operative word in Double Scoop 'Watermelon Deluxe'. Double Echinaceas are notorious among breeders (and bee-lovers) for their difficult-to-pollinate flowers. Deluxe in this case means the Double Scoops keep up with the Renaissance improvements we like so much.