Notable Additions to Our 2021 Program
Every year we introduce over 50 new cultivars to our active production. Each one has a good reason behind it, but several cultivars stand head-and-shoulders above the rest. Here’s a quick rundown of our most interesting additions. These plants can be ordered through your favorite broker or through the Creek Hill shopping cart. We also accept orders directly via email or phone.
Ajuga ‘Princess Nadia’
As Ajugas go, ‘Princess Nadia’ is the complete package. The category has several interesting features: variegation, beautiful flowers, slow growth, a moundy habit, and a nice mat. Other Ajugas possess one or two of these features, but ‘Princess Nadia’ gathers them all together into a complete package. Ajuga used to be a snoozy group of plants, but not anymore. We go into detail on ‘Princess Nadia’ in one of our INFO Sheets (Click here) and the catalog does a round-up of the interesting cultivars we offer.
Dwarf Echinaceas
Originally, ‘Hot Coral’ was a standard Sombrero but it happened to be shorter than the rest. Darwin Perennials has paired that color with a yellow version and relaunched the two as their new Sombrero Poco line of dwarf Echinaceas. The flowers are the same as the standard Sombrero, but the plant itself grows lower and has a shorter bloom time than the full line.
Buddleia ‘Butterfly Gold’
Probably the best version on the market, ‘Butterfly Gold’ has boldly variegated leaves that you can see from a long distance. They emerge golden-yellow in the spring and mature to a milky white for the rest of the season. Our INFO Sheet (Click here) goes into the details.
Three Faces of Rudbeckia ‘Sahara’
We consider ‘Sahara’ a Rudbeckia mix in the same way that ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ is a mix of three Echinacea colors. In this case, the colors run the gamut from dark red to light yellow, and the forms range from singles to semis and doubles. It shares the same harvest color tones as ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ so it makes a good companion for Autumn perennial sales.
Epimedium ‘Spine Tingler’
The selling feature of ‘Spine Tingler’ is the spray of yellow star-like flowers shaped like jesters’ hats, but its defining trait is its unusual leaves. They look prickly but they aren’t, and they have a lance shape that is not often seen. Epimediums are famous for their excellent performance in the dry shade under trees, so they make a good groundcover where the grass doesn’t grow.
Bright White & Really Red
Part of a dynamic duo, ‘Arctic White’ is probably the best of the webbed whites that we sell. The webbing lasts the longest before it goes into its rest, and the white is among the clearest that we have found. We go through the details of the pair in our INFO Sheet (Click Here).
In a genus that likes to change colors with the seasons we can say that ‘Coral Red’ stays reliably red. The color wanders between a muted red and a bright red, but it will stay red as long as you plant it in full sun. That’s the secret with ‘Coral Red’—it needs to toast in the sun. Under full shade it reverts back to a ruddy green.
Eryngium ‘Big Blue’
Florists are more familiar with ‘Big Blue’ than gardeners because of its large, showy, and long-lasting blooms, and that's a shame. It happens to be a really good perennial, especially when grown out as a specimen or planted in a stand. The flowers are so unusual and the blue is so blue that it truly belongs in the garden as a showpiece.
Two Unusual Blues
‘Cloud Nine’ has two unusual features for a Cranesbill. First, the blossom has a very light lavender tint that occasionally veers over to robin’s egg blue. Second, it is a double, a form not often seen among perennial Geraniums.
The blue of this Corydalis is haunting. Photos don’t do justice to ‘Porcelain Blue’. It’s one of those plants that needs to be seen in person. Corydalis forms small mounds and puts off long tendrils with cascades of thin blue trumpets.
