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Ajuga
 - Bugleweed
- Full sun to light shade
- Blooms: Early summer
- Moisture: Average to somewhat moist, allow to dry between watering
- Ajuga establishes and spreads quickly but can also be invasive.
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Achillea
- Common Name: Yarrow
- Light: Full sun
- Soil: Average, well-drained
- Moisture: Average to dry, drought tolerant
- Blooms: Summer
- How to Grow: Yarrows are low-maintenance plants that grow well with little care. Plant them in full sun in average to poor, well-drained soil. Plants tend to "flop" over when the soil is too rich or when they get too much moisture.
- Landscape Uses: Plant yarrows in the formal or informal border with other summer blooming meadow plants such as Echinacea, Rudbeckia, Chrysanthemum, Gaillardia, Platycodon and Monarda. Yarrows are excellent for cutting and drying. Yarrow is also a great plant for attracting butterflies.
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Adenophora (ah-duh-NOFF-ore-uh)
- Common Name: Ladybells
- Light: Full sun to part sun
- Soil: Any good, well-drained
- Moisture: Average
- Blooms: Summer to fall
- Height: 2-3 feet
- Easy to grow (spread with underground runners) but can take over
- Best in informal cottage/wildflower garden
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Agastache (ag-ah-STACK-ee)
- Common Name: Anise hyssop, giant hyssop, hummingbird mint
- Light: Full sun to part sun
- Soil: Average to rich, well-drained
- Moisture: Average to somewhat dry
- Blooms: Mid to late summer
- Agastache makes a great addition to the butterfly and hummingbird garden. It works well with other late blooming perennials such as garden phlox (Phlox paniculata), Japanese anemone, aster, boltonia, rudbeckia, and helianthus.
- Agastache foeniculum, anise hyssop. 2 - 3'. This upright plant has aromatic foliage and purple flowers at the terminals in late summer. It is closely related to mints and catnip. The cultivar 'Blue Fortune' is a reliable, long-flowering, sterile hybrid with blue-lavender flowers and licorice scented foliage. 'Golden Jubilee' has lavender-blue flower spikes over yellow/chartreuse, mint scented foliage.
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Alcea (AL-see-uh)
- Common Name: Hollyhock
- Light: - Full sun to part shade
- Soil: Average to rich, well-drained
- Moisture: Average
- Blooms: Summer
- Alcea rosea, hollyhock. 2 - 8'. Hollyhocks are tall, upright biennials or short-lived perennials. T
- They are often short lived, so be sure to collect seeds or allow them to self sow for a continuous crop. Seedlings transplant easily during their first year and in the spring.
- Plant hollyhock at the back of the border or as a vertical accent in a large perennial bed. They are also great in the cottage garden or along walls and fences.
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Alchemilla (al-keh-MILL-uh)
- Common Name: Lady's mantle
- Light: Light sun to full shade
- Soil: Rich, moist soil (clay tolerant)
- Moisture: Consistently moist
- Blooms: Summer
- 12".
- Lady's mantle is a beautiful, mounding plant with downy, pale-green leaves. Lady's mantle often self-seeds and is best planted as a ground cover or in masses.
- Plant it at the edge of the garden with hardy geraniums, hostas, or dwarf Astilbe. Combine with Siberian Iris, ferns, Ligularia and astilbes, or use as a groundcover in moist gardens under trees and shrubs.
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Allium (AL-ee-um)
- Common Name: Ornamental onion, Chives
- Light: Full sun to part shade
- Soil: Average to rich, well-drained to dry
- Moisture: Average to dry, drought tolerant
- Blooms: Spring, Summer, or Autumn, depending on the variety
- Plant new bulbs in the fall and divide crowded clumps after they are done flowering.
- Landscape Uses: The taller alliums work well with mounding, clump-forming plants such as yarrow (Achillea), hardy geraniums, catmint (Nepeta), or with tall bearded Iris, peonies, and daisies. The larger plants will also serve to hide the yellowing foliage later in the season. Use the shorter alliums as border plants or as accents in the garden with lavender, short purple sedums such as 'Xenox', or silver plants such as lamb's-ears or artemisia.
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Amsonia (am-SOH-nee-uh)
- Common Name: Willow blue star
- Light: Full sun to part shade
- Soil: Average to rich, moist and slightly well-drained
- Moisture: Average to somewhat moist
- Blooms: Early summer
- 24 - 30". Blue star is grown more for its foliage and habit than for its flowers. It has bright green, lance-shaped foliage that turns brilliant gold in the fall. In early summer it produces small clusters of blue, star shaped flowers for about 2 weeks. Plants are long-lived but slow growing and non-invasive, becoming a 2 - 3' clump.
- How to Grow: Amsonia is native to moist woods and banks but is easy to grow in just about any soil in full sun to part sun. It prefers regular moisture and feeding but is also drought tolerant. Propagation can be done by seed or from divisions taken in spring or fall.
- Landscape uses: Use blue star wherever you need an accent in the garden. It works well as a transitional planting along pathways or between the sunny and shady parts of the garden. Plant it as a backdrop to silver or blue plants such as artemisia and scabiosa, or plant it with dark foliage perennials such as Sedum or Heuchera where the yellow fall color will provide a bold accent.
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Anaphalis (uh-NAFF-uh-liss)
- Common Name: Pearly everlasting
- Light: Moderate sun to light shade
- Soil: Rich, moist but well-drained
- Moisture: Average to somewhat moist
- Blooms: Autumn
- Zones: 3 - 8
- 1 - 3'. This Eastern North America native has woolly gray-white leaves and papery white flowers atop tall stems. They grow from underground runners that spread to form dense clumps.
- y. Plants tend to droop and look bad if they dry out too much, so keep them evenly moist while actively growing for best performance. Divide in spring or fall, or propagate by cuttings in early summer. The white flowers are excellent in fresh or dried arrangements.
- Landscape Uses: Pearly everlasting adds a wonderful gray foliage contrast to the moist garden and they look great with other fall blooming plants such as Japanese Anemones and Sedum 'Autumn Joy'.
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Anemone (uh-NEM-oh-nee)
- Common Name: Windflower
- Light: - Full sun to part shade
- Soil: Average to rich, moist but well-drained
- Moisture: Average
- Blooms: Spring or Fall
- Landscape uses: Anemone sylvestris works well as a groundcover. Plant it under shrubs or trees with spring bulbs, ferns, or bleeding hearts (Dicentra). Anemone x hybrida and A. tomentosa work well in the tall shrub border or with other vigorous or sturdy fall plants such as Anaphalis, Boltonia, Asters, sunflowers (Helianthus), ornamental grasses, Sedum, or Aconitum.
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Anthemis (AN-the-miss)
- Common Name: Marguerite
- Light: Full sun to part sun
- Soil: Average, well-drained
- Moisture: Average to dry
- Blooms: Summer
- 18" - 30". These summer blooming plants produce a profusion of yellow flowers high above deep green, feathery foliage.
- Marguerites prefer ordinary to poor, well-drained soil in full sun. If planted in soil that is too rich the flowers will spend most of their time sprawled on the ground. Cut plants back to the ground as the flowers begin to fade to encourage new foliage and a second burst of blooms.
- Landscape uses:Anthemis is a good choice for dry, sunny spots. The bright yellow flowers bloom for over 2 months and look great with purple Salvia, Geraniums, lavender, or balloon flowers (Platycodon).
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Aquilegia (ack-wih-LEE-gee-uh)
- Common Name: Columbine
- Light: - Full sun to part shade
- Soil: Average to rich, well-drained
- Moisture: Average to somewhat dry
- Blooms: Late spring and early summer
- How to Grow: Columbines can be short-lived plants but are easy to grow. They often cross pollinate and self seed readily. Plant them in light, average to rich, moist but well-drained soil in sun to part shade. Plants prefer cool spring temperatures and will bloom longer if kept cool. If leaf miners become a problem it is best to cut down and destroy the foliage.
- Landscape uses: Plant columbine as fillers in the spring landscape so they will pick up where the spring bulbs left off. Plant wild columbine, A. canadensis, in the hosta or fern garden with other spring bloomers such as bluebells (Mertensia) and Trillium. Use taller columbines as accents with shrubby perennials like peonies, Baptisia, or large hardy Geraniums.
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Arabis (AIR-uh-biss)
- Common Name: Rock cress
- Light: Full sun to part shade
- Soil: Average to rich, well-drained
- Moisture: Average to dry
- Blooms: Late spring
- 6" - 10". Arabis forms a low growing mat of gray-green foliage. In the spring it has a profusion of upright clusters of white or pink flowers. 'Snowcap' is a nice white selection.
- Plants will rot if they become too wet and will falter in heavy soils. Cut them back after flowering to keep the foliage looking tidy. Divide every few years if the center dies out, however often they will self seed to stay nice and full.
- Landscape uses: Rock cress is great as a border or rock garden plant with spring bulbs and other spring blooming flowers.
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Armeria (ar-MEE-ree-uh)
- Common Name: Sea pink, thrift
- Light: Full sun to part sun
- Soil: Average to loamy, well-drained
- Moisture: Average to slightly moist in summer, dry in winter
- Blooms: Summer
- Divide plants every few years to keep them vigorous, especially if they die out in the center. If the soil is too rich they won't bloom as well and good winter drainage is essential to prevent rot.Landscape uses: Sea pinks are a nice border or rock garden plant. As their common name suggests they are somewhat salt tolerant. Combine them with dwarf veronicas, lavender, Pulsatilla (pasque flower), Platycodon, Sedum and Scabiosa.
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Artemisia (ar-teh-MEEZ-ee-uh)
- Common Name: Wormwood
- Light: Full sun to part sun
- Soil: Average, well-drained
- Moisture: Average
- Blooms: Summer
- Artemisias are wonderful silver-gray accent plants useful in many different garden settings. Be careful that some of the spreading types don't take over your gardens. Try them with ornamental grasses, shrubs, or with other drought tolerant perennials such as yarrows (Achillea), Echinacea, Rudbeckia, or Yuccas. Artemisia lactiflora 'Guizho' blooms a little later and works great with Japanese anemones and Aconitum (monkshood).
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Aruncus (uh-RUN-kuss)
- Common Name: Goat's beard
- Light: Part sun to full shade
- Soil: Well-aerated, moist, deeply humus rich
- Moisture: Consistently moist
- Blooms: Summer
- Landscape uses: Tall goat's beards can be planted as a specimen or an accent. Plant with shrubs, ornamental grasses, or as a background in the perennial gardens. Use dwarf goat's beard along the border in the shady garden with hostas, toad lilies, tiarellas, and wildflowers.
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