Premium Annuals

These perennials bloom so well for so long that we describe them as premium annuals.    All will bloom this year. In protected spots, with some winter watering, you might be rewarded with repeat performances for years until a bitterly cold winter comes along!  The tender perennial pot plants wintering in a south window may secure their life for coming years.

Denver Daisy (Rudbeckia “Denver Daisy’) 

Plant Select ‘09! This hybrid was developed  to honor the 150^th Anniversary of the founding of Denver.  Blooming from May into late summer, long golden ray petals with a dark red-brown eye zone surround the brown center.  (As if the butterflies need a bigger target to come for snacks on this 18-28”H by 10-25”W Black-Eyed Susan!)  Plan on cut flower use, there should be enough for you to enjoy indoors and out.  Grow semi dry to moderately watered in amended soils in Sun.  Zone 3-9 rating implies hardiness here but our experience with Rudbeckias is that most do not winter well in either bone-dry soils or under soggy snow drifts.  Try it for the season and if it survives , consider it a bonus!

Zone 3-9     Sun

Silver Dollar Plant (Plectranthus argentatus)

‘99 Plant Select Plush heavily textured silver leaves cover this coleus relative for large pots and planters.  Grow this 24-30”H by 24”W mounding tender perennial for contrast and to blend colors and forms for interest in Sun to Partial Sun.  Rated Zone 8, the first light frost will not kill it but to keep for future summers overwinter in an indoor sunny south window.

Zone 8      Sun to partial sun

Mojave Sage (Salvia pachyphylla)

Plant Select ‘05  Intensely aromatic silver-green foliage sets off the persistent mauve bracts and the accompanying large blue flowers on this woody evergreen western desert native.  Plant in Full Sun in soil with good drainage and enjoy the show from June to hard freeze. The butterflies and hummingbirds will also visit. 18-36”H by 30-36”W, Zone 5/6 we can’t guarantee winter survivability but maybe as a semi-dormant plant in a sunny window of an unheated garage,  yet we have seen it over winter in the ground in Casper.

Zone 5/6      Full sun

Coronado Red’ Agastache (Agastache x ‘Coronado Red’ ‘Pstessene’) 

Plant Select ‘09  This distinct brilliant crimson and maroon spired selection from the northern Colorado Welby Gardens is not only a new color scheme but exhibits a summer-long bloom season providing hummingbird and butterfly food for a much longer season!  No more waiting for the second half of  summer for agastache bloom!  Grow agastache’s in Sun 15-18” H 12-15” W  Zone 5: we don’t know if this one winters well in all of our neighborhoods.

Zone 5      Sun

Red Birds in a Tree (Scrophularia macrantha)

Plant Select® 2008 This xeric penstemon cousin from southwestern uplands is a beauty! From June to frost panicles of bright cherry red tubular bird shaped flowers top 15”-30” tall dark green foliaged stems. Plant width at maturity is 1’-3’. With winter protection it might be back, but for a year plan on heat tolerance and a great display!

Zone 5 - (4?)       Full Sun

Sonoran Sunset  Agastache  (Agastache cana ‘Sinning’ ‘Sonoran Sunset’) 

Plant Select ‘02  This compact 15” H by 12-15” W lavender and rose, large flowered selection is showier than in the species providing more display for you and attractive food for hummingbirds and butterflies from late summer to fall.  Full Sun  Zone 5 but winters in some Casper neighborhoods.

Zone 5      Full sun

Killerton Red African Daisy (Arctotis ‘Killerton Red’)

Dark red flowers with a black eye bloom all summer over furry, silvery foliage on mid-sized plants. The high contrast provided by these beauties really puts some WOW into large pots and planters in hot Sun and windy sites.

Height: 12-15” by Width: 12-15”

’Silver Spoons’ Echevaria  (Echivaria ‘Silver Spoons’)

Put this bluish white, cupped leaved Mexican Hen and Chicks in a pot on your hot, sunny patio table and enjoy!  When frost threatens bring it in to theSunin a south window until it is time to go out to the patio again! 

Height: 6”, Width: 6”

Zone 10

Chocolate Flower (Berlanderiera lyrata)

Plant Select® 2004 Back by popular demand! Many of our customers have missed this great plains native that we decided to offer it again. Light yellow daisy type flowers top the 18” plant. The flowers bear the fragrance of chocolate early in the morning and towards evening! Could it be our customers are addicted to chocolate?

Zone 5       Sun

Sunset Hyssop (Agastache rupestris)

Plant Select® 1997 Sunset orange and lavender flower spikes top gray-green root beer scented foliage from later summer through fall in fairly hot summer settings. This hummingbird and butterfly magnet has a good record of surviving our winters when it is planted in drier mineral soil in spots without reflected warmth in winter. While the usual agastache needs full sun, Sunset tolerates part shade as well. Water needs are relatively low for this xeric plant once established. Height: 18-24” by Width: 18-36”

Zone 4b       Sun

Coronado Hyssop (Agastache aurantiaca)

Plant Select® 2001 An abundance of yellow hooded flowers stained with orange on spikes top this highly aromatic silvery leaved southwestern desert native from midsummer to frost. The size of this hummingbird and butterfly magnet is 2-3’ tall by 3’ wide. Plant in full sun and well drained soil or clay kept on the dry side. Low water need when established.

 Zone 5/6       Sun

Corsican Violet (Viola Corsica)

Plant Select® 2003 Lovely bright purple violet from the Mediterranean with 1” flowers from spring to fall. Tolerates drought but blooms best through summer with supplemental water. The 8” tall by 6-8” wide plants only survive winter in protected spots but moderate seeding occurs in watered beds for a casual wild garden look.

Zone 5/6       Sun to partial shade

 Salvia Furman’s Red (Salvia greggii ‘Furman’s Red’)

Plant Select® 2005 This southwesatern everblooming sage repeatedly covers itself in crimson to scarlet flushes of color on an 18-24” tall by 12-14” wide woody perennial. Expect the show to last from summer into fall but do not expect the Zone 5b plant to over winter. Suitable for bedding, borders and larger containers, quite heat tolerant and moderately xeric. Full sun and relatively low water need.

Zone 5b       Full sun

  ‘Madeline Hill’ Rosemary (Rosemarinus officinalis ‘Madeline Hill’)

This robust upright culinary variety is reported hardy to -15 degrees F! (That is a lot hardier than the variety ‘Arp’.) That means Zone 5 hardiness for in-ground plantings. Form is 3’ tall and 3’ wide. Blooms are Wedgewood blue. Rosemary, whether in pot or ground needs to be sited in sun and to neither dry out nor drown. Soil drainage must be sharp in ground or pot. We are recommending that Wyoming residents attempting outdoor planting plant in sun but not reflected heat and not in the most exposed to wind sites.

Zone 5       Full sun

No matter how drought tolerant these plants are—they still have been grown in a potting mix and not your soil, so for the establishment year plan to water up to 3 times/week. Remember too, to water the surrounding soil. Roots don’t grow into dry soil. During intense heat, it maybe necessary to water even more frequently!

Rain Gauge

Throughout this site, the following are used as guidelines for watering established plants:

These plants need regular watering somewhat like a bluegrass lawn so that they never dry to depth in the root system during the active growing season and need occasional winter watering to prevent root dessication and resultant plant death.

These plants are adapted to intermittent deep watering with soil drying to a depth of a few inches between waterings. Watering frequency may be every couple of weeks during the active growing season and maybe only one winter watering for optimal care.

These truly xeric plants can live with our 12 inches of natural precipitation and only need a winter watering during a multi-year drought but they will thrive with a monthly watering. Overwatering will kill some of these.