All perennials have their time in the sun! Just as your early bloomers begin to fade, these beauties take over the spotlight for your summer garden. These were picked for your sunny garden with the belief that they can tolerate poor soil, high wind and just an occasional deep watering.
This outstanding iris is a native of Siberia and is a perfect fit around a water feature, as it needs consistently moist soils. What sets this iris apart from others is the 2- 3 inch velvety violet blue flowers that bloom in June - truly spectacular. At nearly 3 feet tall, this Iris will be a presence onto itself.
Bloom Time
Height
Width
Zone
Watering
Sun
June
24 to 36 inches
15 to 24 inches
3
Full to Part Sun
Size
Cost
1 Gal
$15.00
Daylily
Yes, Daylilies are in the lily family. As the name suggests their bloom is but for a day. Daylilies are easy to grow, colorful and extremely accomodating under Wyoming conditions. Good draining soils are a must for Daylilies, but otherwise they can handle short periods of drought. To get the most blooms from Daylilies make sure they get at least 5 hours of direct sunlight. Consider using daylilies for color in shrub beds, on slopes for erosion control or to blend their naturalizing effect along fences, decks, steps and even statues.
Don't see the Daylily you want? Let us know! We have access to many more cultivars from our daylily growers!
Bama Music Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Bama Music')
New! This is a mid summer bloomer with pale pink flowers with a yellow throat. They are held above attractive dark green, narrow foliage. Great for massing and borders!
Height
Width
Zone
Watering
Sun
28 inches
20 to 30 inches
3
Full Sun
Size
Cost
1 Gal
$15.00
Bela Lugosi Daylily (Hemerocalis 'Bela Lugosi')
New! This award winning daylily is a tribute to the actor that made vampires vogue in the 1930's with the movie 'Dracula'. Its dark purple to almost black flowers with a vivid lime green throat that bloom from June - July, is a tribute Mr Lugosi's performance - this one is a showstopper!
New! Over 4 inch medium pink flowers with a triangular red eye and green throat. Elegant Candy has won numerous awards for its outstanding bloom and fragrance. Blooms in June and July, then after a respite from the heat, blooms once again!
Height
Width
Zone
Watering
Sun
25 inches
18 to 24inches
3
Full sun to part shade
Size
Cost
1 Gal
$15.00
Rosy Returns Daylily (Hemerocalis 'Rosy Returns')
New! This is an outstanding new ever-bearing dwarf daylily with fragrant bright rose flowers, deeper pink eye and yellow throat. Expect the show to start in June and finish by September. Ideal for the front of the border as they only grow to 15" tall.
New! This blooms in midsummer with large 6 inch flowers with deep purple petals that sport a silvery white halo! The throat is lemon-green and the stamens are dark purple. It is a strong, sturdy plant with superior branching and heavy bud count.
Height
Width
Zone
Watering
Sun
28 inches
18 to 24 inches
3
Full Sun
Size
Cost
1 Gal
$15.00
Gateway Joe Pye Weed
(Eupatorium purpuream 'Gateway')
New! This is a 2010 GreatPlants Perennial of the year! A gorgeous, large perennial with wonderful lavender-purple blooms. With beautiful wine red stems that develop large green leaves, it is a definite attractor of butterflies and bees but not deer! A great contrast plant with ornamental grasses. This one is not xeric, it likes to be watered similiar to a blue grass lawn.
Bloom Time
Height
Width
Zone
Watering
Sun
June
4 to 5 feet
2 feet
4
Full to Part Sun
Size
Cost
Premium
$8.00
Golden Storksbill (Erodium chrysanthum)
New! Plant Select 2011, fragrant soft yellow flowers over silvery mounds of evergreen foliage make this a lovely contrast plant for the border of perennial beds or in the rock garden.The biggest show of flowers is late spring with some reblooming thereafter.
Bloom Time
Height
Width
Zone
Watering
Sun
Late Spring
10 inches
12 inches
4
Full Sun
Size
Cost
1 Gallon
$15.00
Penstemons
Penstemons are wonderful natives and hybrids of all sizes with a wide range of bloom times for the water-wise garden or your patch of prairie! From white thru purple and from pale pastel to fully saturated hues, flowers are usually borne along stalks above basal foliage. Size ranges from tiny rock garden gems with grass-like foliage thru wild snapdragons with pink blooms on the top 3 feet of 5 foot tall stems! Keep yourself and hummingbirds happy and plant many species of penstemon! The key to Penstemon success is two-fold, do not over water or they will grow floppy or die and second, do not over fertilize. Most will live more years in our mineral soils than in a tended garden bed! You will be rewarded for your restraint. The hands on gardener can dead-head to prolong some species blossoming and add years to the plant’s life.
Husker's Red Penstemon (Penstemon digitalis 'Husker Red')
A thick mound of striking reddish-green foliage with erect stalks carrying open spires of white flowers.
Bloom Time
Height
Width
Zone
Watering
Sun
Spring to Summer
2-3 feet
18-24 inches
4
adaptable
Size
Cost
Premium
$8.00
Pikes Peak PurplePenstemon (P. x mexicale ‘Pikes Peak Purple’)
These Casper tested long-lived perennials covered in scarlet tubular flowers for nearly two months in the summer will be a hit with you and the hummingbirds! Later in the season this somewhat xeric plant will be a dark green mound looking a lot like a miniature evergreen, 8 inches tall.
Bloom Time
Height
Width
Zone
Watering
Sun
Summer
8 inches
4
Full Sun
Size
Cost
Premium
$8.00
1 Gal
$15.00
Red Rocks Penstemon (P. x mexicale ‘Red Rocks’)
Plant Select 1999. Blooms in bright rose all summer. Grows 12 to 15 inches high,mounding 8 to 12 inches wide.
Bloom Time
Height
Width
Zone
Watering
Sun
Summer
12 to 15 inches
8 to 12 inches
4
Full Sun to Part Sun
Size
Cost
Premium
$8.00
1 Gal
$15.00
Shadow Mountain Penstemon (P. x mexicale ‘Shadow Mountain’)
Plant Select 2007. Blooms in a softer luminous lavender-blue with red-purple veining in the white throat.It is a larger presence in the garden at 18-24 inches high by 18 inches wide.
Bloom Time
Height
Width
Zone
Watering
Sun
Early to late summer
18 to 24 inches
18 inches
4
Full Sun to Part Sun
Size
Cost
Premium
$8.00
1 Gal
$15.00
Prince's Plume (Stanleya pinnata)
New! We offer this plant whenever it becomes available - this is native of Wyoming's prairies with spectacular yellow plumes in early to mid summer. This plant is well suited for the xeric garden whether in town or the prairie. Plant in un amended soil and mulch with pea gravel. It will take a couple of seasons to bloom, but once it does it will be a showstopper!
Bloom Time
Height
Width
Zone
Watering
Sun
Early to Midsummer
2 to 3 feet
15 inches
4
Full Sun
Size
Cost
Premium
$8.00
Red Fox Veronica (Veronica spicata "Rotfuchs') New! With it's diminutive size Red Fox is a great choice for the front of the border. The bright fuchsia-pind flowers apperar in early to mid summer and continues the show for 5 weeks! Butterflies love it, deer don't!
Bloom Time
Height
Width
Zone
Watering
Sun
Early to Midsummer
15 inches
15 inches
3
Full Sun
Size
Cost
1 Gal
$15.00
Create garden windbreaks with shrubs, fences, durable perennials, and grasses so that your "Sunny Garden" perennials can thrive through the intensity of summer. Many are tall grass prairie derived and are accustomed to natural shelter from the brunt of wind and continual beating of summer sun. Just match plants by water need and sun level. That is the way to long life and vigor in the garden. Plan the basics now and if need be tweak it next year. Perennials are forgiving!
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.