Some New Perennials for 2014

I'm always anxious to see what new perennial beauties might be waiting for a spot at Wiese Acres.  Each year I hope to find at least a couple new plants to try.  In the past, I've tried to extend my options by "pushing the envelope" a little with plants that are a bit more tender than our zone 4 usually supports.  I've been pretty successful with some zone 5a plants (cold hardy to -20 to -15 degrees F) for a few years, but this year will be the true test. 

After an unrelenting winter of extreme cold (even for North Dakota) and minimal snow cover (an official total of only 25 inches), plants have been tested well.  Each Fall, I leave the old foliage on the gardens so the snow is caught and creates an insulating blanket over the garden.  That served me well this year by keeping all 25 inches of that snow neatly covering the plants.  But, even with that, it was just doggone cold for those poor plants! 

Since it is too early yet to tell which plants might have met their demise with the long periods of below zero temperatures, I'm planning to take the safe route and look for new perennials that are cold hardy to at least zone 4a (-30 to -25 degrees), and maybe even zone 3b (-35 to -30 degrees) if they are more expensive plants.  So, I started my search for perennials hardy to zone 3.

I further refined my search for a zone 3 plant that has a long bloom period and works in hot, dry, sunny locations.  I found one called "Cat's Meow", a Nepeta faassenii, or catmint.  Cat's Meow grows in a nice, compact mound, about 18 to 20 inches tall and about two feet around.  Unlike many other forms of catmint, Cat's Meow stays in that nice, compact shape without trimming.  The blue-green foliage is covered with bluish-purple flowers that are very attractive to bees and hummingbirds.  Another plus for this catmint - deer and rabbits are likely to leave it alone - unless they are very hungry and nothing better is in sight.

Cat's Meow Nepeta (Proven Winners photo)

Another find is Helenium autumnale "Mariachi Siesta", also hardy to zone 3 and good for a hot, sunny location, as long as it gets adequate moisture.  Helenium is commonly known as sneezeweed, but don't let that less than elegant name scare you away from this wonderful garden dweller.  It grows to about 18 inches tall and 24 inches wide.  Introduced in 2012, but only now becoming readily available in garden centers, Mariachi Siesta shows off red petals that have just a hint of blue so it will coordinate nicely with the Cat's Meow Nepeta.  Those petals surround a maroon and gold cone for a striking effect in each flower.  This beauty also flowers from late June to September.  That's hard to beat in a perennial.


 
Mariachi Siesta (Plants Nouveau photo)

 I'm not done searching yet, so I'm sure I'll find more beauties to share.