Cool Plants
Gorgeous annuals, perennials, and aquatic plants are arriving weekly. Come take yours home today!
Here are several plants that we have in stock and are looking great in the garden right now. Want to know more about these plants? Visit our plant database.
Penstemon
Penstemon is a western United States native that has colorful tubular flowers on tall spikes. This prairie plant thrives in hot, sunny conditions and is a stunning addition to wildflower plantings. Another common name is beard tongue.
- Light Need: Full Sun
- Plant characteristic: Herbaceous
Mimulus ‘Monkey Flower’
The Magic series is by far the first Monkey Flower to bloom each year, with masses of showy 1¾- to 2-inch blooms in 16 luscious color combinations. The soft, satiny feel of the petals and their wide-open trumpet shape may remind you of Petunias, but the color intensity and markings are more like Pansies!
The key to monkey flowers is soil, which should be kept evenly moist yet very well drained.
- Light Need: Full Sun to part shade
- Plant characteristic: Herbaceous Perennial
Lewisia Cotyledon
Vivid golden foliage on large open plants can be used for contrast and to brighten darker shade gardens. Traditional heart shaped pink flowers dangle from long wands above the leaves. Perfect for woodland gardens and under larger shade trees.
- Light need: Full Sun to Part Shade
- Plant characteristic: Herbaceous
Osmundastrum cinnamomeum “Cinnamon Fern”
Dramatic architectural form and color makes a striking focal point near the edge of water features. Large 4-foot long fronds are blue-green in summer with new growth covered in white hairs. Fertile fronds are a contrasting cinnamon brown.
- Light need: Filtered sun
- Plant characteristic: Herbaceous
Hippuris vulgaris ‘Mare’s Tail’
Common mare’s-tail looks like a robust green bottlebrush growing in patches primarily in the shallow areas of streams, ponds, and lakes or on wet muddy shores when water levels drop. This plant is characterized by unbranched stems, abundant whorled leaves, and inconspicuous flowers. The leaves and stems vary in form depending on whether they are growing underwater or are emergent. The underwater plant portions are limp, flexible, and have very long leaves. Emergent portions are stiff and erect, with short narrow leaves.
- Light need: Full Sun
- Plant characteristic: Herbaceous
Zebra Rush
For those who love the variegation of Zebra Grass, Scirpus tabernaemontani ‘Zebrinus’ offers that same color combination in a rush to complement the other bog and marsh plants in the water garden. Zebra Rush has tapered tubular stems that are horizontally banded with green and white and grows to 30″. It performs best in wet soils and full sun.
- Light need: Full Sun to Partial Shade
- Plant characteristic: Ornamental grass
What is all the fuss about AQUATIC PLANTS?!
Pond plants play a large role in keeping a balance of:
>> shade
>> natural filtration
>> providing oxygen
>> beneficial nutrients
>> prohibiting the growth of algae
🍃 Aquatic plants limit algae 
growth by providing shade that blocks excess sunlight, which limits the photosynthesis of algae.
⛅ The shade also cools down water temperature, offers hiding places to protect aquatic life from predators, and creates a breeding ground for good bacteria to grow.
☘️ Water plants with deep root systems act as a natural filter by trapping dangerous toxic compounds and carbon dioxide before breaking down these pathogens and excess nutrients that feed algal blooms. Then the plants release oxygen back into the pond keeping the water properly aerated.
☀️ Aquatic plants that have high nutrient uptake will be extremely helpful to clear up your pond and help with water clarity.
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