Baptisia x bicolor ‘Starlight Paririeblues’ (bap-tease-ee-uh)
Common Name: False Indigo 

If you’ve never grown Baptisia, your garden lacks one of the most distinctive, elegant perennials you’ll find. ‘Starlight Prairieblues’ is a 2007 introduction from the breeding program at the Chicago Botanic Garden, and while the plant exhibits the same overall form as its parent plants (B. australis and B. bracteata), its bicolor blooms and increased vigor leave mom and dad in the dust. The deep violet-lavender buds appear in great abundance in early June, then unfurl into fetching periwinkle-blue blooms tinged with buttery cream at the heels. The flowers contrast beautifully with the plant’s blue-gray leaflets.

Care and Use
Plants grow 3-4’ tall and become a formidable clump much quicker than B. australis. Mature plants will reach 3’ or so in width. Flowering in early to mid-June, the unusual foliage and stout nature keep plants attractive all season. Though usually listed as requiring full sun, plants perform well in light shade, with a minor drop in bloom production. False Indigos are very easy to grow and are rarely affected by pests or disease.

Within a few years, a single plant will serve quite beautifully as a small to medium size shrub in summer and fall. Soil should be rich in organic amendments, with a neutral to slightly alkaline pH. Plants to not do well in sternly acidic soils. False Indigos develop a whopper of a taproot and are very long-lived, so plant ‘Prairieblues’ where you want it the first time. Zones 3-8.

Thuja occidentalis ‘Yellow Ribbon’ (THOO-yah ox-ee-den-TAL-is)
Common Name: Yellow Ribbon Arborvitae

If you’ve hung around the site you know that I started out as an Arborvitae snob, that is to say, I hated them. But what I hated was ‘Techny,” because it was so overused. And in the north, twenty years ago, it was about our only option, that and the old-fashioned ‘Pyramidal.’

Not so today. If you’re looking for a stellar small upright evergreen that really stands out, Yellow Ribbon is your plant. Extremely resistant to winter burn, it retains its golden-yellow tip foliage throughout the year.

Care and Use

As with all arbs, Yellow Ribbon does best in full sun. If you want to shear it a few times a year and keep it tight and formal, full sun is essential. However, I have planted it in areas of light shade from a high tree canopy where plants received only three hours of direct afternoon sun, and plants do very well. Better than a ‘Techny,’ certainly, which when planted in part sun will turn into a thinning, scraggly specimen in five to ten years.

The obvious benefit of the yellow foliage color is one’s ability to contrast it with purple, bronze, green, and blue foliages.

Arborvitae adapt pretty well to most soils, but prefer a soil that has some drainage and enough organic matter to stay moist for several days after watering. I have found over the years that arborvitae like ample water in their first couple of seasons. They become quite drought resistant after they have become established, but would always rather have regular weekly watering.

Plants will eventually hit 8-10’ high with a width of 3-4’. The compact height and width make Yellow Ribbon a stellar addition to foundation plantings. The thing is not going to get so huge in twenty years that it obliterates the front door or blocks half the picture window. It loves being sheared into a tight, formal or semi-formal, slim Christmas tree shape. Shear shortly after you see the first full blush of new growth in late spring. Shear half of this new growth. Shape and shear lightly again in late July. Hardy to Zone 4. 

Astilbe ‘Rise and Shine’  
Sporting very large heads of hot pink blooms atop strong, stiff stems, ‘Rise and Shine’ stands apart from other varieties of the genus. A newer hybrid out of Europe, lineage born of A. chinensis gives the plant a more solid root structure, more vibrant flower color and increased sun and drought tolerance than the straight species.

Thick plumes of 8” pyramidal flowers appear in mid-summer, and combined with the large stems, deep green foliage and overall plant height of 30”the plant exhibits a husky, almost tough-guy presence. At the very least, the other Astilbes in your garden may look a bit sheepish. It’s magnificent in swaths, and here in the north, ‘Rise and Shine’ need not be delegated solely to partial shade service—planted in good garden soil, mulched and kept moderately moist, this is one Astilbe that also can be grown in full sun. Zone 4.

Schizachyrium scoparium‘Blue Heaven’  
The story behind this astoundingly fabulous new variety of Little Bluestem grass begins with one of our state’s greatest natural resources, University of Minnesota Department of Horticultural Science Professor, Dr. Mary Meyers, who, between her roles teaching at the University, developing and coordinating statewide educational programs in environmental and consumer horticulture, writing books, and serving as Interim Director of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, somehow still finds time to do what she loves most: messing around with native and ornamental grasses.

The direct result of her diligence is ‘Blue Heaven,’ a stellar new variety of Little Bluestem correctly viewed by plant experts as the best perennial introduction in the history of the University of Minnesota. The main problem with the standard Little Bluestem is that it flops apart, hardy but lacking an upright, rigid gene or two. ‘Blue Heaven’ grows 40-48” tall and stays that way, exhibiting a much stouter, vertical habit, with better foliage color added for good measure. Blue-grey summer foliage starts hinting at burgundy red by late summer, then blazes burgundy with purple and violet highlights in the fall. White flower plumes appear in August. Full sun, Zone 3.