Purple Loosestrife

Purple loosestrife is an erect perennial herb in the loosestrife family, with a square, woody stem and opposite or whorled leaves. Leaves are lance-shaped, stalkless, and heart-shaped or rounded at the base. Loosestrife plants grow from four to ten feet high, depending upon conditions, and produce a showy display of magenta-colored flower spikes throughout much of the summer. Flowers have five to seven petals. Mature plants can have from 30 to 50 stems arising from a single rootstock. This plant could be invasive and needs to be controlled in the area where it is planted. This plant can be found near the pond on the lower path.

Robert Poore Phlox

The name phlox is derived from the Greek word for flame. 'Robert Poore' is a garden phlox cultivar that typically grows in an upright clump to 3-4' tall. Fragrant, tubular flowers with long corolla tubes and five flat petal-like lobes are violet-pink. Individual flowers are densely arranged in large, terminal, pyramidal clusters in summer atop stiff, upright stems which seldom need staking. It is a good fresh cut flower and is a staple of the perennial border. Mixes well with other perennials and provides long summer bloom. Regardless of flower color, garden phlox is attractive to hummingbirds and is a good selection for inclusion in a bird garden. This plant is located in the boulder garden right next to the steps leading down to the barn.

Light-O-Day Hydrangea

Light-O-Day Hydrangea features stunning, pure white variegation on its foliage. Pair that remarkable quality with large, lacecap blossoms and you have a great attention grabber to add to your garden or containers. Light-O-Day's outer ring of flowers is a stunning bright white. The delicate inner blooms are a beautiful blue or soft pink depending on your soil type. New gardeners will find it's an easy-to-grow, show-stopper. Light-O-Day is a compact grower, making it perfect for urban gardens and containers. The unique foliage and blooms add eye-catching brilliance into your garden border. You can find this hydrangea in the entry garden right before entering the main gates.

Clematis Jackmanii

This classic Clematis is considered by many to be the truest and most beautiful of all and has been loved by gardeners for more than 100 years. It is an absolute spectacle of masses of Royal Purple blooms for 4 full months (June through September). This is a Clematis you want to blanket your fences and outbuildings because it eventually reaches 12 to 30 feet high and 4 to 5 feet wide - it is not a plant for the mailbox. The blooms are excellent for cutting - just float them in a bowl of water for a lovely table centerpiece. It is best planted in light (not deep) shade, such as that provided by high canopies of tree branches.

You can view this beauty throughout the garden.

Daylilies

No investment in perennials pays off like one in daylilies. Foliage that looks great all season, flowers in a rainbow of colors, no special care and now, many that reward you with both a spring and fall season of bloom. "Reblooming Daylilies" are just what they claim. Most have a big bloom during regualar daylily season in late spring, and then bloom off and on for the rest of the season, usually with a burst of bloom before fall. But whether yours are the old favorites or the brand new ruffled-up fancy faces, they'll all reward you with a big perennial show for very little care. And since they don't demand absolute full sun, daylilies also let you sneak some of the color back into shady areas, making them one of the best shade perennials.

Pentas

This dark green, lance-shaped, somewhat furry and deeply veined leaves provide a lush backdrop for prolific clusters of never-ending, five-petaled flowers. These may be red, white, lavender, purple, or shades of pink. Some are two-toned. All are extremely attractive to butterflies, and the red and dark pink varieties delight hummingbirds. Depending on the variety, the habit of growth may be upright to about 3 feet, or low and mounding. Full sized pentas are often sprawling, as tall stems will topple over. The flowers are held in terminal clusters and self-deadhead. In warm weather the plant grows fast and stays in bloom constantly. In the Tulsa area they are considered an annual and make wonderful container plants.

Vinca Burgundy Halo

This hale-and-hearty Vinca begins blooming extra-early with big flowers, then just keeps going despite extreme heat, poor soil, and just about any other obstacle Nature throws its way. These bushy plants are a trouble free delight in your sunny garden. You will love these uniform, neat, yet very bushy 10 to 12 inch plants, which stay colorful for months on end. The blooms are two inches across and held wide open, with a large, eye-catching white center (halo) and really does grab your attention. The blooms are held up and out from the fresh, lush foliage, making them a splendid choice for beds, borders, ground cover, and baskets. They even make terrific houseplants during the winter months. If you are a busy gardener with no time to pamper your annuals, this is a MUST plant for your landscape.

Melampodium (Showstar)

Beginning in early summer and continuing through fall, these mound-shaped plants are covered with small, yellow, daisy-like flowers. The vivid green foliage of Melampodium accentuates these evenly-spaced flowers while also providing a dramatic contrast in color. The variety 'Showstar,' which grows 18 to 20 inches in height, has a very tidy form, continuous bloom and versatility as both an edger and focal point in containers. It is one of the easiest flowering annuals to grow. It tolerates hot, dry weather, does not require dead-heading, and is not bothered by deer or rabbits.

Cuphea Rosea (Tiny Mice)

This plant has the most unusual flower - hairy, violet, tubular flowers with purple ends and two brilliant red petals, held on one sided racemes. Its common name, bat-faced cuphea, describes it perfectly since the flower resembles a cartoon character bat. Due to its strange flower shape this plant will be a conversation piece in your garden and since it attracts hummingbirds as well, you will have an added attraction. Since cupheas are a desert plant, you assume it would be drought tolerant, but no, this little beauty, requires full sun and fertile, moist, well-drained soil so it may be easier to grow as a container plant. It will have continuous blossoms most of the summer until frost.

Crapemyrtle

Pink Velour

Nothing can compare in mid summer months to the heat loving Crapemyrtle, especially the 'Whit' Cultivar Crapemyrtle Series. Lagerstroemia indica is the scientific name for the crapemyrtle and Dr Carl Whitcomb has created eight different varieties. Two of his famous cultivars can be seen at the Linnaeus garden - Pink Velour and Red Rocket. Most crapemyrtles are hardy through zone 7, but Dr Whitcomb's creations are hardy through zone 6 (Tulsa zone is 6b). Pink Velour was picked as a "2003 Oklahoma Proven" plant, which proves its hardiness for Oklahoma weather. It has distinct dark wine foliage which peaks in spring and then explodes with shrill pink flowers in mid-summer.

Red Rocket

Red Rocket has cherry red flowers and is the fastest growing "Whit" red and may have more repeat blooms then the famous Dynamite crapemyrtle which was chosen as a "2002 Arkansas Select Plant".

They are deciduous plants and can be grown as a large shrubs or gently pruned into multi-stemmed tree-form plants. The crapemyrtle has become a mainstay in mild-climate landscapes because of its ease of production and cultivation, long-lasting mid summer bloom, range of plant habits from minature potted plant to large tree, and diversity of landscape uses.

White Nancy Dead Nettle

Are you looking for a perennial ground cover that can tolerate any soil type? This little beauty prefers partial shade but will grow in full sun if grown in moist, rich soil. This Old World herb is an ideal filler plant to cut down on weed growth and is an excellent color contrast in borders. Low growing, it produces spotted leaves and white flowers in late spring and spreads by runners and is easy to manage in your flower beds. It perks up a dabble sun area with its wonderful foliage.

Check it out in our boulder area beneath the outside classroom.

Lobelia Techno Blue

Here is an annual that will catch your eye with its low growing habit and lots of flowers. It shows off its stuff from late June through mid August. Grows in sun to partial sun with intense, cobalt blue flowers that have a good mounding and trailing habit and will not melt down in the heat as the old varieties did. This little show stopper can be found in our entry garden and due to its wonderful blue color gives the visitor a cooling feeling.

Red Hummingbird Sage

This easy maintenance perennial attracts butterflies and hummingbirds and is drought tolerant. Its long flowering period lasts from May through frost. Some pinching and pruning may be necessary throughout the long growing season to keep a steady display of flowers. This salvia requires low humidity, excellent drainage, at least half a day of sun and loamy soil.

Known for its toughness and long flowering period, Salvia Greggii makes a valuable addition to any sunny border. You can check it out in our pavilion garden next to the pond.

Hydrangea

Glowing Embers

The popularity of these big, bold plants has grown within the last few years since the new varieties are more hardy and mildew resistant. Hydrangeas should be sited in moist, rich garden soil in partial sun to fairly deep shade. Hydrangeas can be categorized into 4 different types: Mophead, lacecap, Oakleaf and panicle. Both Glowing Embers and Endless Summer are Mophead hydrangeas and can be viewed in our entry garden.

Glowing Embers - This gorgeous ornamental shrub with large, lush crimson flowers is truly and eye catcher. It has a compact habit with coarse, deep green glossy foliage with a pretty red tinge. It is a very easy plant to grow as it is disease and pest-resistant. The flowers start out with a white eye and then fully color to solid crimson red blooms. Blossomes are large, 10-12" across and dry well for winter enjoyment. The bloom season is from early summer through late fall.

Endless Summer

Endless Summer has a height of 3 - 5' and is the first macrophylla type to bloom on both old and new wood for large, colorful flower mops all season long. It is remarkably hardy and more mildew resistant than other varieties. The bloom color is blue but will turn pink in alkaline soils and sometimes both blue and pink blooms can be seen on the same plant.

Cranberry Punch Hardy Hibiscus

This herbaceous hibiscus has 4 - 5" oxblood red flowers with very dark green foliage with red veins and grows as a dense mound 24 to 30" under Central Oklahoma conditions. It is drought tolerant but supplemental watering increases flowering under stressful conditions. Flowers best in full sun. You can't miss the showy display in our pavilion garden. It blooms all season long until late fall and then dies back to the ground until the next spring. What a great surprise in spring to see its rebirth and by the beginning of June those wonderful flower buds appear.

Rose of Sharon

The 10' tall shrub is not actually a rose but is in the Mallow Family and is sometimes called "Shrub Althea". Carl Linnaeus classified Hibiscus syriacus in the 18th century based on a herbarium specimen from Syria to which the species apparently had been imported long ago, since its origins are from India and East Asia. Rose of Sharon comes in many colors - especially white, lilac, and pink. It occurs as a single flower, or as a hybridized double. Blooms first occur in late spring and continue through early fall, making Rose of Sharon one of the few summer-blooming shrubs. Individual blossoms open in early morning, close at night, and usually last less than three days. Regardless of the flower's color, there is almost always an intensely maroon central spot formed by a concentration of pigment at the bases of five large petals. The almost-triangular serrated leaf of Rose of Sharon is semi-glossy dark green and about 3" long. The foliage is also deciduous and goes into a very long resting period and is one of the last shrubs to green up in spring.

Grace Smoketree

Grace Smoketree (Cotinus coggygria x obovatus 'Grace') is an elegant hybrid of the European and North American species. Light red spring foliage matures to rich wine-red leaves. These evolve to a showy mix of orange, red, purple and golds in the fall. Frothy purplish-pink clusters of flowers resemble smoky plumes, adding drama to the landscape in midsummer. Upright and spreading, this low-branched tree develops a rounded head as it reaches about 20 feet in height with a 15 foot spread.

Like all smoke trees, Cotinus 'Grace' is disease free and drought tolerant. It requires full sun and will not grow well in shade. In low light conditions it has a lax habit and will not flower or develop foliage color. Cotinus 'Grace' will grow in a wide range of soils with average fertility. You can locate it at the top of our boulder garden.

Rosa 'Chuckles'

Rosa 'Chuckles' is an everblooming dark pink rose from May to September that does well in mass plantings (grows to three feet tall) and is tolerant of light shade. It is a floribunda rose with single flowers (petal count 5-11) that are 2-3 inches in diameter held in large clusters toward the tips of the canes. For fall and winter interest, bright red fruits hang on through the winter.

It is in full bloom in the boulder garden above the pond.

Meidiland Rose

Pink Meidiland Rose - This is an upright, bushy, three to four foot shrub with a bloom size of about two inches. It is well suited for hedge and barrier planting and is disease and pest resistant. This beautiful shrub rose offers a season-long display of single pink flowers with a showy white center. This is a hardy shrub that will offer color throughout the season and into fall with its orange-red seed hips. If you're looking for a colorful hedge or groundcover, these easy to grow roses are a favorite of many who want beautiful carefree gardens. The Meidiland Rose is your answer to a carefree landscape