Spring is the theme to Great Plant Picks of 2015

  • By Gale Fiege Herald Writer
  • Wednesday, February 18, 2015 1:19pm
  • Life

Is it spring already?

It’s sure been looking that way.

After the dormant winter months, most gardeners revel in the first blooms of spring. The “Renaissance Season” brings with it feelings of hope, renewal and challenge.

Spring is the theme of this year’s Great Plant Picks list from the Elisabeth Carey Miller Botanical Garden in Seattle.

Annually revealed during the Northwest Flower and Garden Show, Great Plant Picks is an educational program of the Miller garden. For nearly 15 years, Great Plant Picks has recommended nearly 1,000 plants for Western Washington gardeners.

Our mild, cool climate provides for a long and colorful spring, which stretches from late February into June.

With advice from colleagues, Richie Steffen, curator of the Miller garden, and Rick Peterson, the Great Plant Picks manager, came up with the 2015 list of shrubs and perennial plants that celebrate spring and are brilliant in the months of March, April and May here in the maritime Pacific Northwest.

Of the long list, The Herald picked seven of our favorites to share, along with Peterson’s description of each.

March

1: Yellow Fawn Lily

Erythronium “Pagoda” is a great plant of its type (Erythroniums) for beginners, as it is easy and vigorous. Advanced gardeners love the yellow fawn lily for its timeless beauty. It is a spring ephemeral, meaning the foliage and flowers emerge in early spring, then fade away like some other bulbous plants so that later-emerging perennials can take over and fill the space. Plant yellow fawn lily en masse for a spectacular March show.

2: Variegated Winter Daphne

This shrub has two great attributes — fragrance and lovely variegated foliage. The dainty flowers exclude an intoxicating scent in late winter and early spring amidst the green leaves edged in golden yellow. The evergreen foliage continues to provide interest and great texture all year long.

3: Lily of the Valley Shrub

Another terrific shrub with evergreen foliage is Pieris japonica. In late winter and early spring they are covered with masses of tiny urn-shaped flowers. The selection committee went to a trial of this plant in Oregon, where it proved to be highly resistant to root rot.

April

4: Lady Tulip

There are thousands of tulip cultivars and many are planted, never to return. The lady tulip is a great exception in that it consistently appears every spring for many years. The unique red and white striped flowers are quite a sight atop the glaucous gray-green foliage. Tulipa clusiana spreads by underground roots to form charming colonies.

5: Alpine Clematis

The alpine clematis are a group of vines which have nodding, columbine-like flowers in varying shades of purple, pink, and rose. They are easy to grow, non-aggressive and smaller (shorter vines) – perfect today’s urban landscape.

May

6: Wood Anemone

White, purple or pink flowers adorn this low-growing and spreading evanescent perennial. The fern-like leaves appear first and are topped by the daisy-shaped flowers. By early summer it’s gone.

7: Vulcan hybrid rhody

Rhododendrons are symbol of the Pacific Northwest; indeed, it is the state flower of Washington. Rhododendron “Vulcan,” with its stunning red flowers, is one of the last rhododendrons to bloom in spring and is sun and heat tolerant.

More information about the program is available at www.greatplantpicks.org.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.