Cardinal Flower

Lobelia fulgens 'Queen Victoria'

This regal beauty bears 3 to 4-foot spikes of rich scarlet flowers from summer through fall.  The handsome maroon foliage provides great contrast as specimen plants or for the back of the border garden. Cardinal flowers attract hummingbirds and butterflies and they are good cut flowers.  They prefer moist soil.

Sun: sun - full shade                            Height: 36 - 48 inches 

Blooms: summer                                 Zones: 3 through 9

Hen and Chicks

Sempervivum tectorum

These low-growing, mat forming succulents are classics for the rock garden.  They do well in dry or poor soil.  Kids enjoy the clusters of little “chicks” around parent rosettes in shades of green, red, or a mixture.  They require very little care and are deer resistant.  Sempervivum means “always live” because they are evergreen and tectorum mean “on roofs”.  This can be explained because the plants are indigenous to Europe and were traditionally planted on thatched roofs.  In folklore and in fact they provided protection from lightening induced fires.

Sun: full shade - part shade                  Height: 30 - 36 inches 

                                                           Zones: 3 through 11