DIY Network

Q&A: The Dirt On Unusual Summer Perennials Having "planter's block" trying to come up with something original for your garden? Here are some unusual summer perennials that will fit in with your garden and really make it stand out. From "The Dirt On..." episode DTDO-108

John Whittlesey, owner of Canyon Creek Nursery, specializes in growing unusual summer perennials. He stopped by The Dirt On. . . to give us his top choices for gardeners in a planting rut.

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	Stachys officinalis
	Ornamental oregano

Which perennials are your favorites?

• Agastache spp are easy to grow in well-draining soil with full sun or light shade and they're drought-tolerant. They bloom from June to October and their bright, tubular flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Both the flowers and the leaves are very fragrant when brushed or crushed.
  Varieties: Cana, Pink Panther, Summer Luster, Mexicana, Summer Breeze and Tutti Frutti

• Ornamental oregano will bloom all summer and into fall. It likes well-draining soil and full sun. It grows really well in containers and looks particularly great growing out of a chimney flue. It has sprawling clumps of small, dark green leaves and tiny, violet-red flowers. 'Kent Beauty' is the common variety and it's quite showy. Other varieties: 'Hopley's Purple,' 'Showy Pink' and woolly Oregano.

• Stachys officinalis will tolerate many different conditions. It grows best in partial shade but it's not fussy about soil or water. It will produce attractive, tight clumps of rich green leaves and tubular flowers with thirty-inch stems. This typically blooms from mid June through July.

• Astilbes like moist, well-draining soil. Astilbe tacqueti superba will tolerate more sun than others. It grows to four feet tall and flowers in late summer. Astilbe chinensis pumilla grows as a groundcover. It produces 12 inch spikes of rosy purple flowers in mid July.
  

Good matches for Agastaches include any number of ornamental grasses, yarrows, Salvia, Gaura, Echinacea, and different varieties of lavender.

Ornamental oregano really looks great on its own in a container or alongside any other container plantings.

Stachys look great along a shaded border, planted with columbines and hellebores.

Astilbes will fit right in with coralbells, columbines and hardy geraniums.

GUESTS :

John Whittlesey, owner
Canyon Creek Nursery
www.canyoncreeknursery.com