Seneca Hill Perennials

Sanguinaria canadensis f. multiplex

The incomparable Double Bloodroot, without which no woodland garden is complete. Pristine white waterlily flowers emerge in spring, the new leaf cupped around the flowering stem. Mature (budded) 1-eye divisions, well-rooted in pots. We have very few available this year, so are limiting orders to 1 per customer.

Sanguisorba menziesii

This is our favorite sanguisorba. If you've grown S. obtusa, Japanese Burnet, you'll recognize this as a close cousin. It has similar pinnate foliage and relatively large bottlebrush flowers, but its growth habit is tidier and its flowers are a handsome red-burgundy rather than pink. Resents dryness, but otherwise tough, undemanding, and long-lived.

Scopolia carniolica, typical maroon-flowered form

A rather remarkable woodland nightshade from central and southeastern Europe. As the plant unfurls in April and May, the bell-like flowers open on wiry drooping pedicels. The outside of the flower is an appealing shade of purplish-maroon, the interior yellow-green

Scopolia carniolica, yellow-flowered form

The pure-yellow-flowered variant of the preceding plant.

Senecio macrospermus

A high Drakensberg native (to 3000m/10,000ft), this has overwintered in our gardens for many years. It forms large clumps of upright to outward-spreading tapered, undivided silvery-grey leaves, which glisten as the sun reflects off myriad small adpressed hairs. In late June, tall flowering stalks produce branched heads of good-sized bright yellow daisies (each around 8cm/2.5in across).

Silphium albiflorum

We are excited to be able to offer this white-flowered silphium from the northern and central plains of Texas, allied to S. laciniatum (Compass Plant) but much shorter and more manageable, and the only white-flowered member of the genus. Our plants are absolutely stunning, with 10-cm/4-in flowers borne on stocky upright stems above leathery, laciniate basal leaves. We are enchanted to find this plant easy to grow here, in an exposed well-drained location with somewhat sandy soil; upstate New York does not much resemble central Texas.

Silphium asteriscus coll. Campbell Co., TN

In the same group as S. integrifolium, this fine border plant is a clump-former with alternate rather than opposite leaves, and the leaf margins can be somehwat jagged (lobed). Our photo is of S. integrifolium, not S. asteriscus. Grown from seed collected in Campbell Co., TN, and we do not yet know which variety of S. asteriscus this is.

Silphium asteriscus var. trifoliatum

This tidy clump-former is an excellent choice for the smaller garden (i.e. one where 4-foot plants can be accomodated but 10-footers cannot). The stems are clad in rough lanceolate leaves, 2 to 4 to a node, and the flowers are displayed rather neatly at the tops. Grown from stock originally collected in Hardin Co., Ky. Our photograph is of the closely-related and very similar S. integrifolium.

Silphium compositum subsp. compositum

We have a handful of plants available of a good cut-leaf form of this engaging US species, and hope to have more in the future. S. compositum subsp. compositum forms basal rosettes of cut leaves above which rise mostly leafless flowering stems that branch towards the top to form a head of small yellow daisies. The species is distributed widely across the southestern US. Photograph copyright Aaron Floden, used with permission.

Silphium laciniatum

The most astonishing of the silphiums, the Compass Plant sends up, from a rosette of deeply-cut basal leaves, massive leaf-clad stems bedecked along the upper several feet with 10cm/4in flowers. I first saw this in a friend's garden where, after a long summer drought, it towered green and golden above the desiccated remains of the rest of the garden (my friend does not irrigate). Aside from being immensely drought-tolerant (a characteristic shared, of course, with many prairie plants) and attractive to butterflies, it is just plain gorgeous.

Silphium perfoliatum var. connatum, red-stemmed selection

This is a special strain of S. perfoliatum var. connatum that we have isolated because of its striking deep red stems (the typical color is green),unusually dark, rugose foliage, and relatively compact and sturdy growth habit. S. perfoliatum var. connatum occurs in Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina, and we find it quite distinctive and horticulturally superior to the taller and ganglier S. perfoliatum var. perfoliatum. The plentiful yellow daisy flowers are followed by nutritious seeds, much loved by goldfinches.

Silphium terebinthinaceum var. pinnatifidum

A major trophy silphium, if you're a silphiumophile. We were thrilled to find a seed source for this one, which is quite rare in the wild. Like Prairie Dock (S. terebinthinaceum var. terebinthinaceum), it forms a basal rosette from which rise naked 10-foot stems bearing typical yellow daisies up there in the sky; unlike Prairie Dock, it has deeply cut rather than entire basal leaves. Grown from stock originally collected in Hardin Co., KY. Shown here growing in Lake County, Indiana. Photo copyright Keith Board, used with permission.

Silphium terebinthinaceum var. terebinthinaceum

We love Pairie Dock. Its huge basal leaves, its high-rise flower stems, and its late bloom time (here, mid to late August) make it a prominent feature in the late-summer garden (in this case, beside the driveway, where we note with pleasure that the naked flowering stems do not obstruct our view of oncoming traffic). It does have a really big footprint, though - don't plant small vulnerable things nearby.

Silphium wasiotense

A late-blooming silphium, native to dry, open sites in Kentucky and Tennessee, the Appalachian rosinweed has been considered rare, but with the recent discovery of several new sites and very large numbers of individuals its survival now seems assured. One of the less flamboyant silphiums, it must be admitted, with sparsely-leaved flowering stems arising from basal rosettes and supporting a few relatively small yellow daisies. Photo copyright Aaron Floden, used with permission.

Spiranthes cernua var. odorata 'Chadd's Ford'
Zone 5 ~ Height: to 40cm/16in ~ Part shade, moist to wet acid soil

An easy-to-grow native orchid, Fragrant Lady's Tresses blooms late in the season with flowering spikes around which the small white flowers spiral upward. In the absence of a heavy freeze these flowers can persist well into October. Try it in a peaty bog garden or in humusy, moisture-retentive soil.

 

Symphytum x uplandicum 'Axminster Gold'
Zone 5 ~ Height: to 1m/39in ~ Sun to part shade, rich well-drained soil

A stunning variegated symphytum with grey-green leaves widely banded in yellow. It has bigger leaves and a much more vigorous growth habit than S. x uplandicum ''Variegatum'. We can never propagate enough of this wonderful plant to meet demand.