Though I have left crape myrtles, ginger lilies, and cannas behind, there are some favorites from the South I could not give up, even if I have to keep them in containers and have them shipped from Louisiana or California. Here are the salvias,ever-blooming and ignored by deer and woodchucks.
This is “Cold Hardy Pink”, reputedly hardy in Zone 5. It is a dry land Gregg salvia from the West and grows in sandy soil.
“Mystic Spires” is a smaller version of “Indigo Spires”, and is one of the few tender salvias I see here in garden centers. It sells fast, and at one store I saw 7 plants surrounded by pink tape, and marked “sold”. Someone knew a good plant.
Here is “Love and Wishes”, one of the “Wish” series that followed “Wendy’s Wish”. Blooming always, and dry soil tolerant- why do the garden stores here ignore it?
Not a salvia,but similar, is Phygelius “Magenta”. I could not make this plant grow in Tennessee, but it is happy here in New Hampshire, though it is tender and likes a container.
Tough, and in bloom most days is the Mexican Petunia,Ruellia brittoniana. Cuttings root easily in water. Here it is in a pot.
Next are two of my favorite Million Bells(Calibrachoa) . They are called “Mini-Famous”.
Lastly- a flower I have never grown before and have only seen in English garden picture books. Canterbury Bells, a biennial I found at Goffstown Ace Hardware. This is the pink one. The blue is not open yet. I put it in a container and not in the garden bed because it dies after bloom and would leave blank dirt that I would have to scramble to patch.
And here is my most precious of seedlings. Chrysopsis villosa, the Prairie Golden Aster. The seed came from Prairie Moon on line. I had this in Nashville. It is made of iron and will bloom in 100 degree dry heat and drought. Small yellow daisies on a three foot plant that blooms from mid summer to frost. Ruth Clausen, in “Essential Perennials” wonders why it is so little known and little grown. Zone 5.
I buy plants from:
Annie’s Annuals- California
Almost Eden-Louisiana
Flowers by the Sea-California
Gardening On Granite 