High Country Gardens Introduces New Garden Plants For 2006

(HIT) - For Spring 2006, High Country Gardens continues its tradition of introducing unique new plants to American gardeners. The new offerings in the 2006 High Country Gardens mailorder catalog include Gladiolus oppositiflorius v. salmoneus (a gladiola from South Africa that's cold hardy to USDA zone 5), the most cold-hardy Agapanthus ever released, and the delightfully diminutive Agave toumeyana v. bella. Also of note is a new preplanned garden called the Xeric Aroma Garden.

High Country Gardens is an award-winning source for native and adapted plants. The nationally recognized catalog specializes in easy-to-grow varieties that thrive in many areas of the country but grow particularly well in the climates of the western United States. High Country Gardens offers a wide range of perennials, ornamental grasses and shrubs, including many water-wise ('xeric') plants that need little or no extra water once established.

To receive a free Spring 2006 catalog, call High Country Gardens at 1-800-925-9387, or order a catalog and/or view the entire catalog online at www.highcountrygardens.com.

	Agapanthus sp. 'Cold Hardy White' #11700

Agapanthus sp. 'Cold Hardy White' (White Flowered African Lily)

Before 'Cold Hardy White,' only gardeners in tropical and subtropical climates could enjoy Agapanthus as permanent specimens in their outdoor gardens. This delightful plant is the latest example of High Country Garden's ongoing quest for cold hardy South African perennials. A vigorous, graceful plant, White Flowered African Lily forms nice clumps of deciduous, strap-like foliage that surrounds numerous heads of pure white flowers in mid-summer. 'Cold Hardy White' is easily grown in full sun or morning sun with afternoon shade in average garden soils. It prefers regular irrigation and will reach 15 inches tall and 12 inches wide. Mulching heavily the first winter will help the plant establish itself and increase its future cold hardiness. Thrives in USDA zones 5-10. $7.99 each in premium 5-inch pots.

	Agastache x rupestris 'Orange Flare' (Licorice Mint Hyssop) #11827

Agastache x rupestris 'Orange Flare' (Licorice Mint Hyssop)

A newly developed hybrid from the High Country Gardens xeric demonstration flower beds, 'Orange Flare' is a backcross between A. rupestris and Agastache x 'Desert Sunrise.' The resulting plant has the same highly fragrant, finely textured gray foliage of rupestris but with much larger, fuller spikes of deeply colored orange flowers. Taking after its other parent, 'Desert Sunrise,' the flowers have exceptionally abundant nectar to attract hummingbirds. Easily grown in well-drained garden soils with plenty of sun, Agastache x rupestris 'Orange Flare' will reach 36 inches tall and 18 inches wide. As an added bonus, this lovely perennial is resistant to browsing deer and rabbits. 'Orange Flare' is cold hardy in zones 5-9. $6.99 each, 3 to 6 plants $6.79 each, 7 or more plants $6.59 each.

	Agave toumeyana v. bella (Miniature Century Plant) #12713

Agave toumeyana v. bella (Miniature Century Plant)

Many years of growing this miniature gem in the test gardens at High Country Gardens in Santa Fe has proved that Agave toumeyana v. bella is a unique gem in a rock garden. However, it was only recently that enough seed was collected of this rare, very cold hardy plant to make it available to the gardening public. The Miniature Century Plant's thin, stiff leaves are edged with white stripes and adorned with curling white threads, which give the small rosettes an appealing tidy appearance. This tiny Agave will reach just four inches tall and five inches wide in full sun and lean, well-drained soils. It is a wonderful companion plant for xeric plants such as Echinocereus and Escobaria cacti species. USDA zones 5-10. $5.99 each, 3 to 6 plants $5.79 each, 7 or more plants $5.59 each.

Gladiolus oppositiflorus v. salmoneus (Wildflower Salmon Gladiolus)

It's no secret that David Salman, chief horticulturist for High Country Gardens, loves cold hardy ornamental perennials from the high altitude areas of South Africa. Gladiolus oppositiflorus v. salmoneus should prove to be among the best of these South African wildflowers with its richly colored blooms, graceful three-foot-tall flowering spikes, statuesque foliage and excellent cold hardiness. Different from the very popular cold-tender domesticated Gladiolus, this unique wildflower species retains the spirit and beauty of its high-mountain home.

Plant in full sun and mulch heavily for winter in zones 5 and 6 the first couple of years to protect the bulbs from extreme cold. Mark their planting spot as the bulbs will be late to wake up after a cold spring growing season. Zones 5-9. Three-year-old blooming plants are available in 5-inch premium pots for $7.99 each, 3 to 6 plants $7.79 each, 7 or more plants $7.59 each.

Rhus trilobata 'Autumn Amber' ('Autumn Amber' Prostrate Sumac)

'Autumn Amber' is a superb prostrate growing form of three leaf sumac originally discovered years ago in the foothills of east-central New Mexico. Blooming in mid-spring with an amazing abundance of chartreuse-colored flowers, the plants have attractive glossy green foliage that turns an amber-yellow in the fall. 'Autumn Amber' grows just 18 inches tall and spreads six to eight feet wide, making it a welcome groundcover alternative to creeping juniper.

This waterwise plant was developed in New Mexico at the Los Lunas USDA-NRCS Plant Materials Center and is available exclusively from High Country Gardens. 'Autumn Amber' grows best in full sun throughout zones 4-8. $8.29 each, 3 to 6 plants $7.99 each, 7 or more plants $7.79 each.

The Xeric Aroma Garden

This perennial garden designed by Scott Ogden and Lauren Springer Ogden exclusively for High Country Gardens brings together the pleasures of scent and color into a single space. By using a combination of fragrant flowers and aromatic plants (that release their pleasing scents when touched or brushed), the Xeric Aroma Garden will grow to create a living potpourri.

The plants of this garden are also wonderfully colorful with flowers in shades of raspberry-red, orange, yellow, blue and pink. Butterflies and hummingbirds love this nectar-rich garden, but the strongly scented foliage and flowers are bitter and unpalatable to deer and rabbits.

Included in the garden are: five plants each of Thymus sp.; four plants each of Teucrium aroanium; three plants each of Lavandula angustifolia 'Sharon Roberts'; two plants each Origanum libanoticum, Zizophora clinopodioides, and Salvia off. 'Minima'; and one plant each of Agastache rupestris, Iris 'Variegata,' Santolina 'Morning Mist' and Salvia x 'Raspberry Delight.' When fully mature, the 22 plants in this preplanned garden fill a rectangular area five feet wide by nine feet long (approx. 45 square feet.).

Plant this garden in a sunny spot with well-drained garden soil of low to average fertility in USDA zones 5-9. The entire garden and planting instructions sells for $118.78.

Stachys inflata (Shrubby Lamb's Ear)

The beauty and unflinching performance in harsh conditions will make Stachys inflata a favorite in your xeriscape. A native of the high mountains of Iran, this small shrublet (just 12 inches tall and 10 inches wide) has bright white stems, pewter gray leaves and numerous spikes of cotton candy pink flowers in early summer.

Planted in full sun in well-drained infertile soil, Stachys inflata makes a wonderful companion plant for English lavender—creating a beautiful flowering duo of pink and blue. Zones 5-9. Exclusively available from High Country Gardens. $5.99 each, 3 to 6 plants $5.79 each, 7 or more plants $5.59 each.