Amanda Thomsen is a landscape designer, project manager, and garden writer. Recently, she opened Aster Gardens in Lemont, Illinois. This neighborhood boutique offers plants, home décor, classes, and events. Amanda brings an irreverent, punk-rock spirit to her horticultural work, so she is the perfect person to help adventurous gardeners to explore some plants with personality. Unusual herbs, hardy cacti, and a foxglove that is not your usual cottage garden suspect all make appearances in this fun episode. 

Here’s Amanda’s personality-packed plant list:  

1. Lovage (Levisticum officinale, Zones 4–8)
2. Rozanne geranium (Geranium ‘Gerwat’, Zones 5–8)
3. Rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium, Zones 3–8)
4. Fernleaf peony (Paeonia tenuifolia, Zones 4–8)
5. Eastern prickly pear (Opuntia humifusa, Zones 4–9)
6. Rusty foxglove (Digitalis ferruginea, Zones 4–8)
7. ‘Forelock’ ornamental onion (Allium ‘Forelock’, Zones 4–8)
8. Bear’s breeches (Acanthus spinosus, Zones 5–9)