Article

Regional Picks: The Experts’ Top Ten Plants – Midwest

By Bobbie Schwartz Fine Gardening - Issue 143

Midwest

 

No. 1

Seven-son flower (Heptacodium miconioides)

USDA Hardiness Zones: 5 to 9

Size: 20 feet tall and 10 feet wide

Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; fertile, well-drained soil

This small tree has delicate white blooms from late summer into early fall, followed by rosy calyces from September to November.

 

2. ‘Ice Dance’ sedge (Carex morrowii ‘Ice Dance’)

Zones: 5 to 9

Size: 12 to 15 inches tall and 12 to 18 inches wide

Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; moist, fertile, well-drained soil

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Diabolo® ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Monlo’)

Zones: 3 to 7

Size: 10 feet tall and 15 feet wide

Conditions: Full sun; moist, fertile, slightly acidic, well-drained soil

 

4. ‘Angelina’ sedum (Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’)

Zones: 6 to 9

Size: 4 to 6 inches tall and up to 2 feet wide

Conditions: Full sun; well-drained soil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Dwarf variegated elkhorn cedar (Thujopsis dolobrata ‘Nana Variegata’)

Zones: 5 to 7

Size: 6 feet tall and 4 feet wide

Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; moist, fertile, well-drained soil

 

6. ‘Pinot Noir’ rose mallow (Hibiscus ‘Pinot Noir’)

Zones: 4 to 9

Size: 2 to 3 feet tall and wide

Conditions: Full sun; moist, well-drained soil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Oso Easy® Paprika rose (Rosa ‘ChewMayTime’)

Zones: 3 to 9

Size: 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide

Conditions: Full sun; moist, well-drained soil

8. ‘Rozanne’ hardy geranium (Geranium ‘Rozanne’)

Zones: 5 to 8

Size: 18 inches tall and 2 feet wide

Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; moist, fertile, well-drained soil

9. ‘Viridis’ cutleaf Japanese maple (Acer palmatum var. dissectum ‘Viridis’)

Zones: 5 to 8

Size: Up to 6 feet tall and 10 feet wide

Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; moist, fertile, well-drained soil

10. ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass (Calamagrostis acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’)

Zones: 5 to 9

Size: 2 to 5 feet tall and 2 to 3 feet wide

Conditions: Full sun to partial shade; moist, well-drained soil

 

Bobbie Schwartz is a certified landscape designer and president of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers. She lives in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

Photos, except where noted: Bill Johnson;  Michelle Gervais; Kerry Ann Moore; author, courtesy of Bobbie Schwartz

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