Totally Tangerine geum blooms for several weeks in late spring and early summer. Here’s it’s planted under a paperbark maple at Newfields. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
A really good guide for what Hoosiers can grow in our gardens comes from the Plant Evaluation Program at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Over the years, the program has issued 41 reports, covering many plants, mostly perennials, but a few shrubs and other woody plants. Some of the plants evaluated include shrub roses (Rosa), coral bells (Heuchera), lungwort (Pulmonaria), goldenrod (Solidago or Euthamia) and hydrangea, most of which have been written about in this column.
Recently CBG released its study of Geum, commonly called avens, an under-used perennial, primarily because most of the varieties on the market are wimpy. Our reluctance to plant this perennial is linked to the weak, seed-sown varieties, such as ‘Mrs. Bradshaw’ and ‘Lady Stratheden’.
“Avens in Great Britain far surpass what’s commercially available in the United States,” wrote Richard Hawke, who heads up the plant evaluation program.
Breeders have been paying attention and over the last few years, have introduced avens worthy of space in our gardens.
Totally Tangerine flower. Photo courtesy PerennialResource.com
Two of them, ‘Sangria’ and Totally Tangerine garnered the highest ranking of five-star ratings in CBG’s evaluation. So did the North American native, Geum triflorum, commonly called prairie smoke because of its plumes.
A thick swath of Totally Tangerine colors the landscape near the museum entrance at Newfields under a paperbark maple (Acer griseum).
Hawke praises the Cocktail Series of geums introduced by Brent Horvath, an Illinois plant breeder, and its red-flowering ‘Sangria’ earned top marks. Others include ‘Mai Tai’ (four stars), which blooms late April to early June.
The only one of these newer ones I’ve seen at garden centers is Totally Tangerine. Some of the Cocktail Series are available at Bluestone Perennials.
Grow avens in full sun or part shade and in an area that does not stay wet in winter. That’s a killer for this plant. Good companions are annual or perennial blue salvias, blue veronicas, amsonia or Japanese aster (Kalimeris incisa ‘Blue Star’). Totally Tangerine blooms from mid to late May into mid July. ‘Sangria’ blooms in June and July. The stems range 18 to 30 inches, making them perfect for cutting for indoor arrangements.
Prairie smoke (Geum triflorum). (C) K. Chayka/Minnesota Wildflowers
Prairie smoke may not be available at garden centers, but there are several online retailers that carry it. It is a prairie plant and may not thrive in our gardens.