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Achillea tomentosa
  • Common name: Woolly Yarrow
  • Zone: 3
  • Exposure: Sun / part shade
  • Height x Width: 6-12 in. x 28 in.
  • Native to: Eurasia

Woolly Yarrow is a low growing evergreen ground cover forming loose clumps of charming, fuzzy grey-green leaves.Clusters of cheerful yellow blossoms pop up in late spring. Attracts bees and butterflies.

Allium cernuum
  • Common name: Nodding Onion
  • Zone: 3
  • Exposure: Sun or Part Shade
  • Height x Width: 12-18" x 12"
  • Native to: Idaho

True to its name, Nodding Onion produces lovely drooping clusters of pale white or purple flowers in mid-summer. Supports butterflies and native bees. Deer resistant. Foliage is evergreen. Firewise.

Alyssum montanum
  • Common name: Mountain Alyssum
  • Zone: 4
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 4 in. x 15 in.
  • Native to: Mediterranean

Mountain Alyssum is one of the earliest of the spring bloomers. Bright right yellow flowers over attractive, low gray-green mats of small oval leaves. Nice for rock gardens, front of borders. Pollinators: bees and butterflies. Can seed out.

Antennaria microphylla
  • Common name: Littleleaf Pussytoes
  • Zone: 2
  • Exposure: Sun / part shade
  • Height x Width: 2" and spreading
  • Native to: Idaho

Littleleaf or Rosy Pussytoes is a very low growing, tight groundcoverwith pinkish “pussytoe” blossoms in late spring. Spreads nicely around garden rocks and thrives in dry sunny areas with poor, well-drained soil. Retains grey-green leaves all winter.

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Arenaria alfacarensis
  • Common name: Spanish Sandwort
  • Zone: 5
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 1/2" x 6"
  • Native to: Spain

Amazingly tight, hard mats of silver-green triangular foliage are sprinkled with tiny white flowers in late spring. A fine and rarely available alpine from Spain. Exquisite rock garden plant, evergreen.

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Arenaria hookeri ssp. desertorum
  • Common name: Hooker’s Desert Sandwort
  • Zone: 4
  • Exposure: Sun/Part shade
  • Height x Width: 1/2" x 3"
  • Native to: WY, UT, CO

Exceptionally tight green cushions with micro-fine needle-like foliage. The buns are covered with dense, flat-topped sprays of white flowers in early summer. Terrific rock garden plant, evergreen.

Arenaria kingii
  • Common name: King's Sandwort
  • Zone: 4
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 8 in. x 10 in.
  • Native to: Idaho

King’s Sandwort:  Long, evergreen, grass-like leaves support a delicate spray of tiny white flowers in spring. Ideal for a rock garden or edging a pathway.

Arenaria montana
  • Common name: Mountain Sandwort
  • Zone: 2
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 4 in. tall and spreading
  • Native to: Europe

Mountain Sandwort is a classy little alpine or rock garden plant. It forms a low evergreen cushion of dark green leaves, bearing loads of large white flowers during the spring and early summer.  Great for edging paths, between flagstones, in walls or rock gardens. Evergreen.

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Armeria maritima
  • Common name: Thrift
  • Zone: 4
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 6 in. x 8 in.
  • Native to: Pacific Northwest US

Thrift has pink globe flowers over mounds of grassy leaves. Deadhead for prolonged bloom. Evergreen foliage. Firewise.

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Delosperma ‘Salmon’
  • Common name: Salmon Iceplant
  • Zone: 5
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 2" and spreading
  • Native to: South Africa

Low carpet of semi-evergreen foliage topped with shocking salmon-colored flowers in late spring. Wonderful addition to any rock garden. Firewise.

Delosperma ‘Lavender Ice’
  • Common name: Lavender Ice Iceplant
  • Zone: 5
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 2” x 12”
  • Native to: South Africa

When this Iceplant is in bloom, the shiny lavender flowers practically knock your eyeballs out! Vigorous and hardy. Firewise.

Delosperma nubigenum
  • Common name: Hardy Iceplant
  • Zone: 4
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 1 in. x 24 in.
  • Native to: South Africa

Hardy Iceplant is a fast-growing, mat-forming succulent, lovely garden accent. Bright yellow daisy-like flowers appear in late- spring. fall. Bright-green knobby leaves turn bright red during the winter. Avoid overwatering and excessive winter moisture. Firewise.

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Dianthus deltoides ‘Flashing Lights’
  • Common name: 'Flashing Lights' Dianthus (Pink)
  • Zone: 3
  • Exposure: Sun/part shade
  • Height x Width: 6 in. x 10 in.
  • Native to: Eurasia

‘Flashing Lights’ Dianthus (Pink): This evergreen dianthus is not pink, but a deep, brilliant red. The mound of narrow, dark green, grassy leaves is attractive year-round. Great for low edging at the front edge of a bed or in a rock garden. Attracts butterflies. Firewise.

 

Dianthus gratianopolitanus ‘Firewitch’
  • Common name: 'Firewitch' Dianthus (Pink)
  • Zone: 3
  • Exposure: Sun / Part shade
  • Height x Width: 8 in. x 18 in.
  • Native to: Eurasia

‘Firewitch’ Dianthus (Pink) is a bouquet of electric magenta flowers with frilly edges over a mound of attractive gray-green foliage. Excellent rock garden plant, or use at the front of a border. Attracts butterflies. Firewise.

 

Edraianthus serbicus
  • Common name: Rock Bells, Grassy Bells
  • Zone: 5
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 3” and spreading
  • Native to: Balkans

Grassy Bells, an ideal rock garden plant with small tufts of grassy leaves covered in bell-like flowers. The blossoms are violet-blue, on short, outspreading stems. Perfect for edging or containers.

Ephedra minima
  • Common name: Dwarf Mormon Tea
  • Zone: 5
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 4 in. x 12 in.
  • Native to: Asia

This is the prostrate form of the native Mormon Tea shrub. Thin stems intertwine on the ground to gradually form a thick, sprawling, evergreen groundcover. In mid-summer dozens of bright red berry-like flowers appear, nestled down in the foliage. From Tibet, rare.

Erigeron compositus
  • Common name: Cutleaf Daisy
  • Zone: 4
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 6 in. x 12 in.
  • Native to: Idaho

Cutleaf Daisy is a vigorous, long-blooming native Fleabane with dissected leaves and bundles of charming white flowers. Excellent for rock gardens or exposed slopes with good drainage.

Erigeron linearis
  • Common name: Desert Yellow Fleabane
  • Zone: 4
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 6 in. x 6 in.
  • Native to: Idaho

Desert Yellow Fleabane is a small native daisy with cheerful yellow flowers in summer. Grows in poor soil with little care.

Erigeron tweedyi
  • Common name: Tweedy's Fleabane
  • Zone: 4 (?)
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 6" x 8"
  • Native to: Idaho

Tidy mounds of delicate lavender flowers with yellow centers. Choice rock garden or edging plant.

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Eriogonum caespitosum
  • Common name: Mat Buckwheat
  • Zone: 4
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 3" x 12"
  • Native to: Idaho

A beautiful mat-forming buckwheat topped with delicate round flowers–pale yellow, fading to pink or orange. Excellent rock garden plants. Supports native bees. Choice!

Eriogonum flavum
  • Common name: Alpine Golden Bucklwheat
  • Zone: 3, 4
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 3" x 6'
  • Native to: Idaho

A compact high elevation Idaho buckwheat with narrow leaves and charming yellow flowers.

Eriogonum kennedyi
  • Common name: Kennedy's Buckwheat
  • Zone: 5
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 1" & spreading
  • Native to: CA

Dense, flat clusters of tiny, woolly, gray-green leaves sending up spikes of airy white flowers in late summer. This gorgeous little Buckwheat is native to the Sierra and Western Great Basin of California. Lovely in a rock garden.

Eriogonum ovalifolium
  • Common name: Cushion Buckwheat
  • Zone: 3-4
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 8" x 12-24"
  • Native to: Idaho

This Buckwheat features white pom-pom like flowers over expanding tuffets on tight gray-green leaves. Choice!

Eriogonum ovalifolium var. ovalifolium
  • Common name: Cushion Buckwheat
  • Zone: 3
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 8” x 12”
  • Native to: Idaho

New! This mat-forming perennial growing naturally in rocky areas. Yellow puff-ball flowers appear in summer with orange highlights later in the year. Gray foliage forms small clumps. Prefers sandy/gravely well- drained soils. Will not survive if overwatered.

Eriogonum sp.
  • Common name: Dwarf Sulfur Buckwheat
  • Zone: 4-5 (?)
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 3" x 10"
  • Native to: Western U.S.

This beautiful little plant appears to be a variety of Sulfur Buckwheat. Its sculpted leaves and diminutive shrubby form make it an outstanding rock garden plant. Blooms earlier than our regular Sulfur Buckwheat.

Heterotheca jonesii
  • Common name: Jones' False Golden Aster
  • Zone: 5
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 1 in. x 10-15 in.
  • Native to: Utah

Jones’ False Golden Aster is a little known dwarf aster from southern Utah. Gradually spreads to form flat mats of gray-green leaves studded with bright yellow daisies all summer. A fantastic rock garden plant, it thrives in the heat requires little moisture and is not invasive.

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Heuchera cylindrica
  • Common name: Coralbells
  • Zone: 3
  • Exposure: Sun / Part shade
  • Height x Width: 18 in. x 12 in.
  • Native to: Idaho

Coralbells has dramatic spikes of cream to white flowers rise from a base of scalloped deep green leaves. Favors rock outcroppings; great in full sun or dry shade. Very long blooming in our Boise garden. Firewise. Choice! More information here.

Heuchera rubescens
  • Common name: Alpine Coralbells
  • Zone: 4
  • Exposure: Sun / Part shade
  • Height x Width: 12-18 in. x 12 in.
  • Native to: Idaho

Alpine or Red Coralbells is another charming native Heuchera, this one with deep red to pink flowers on delicate wands. Great for full sun or dry shade. Sculpted evergreen foliage. Firewise.

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Iberis saxatilis
  • Common name: Perennial Candytuft
  • Zone: 4
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 4” x 12-18"
  • Native to: Mediterranean

Very low growing, evergreen cushion with dark green leaves and large, white flowers in spring that can fade to lilac. Sun, very well-drained soil.

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Melampodium leucanthum
  • Common name: Blackfoot Daisy
  • Zone: 5
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 12” x 18”
  • Native to: SW US

Blackfoot Daisy is a cheerful, informal SW native daisy that, with a little extra water, blooms all summer long. More information here.

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Origanum libanoticum
  • Common name: Hopflower Oregano
  • Zone: 5
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 4 in. and spreading
  • Native to: Mediterreanean

Hopflower Oregano is an outstanding mounding or draping plant, producing hundreds of small lantern-like flowers on wiry stems. Terrific for edging, cascading over walls or filling in between larger plants.

 

Penstemon aridus
  • Common name: Stiffleaf Penstemon
  • Zone: 4?
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 4” x 12”
  • Native to: Idaho

Unusual and rare Penstemon with outstanding landscape value. Low tufts of narrow, dark green leaves persist through the winter then erupt in purple flowers in early spring. Firewise. Choice!

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Penstemon davidsonii v.davidsonii
  • Common name: Davidson’s Penstemon
  • Zone: 3?
  • Exposure: Sun / Part shade
  • Height x Width: 3 in. x 12 in.
  • Native to: Western US

Davidson’s Penstemon is a choice landscape plant with a low, sprawling woody structure that allows it to function like a ground cover. If given some sun protection in winter it will be completely evergreen. Lavender tubular flowers show up in late spring. Likes well-drained soils. Firewise.

 

Penstemon fruticosus, dwarf form
  • Common name: Dwarf Shrubby Penstmon
  • Zone: 4
  • Exposure: Sun / Part shade
  • Height x Width: 6-8 in. x 8-10 in.
  • Native to: (Cultivar of native plant)

Dwarf Shrubby Penstemon is a compact version of the native Shrubby Penstemon and quite similar to Davidson’s Penstemon. Gorgeous lavender flowers in late spring. Evergreen mounds are beautiful in winter. Charming! Firewise.

Penstemon pinifolius
  • Common name: Pineleaf Penstemon
  • Zone: 4
  • Exposure: Sun / Part shade
  • Height x Width: 15 in. x 18 in.
  • Native to: Southwest US

Pineleaf Penstemon has loads of red-orange tubular blooms over expanding clumps of attractive narrow leaves. Stems become woody with age. Evergreen foliage. Firewise. More information here.

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Penstemon virens
  • Common name: Blue Mist Penstemon, Front Range Penstemon
  • Zone: 4
  • Exposure: Sun / part shade
  • Height x Width: 8 in. x 8 in.
  • Native to: Mountain West

Blue Mist Penstemon or Front Range Penstemon is a dwarf penstemon,  native to the plains and foothills of the Eastern Rockies, often growing in large colonies. In late spring, dainty spikes of lavender-blue flowers rise over evergreen rosettes Likes dry, well- drained soil and is well adapted to garden conditions. Firewise.

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Petrophytum caespitosum
  • Common name: Mat Rockspirea
  • Zone: 3
  • Exposure: Sun or Part Shade
  • Height x Width: 2" and spreading
  • Native to: Idaho

Charming slow-growing rock garden plant, it is capable of forming large mats in the wild. Outstanding! Rare!

Pterocephalus depressus
  • Common name: Carpeting Pincushion Flower
  • Zone: 5
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 2" and spreading
  • Native to: Morrocco

Charming, low-growing rock garden plant or small-scale groundcover. Finely cut evergreen foliage creeps across the ground, sprouting pincushion-like mauve flowers in late spring. Attractive seedhead tufts follow.

Scutellaria resinosa
  • Common name: Prairie Skullcap
  • Zone: 4
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 8 in. x 12 in.
  • Native to: West Central US

Prairie Skullcap has neat mounds with tight, upright stems. Stunning deep lavender-blue flowers dotted with white, May through July.

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Sedum grisebachii
  • Common name: Grisebach's Sedum
  • Zone: 5
  • Exposure: Sun
  • Height x Width: 2" and spreading
  • Native to: Mediterranean

This unusual sedum, with tiny leaves packed on short stems, has a bristly appearance and contrasts nicely with other sedums. Great for rock gardens, edging, pathways. Evergreen. Firewise.