Regional Picks: Plants for Winter’s Worst – Northwest

Northwest

‘Sparkling Burgundy’ pineapple lily(Eucomis comosa‘Sparkling Burgundy’)

USDA Hardiness zones:8 to 11

Size:18 - inch - tall leafage ( with 30 - inch - improbable anthesis root ) and 2 feet panoptic

Conditions : Full Sunday to fond shade ; productive , well - drained grime

Visitors to our garden always notice this South African bulb , especially in early summertime when its merlot - colored leaf emerge . Although ‘ Sparkling Burgundy ’ pineapple lily take care tropical , it ’s definitely intrepid . SomeEucomisspecies are tender or slow to instal , but all form ofE. comosaare honest in our climate . For the darkest leaf vividness , give this perennial a gay spot .

Giant feather grass(Stipa gigantea)

Zones:8 to 11

Size:8 foot tall and 6 feet wide

Conditions : Full Sunday ; poor to average out , well - drained grime

If I had to heel my top five favorite decorative grasses , giant feather grass would certainly make the slash . This nerveless - season supergrass is drouth broad , deer resistant , scurvy maintenance , and cold hardy . Once the dry days of summer commence in westerly Oregon , usually around July 4 , the gullible seed heads on this grass long time to a golden stalk color , which shimmer beautifully in the afternoon sunlight . If the plant ’s vim starts to wane over prison term , just dissever the maturate clumps in late winter .

‘Purple Smoke’ false indigo(Baptisia‘Purple Smoke’)

Zones:3 to 9

Size:4 metrical unit tall and blanket

Conditions : Full sunlight ; skimpy , well - drained soil

Some plants ask rugged honey to look their good , and false indigotin is by all odds one of them . If the ground is too rich or too dampish , it flop right over . pretermit this North American native , however , and you ’ll have dusky purple flowers on stalwart gray - colour stems through most of summer , followed by a shapely shrublike plant with cosmetic pod for the rest of the season . ‘ Purple Smoke ’ sour indigo , like manyBaptisiacultivars , is stalwart to – 40 ° F , the ilk of which have never been determine in our vale . Plus , it ’s deer insubordinate .

Sierra Madre lobelia(Lobelia laxifloravar.angustifolia)

Zones:8 to 10

Size:2 foundation marvelous and wide

Conditions : Full sun ; full-bodied , well - enfeeble grime

I never would have pretend that a works native to the American Southwest would manage our wet winters so well . I love this plant — and so do the hummingbirds and bees . All summertime , Sierra Madre lobelia features a long - lasting show of scarlet flowers without any deadheading . At the finale of the time of year , only cut down it back after the first knockout frost . This is a low-spirited - sustainment , trouble - free flora . But it likes plenteous soil , so be sure to give it a yearly dosage of compost .

pic : Doreen Wynja ; Courtesy of Leonard Foltz ; Steve Aitken ; Michelle Gervais

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Regional Picks: Plants for Winter’s Worst - Northeast

Regional Picks: Plants for Winter’s Worst - Mid-Atlantic

Regional Picks: Plants for Winter’s Worst - Midwest

Regional Picks: Plants for Winter’s Worst - Mountain West

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