Ron Wilson Plant of the Week
This week’s pick is one of my favorites, growing in the ground or in containers, and right now, she is putting on one heck of a summer show! She happens to be Leucanthemum ‘Becky’, or also known as ‘Becky Shasta Daisy’. Here is a tough and durable perennial, great as a specimen or in mass, with an outstanding show of large white petal flowers with a yellow center on very sturdy stems, excellent for cutting, and flowers for a long period of time (deadheading helps extend that flowering period). Don’t forget to check out many other selections of daisies including Alaska, Banana Cream, Marconi (a double flower), and Snowcap for a lower growing daisy. - Full sun, deer resistant, best in well drained soils, a butterfly pleaser.
Joe Strecker Plant of the Week
Here’s a colorful perennial that has quietly slipped into the scene over the past 2-3 years. It’s Aralia c ‘Sun King’, also known as Japanese spikenard, Mountain asparagus or Udo, and I’m really liking this new perennial on the block…especially for the partially shady locations! This tropical looking golden beauty has compound leaves that can eventually reach up to 24-23” long! (Few hours of sun and the yellow is bright / heavier shade and its more lime green.) Grows 3-5’ high and wide, large clump, extremely hardy, has reddish brown stems, low on the deer list, and fairly easy to grow (prefers loamy evenly moist soils). By the way, in late summer, it produces racemes of small white flowers followed by deep purplish black inedible berries….and yes, the bees love the flowers. Oh, the reason Aralia cordata is called mountain asparagus is that in Japan, the young shoots are a culinary delicacy (tasting like asparagus), the white fleshy roots eaten like parsnips, and the young foliage eaten as a vegetable. I think Sun King is too pretty to be eaten!