‘The Plant Man,’ the self-syndicated gardening column by Steve Jones, marks its seventh year of continuous publication in February 2009.

The weekly column, currently published by 85 newspapers in 33 states across America, focuses on trees, shrubs and groundcover that even ‘green-thumb-challenged’ readers can plant and care for with relative ease.

“Attractive landscaping doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult to maintain,” insists Jones. “And in the current economic climate, some neat, attractive planting in the front yard adds curb-appeal and dramatically enhances the perceived value when you’re ready to sell.”

Each week, ‘The Plant Man’ offers helpful tips and planting suggestions. Quite often, the column includes reader questions that Steve answers in print. “I also make a point of e-mailing back a personal reply,” says Jones, “Because often a reader has a problem that needs a solution right away!”

Steve Jones also hosts a non-profit Web site, www.landsteward.org that includes archived columns as well as other articles and helpful links. Jones has traveled to African nations with the USDA investigating ways to enhance plant production for food, fuel and other uses.

“It’s hard to believe that it’s been seven years,” says Jones. The best part? “Hearing from all those readers who have questions or comments about how much they enjoy reading the column!”

Steve says he plans to keep writing ‘The Plant Man” for many years to come. He can be reached at steve@landsteward.org

As regular readers know, Cheryl and I are strong advocates of native plants because they are less inclined to come with the potential problems sometimes associated with exotic imports.

However, native definitely doesn’t mean dull! In this, the third column on perennials that will give your landscape a unique, colorful sparkle, we’ll take a look at some of our favorite heucheras.

The original, wild heucheras have been found growing for centuries all across the continent from New England to Western Canada and even as far south as Mexico. Most wild heucheras aren’t particularly colorful, but some recently-developed hybrids are spectacular while retaining the sturdy attitude of their wild cousins.

Cheryl and I cannot get enough of the heucheras. With all the new heucheras being developed we seem to be putting clusters of the new introductions in threes all around the garden. If you want easy no-fuss plants, these are the ones. Both novices and seasoned gardeners get hooked on heucheras.

Here are some of our favorites, with appropriately appetizing names…

Heuchera Peach Flambe PPAF

As the name implies, Peach Flambe glows in spring with eye-popping peach-colored leaves with red overtones. The leaves turn a beautiful deep purple with cooler fall weather. Creamy white flowers on 16 inch spikes emerge to give a great summer contrast. Like all heucheras, Peach Flambe is easy to plant and easy to grow. It is great for the low-maintenance landscape, borders, or patio additions.

Heuchera Lime Ricky PPAF

From peaches to limes… This one makes a nice color contrast with Black Elephant ears, Black mondo grass, or any other dark foliage plant. The scalloped leaves have a chartreuse glow in spring, turning lemon-lime in summer and forming a sturdy evergreen mound. The taller sprays of ivory flowers appear in late spring. It attracts butterflies and hummingbirds to the garden.

Heuchera Plum Pudding

I love the evocative names horticulturists come up with! I think this is one of the finest heucheras, The plum-colored, evergreen foliage is outstanding and holds its color well even in full shade. This little perennial is worth growing just for its foliage alone, although the white flowers are striking on the dark plum stems. I should say that Cheryl and I remove the stems and use them for cut flowers, as we consider the flowers detract from the plant, so for us, Plum Pudding does double duty. The plant is more compact than most heucheras and is excellent for use around trees and shrubs.

Heuchera villosa Tiramisu PPAF

The foliage is mainly chartreuse with a brick red coloring originating from the inside and radiating outward. During the summer, the leaves lighten to chartreuse with a light silver overlay. Tiramisu grows 10 inches in height with a spread about 12 to 15 inches, making it useful as a colorful ground cover displaying white blooms in summer. You will want to plant with 3 plants per mass (triangle form) for best display.

Heuchera Sparkling Burgundy

From fruit to puddings to wine! This is a heuchera with beautiful mounds of glowing foliage that deepens to a warm burgundy, hence the name. Its giant six-inch leaves glow all spring and summer. Multi-seasonal interest begins with bright rose burgundy spring foliage and clean white flowers followed by leaf colors that become orange and white veiled as the season progresses to a final summer color of veiled burgundy and olive tones. The evergreen leaves darken in winter to a rich wine-red.

Heucheras are easy perennials to grow and fit nicely in the front of any border, rock garden, or container. They grow most vigorously and have the strongest colors when grown in partial shade (preferably afternoon shade). By the way, heucheras can be grown under Black Walnut trees because they are resistant to the toxin Juglone which the trees emit from their roots.

If you missed the two previous columns with ideas for easy, colorful perennial gardens, you can find them at my Web site, www.landsteward.org

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, or to subscribe to Steve’s free e-mailed newsletter, visit www.landsteward.org

You probably know certain people who are just so easy to get along with. They are popular, colorful characters. They’re great at parties because everyone likes them and they can fit in with just about any company. In fact, they’re very much like Achilleas.

Achillea is one of the easiest perennials to grow and I think it’s a good choice for beginners. Pretty much all it needs is full sun and well-drained soil. It thrives in average to poor soil and is drought tolerant once established. Once the flowers have faded, you can cut the plant back by half and this will probably stimulate a second flush of blooms in late summer.

Here are some Achillea varieties to look out for:

Achillea Moonshine

This is still one of the most popular garden plants today, and for good reason. Achillea ‘Moonshine’ is a good landscape investment because it combines well with almost everything. The bright, canary-yellow blooms are terrific foil for many other colors in your garden including purple, blue and pink.

This is a clump-forming selection that blooms over a long period beginning in early summer. Plants will rebloom if they are cut back after the first round of flowering.

Achillea Paprika

If paprika makes you think spicy and red, you’re on the right track. This Galaxy hybrid selection is known for its large clusters of bright red flowers, and each individual flower in the cluster also has a distinctive yellow eye, kind of like a tiny reverse bullseye.
Plant it where sun gives way to afternoon shade and you’ll slow its natural tendency to fade a bit.

Adding to its good looks is the fern-like deep green foliage. Paprika’s blooms just keep on coming all season long if you deadhead the spent flowers. It does its best in a perennial border where it can enjoy enriched soil and regular watering. It is irresistible to butterflies, too.

Achillea Summer Berries

This Achillea variety is another easy-to-grow perennial favorite and is quite often first year flowering. Summer Berries creates an eye-pleasing mix of fruity colors: salmon-apricot/yellow, cherry-red/apricot, white-pink/cream, two-tone pink, and more. It is a good choice for the border and as a cut flower, fresh or dried, keeping colors bright for months when dried.

Again, you’ll attract a host of butterflies and bees to the garden with this hardy perennial that grows to a height of 28 inches and a spread of about 20 inches. Space the plants about a foot apart in a sunny garden and between June and September you’ll see an unbroken swirl of multiple colors.

Unlike most other Achilleas, the blooms on Summer Berries refuse to fade, even in punishing heat and sunlight.

Achillea millefolium Terra Cotta

Terra Cotta was introduced by the world-famous German horticulturist and perennial breeder Ernst Pagel, so you know it has an admirable pedigree. It is an upright, clumping perennial reaching a mature height of around thirty inches spreading to nearly two feet. It likes full sun and can even do well with very little water in sandy soil with good drainage. You don’t need to fertilize; in fact they have a tendency to become droopy if over fed.

Terra Cotta blooms with multicolored flower heads that range from salmon-peach to pale yellow-orange to terra cotta, all appearing at the same time. It will flower all summer if dead-headed often. The foliage is silvery in color. As an added benefit, they are deer resistant.

You can plant them about two feet apart and they will fill in the first year. You might even want to use it as ground cover and simply mow it off in the fall.

Achilleas are the ideal plants for the gardener with limited experience who might be faced with less-than-perfect soil and daily hours of bright sunlight. But, newbie or expert, it’s hard to go wrong with this perennial favorite.

In future columns, I’ll take a look at more perennials that can make even the most “green thumb challenged” look like master gardeners!

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, or to subscribe to Steve’s free e-mailed newsletter, visit www.landsteward.org

Perennials are the best investment for your garden, coming back year after year, better and more impressive. Here are five slightly unusual perennials that would add a unique personality to your landscape.

Monarda didyma Fireball PP14,235

If you’re looking for a neat little plant that has a wonderfully compact habit and is a heavy bloomer mid-summer with scarlet-red flowers, you need to take a look at Fireball, sometimes known as Bee Balm. I really like the look of the fire-red flowers that bloom from June to August. Fireball spreads quickly and puts on a great show of summer color that attracts butterflies and hummingbirds to your garden.

The aromatic glossy green foliage is highly resistant to mildew and is also deer-resistant. Fireball has a mature height of between one and two feet, prefers moist soil and does fine in full sun, partial sun and shade.

Sedum Autumn Fire PW

Cheryl and I have several varieties of sedum in our garden and we just love them in the fall. Well, this selection is very similar to Autumn Joy, but was selected for its tighter growth habit, thicker foliage, and more brightly colored rosy flowers which are produced from late summer into fall.

Sedum is one of the most popular perennials grown in American gardens because it is very easy to grow and hardy in most areas of the country. Because of its thick, succulent leaves which can store water, sedum is drought tolerant. It should be sited in average to poor soil that is well-drained. Most varieties should be grown in full sun to light shade. If you like to plan a garden that produces relays of color throughout the year, make a note of this one that blooms between August and October.

Salvia East Friesland

I’m a big fan of Salvia in the garden. It is a must-have addition for borders, mass plantings, or just that little nook that needs a splash of color to complete your pallet.

If you’re looking for a summer blooming plant with a show of intense color then this could be a fine addition for your garden. Salvias are easy to grow and perform best in full sun. The almost iridescent color of this salvia is deep-purple.

East Friesland is a heavily flowering over textured leaves with vivid spikes of color, 1 ½ inches long, starting in mid-June.

Walkers Low Cat Mint

Now here is a plant that is not only beautiful and useful in the landscape but is suitable for a wide range of climatic conditions. It is low maintenance, disease and pest resistant.

It has deep lavender-blue flowers that bloom profusely in early summer and then sporadically throughout the growing season. If sheared back after the first flush of bloom, you can expect another significant bloom.

Walkers Low attracts butterflies, hummingbirds and bees. You’ll want to plant in full sun, although it can tolerate afternoon shade. This is a very drought tolerant plant but does need a well drained area.

Aster English Country

Asters are counted among the great garden plants, because many of them hold off blooming until late summer and fall when most garden plants are spent. Plants grow and flower best in full sun and evenly moist soil; they do not like drought.

Bees, butterflies and birds find them attractive and they bloom with an almost iridescent blue from late summer to fall, grow to a height of 20″and are resistant to disease. They make an excellent container plant or in front of the garden feature and look great with ornamental grasses.

I suggest that you look for plants sold in one-gallon containers. They are larger, further along in their growth cycle and will have an expanded root system. Gallon container plants may be a little more expensive initially, but have a better survival rate and will “perform” more quickly. If you have specific questions about any of these perennials, simply drop me a line.

The Plant Man is here to help. Send your questions about trees, shrubs and landscaping to steve@landsteward.org and for resources and additional information, or to subscribe to Steve’s free e-mailed newsletter, visit www.landsteward.org