'Camelot' Digitalis from Goldsmith

Every year the Perennial Plant Association asks its members to vote for their top perennial performer. These industry experts have the inside scoop on the best of the best. How do they choose? According to their guidelines, the plant has to be suitable for a wide range of climate types, easy to grow and provide multiple season interest.

This year’s winner was Firewitch Dianthus. Firewitch produces hot pink blooms all season long. This full sun perennial is great in rock gardens, as an edging plant along pathways or alone in a rock garden.

Here’s what other garden experts picked as their top favorites overall.

•	Lauren Swezey, Special Project Editor, Southern Living magazine: "It's so difficult to name just one! Nurseries are constantly introducing new varieties and so my favorite perennial is constantly changing. I love the new Princess series of dwarf alstroemeria (pink 'Zsa Zsa' and purple 'Julietta'), which is a perennial in our area. And how could anyone not love Dolce 'Peach Melba' and 'Key Lime Pie' heucheras. And a really new favorite is Euphorbia 'Helena' with its fabulous green, cream, and fuchsia pink-variegated foliage and lime-colored flowers."
•	James A. Baggett, Editor, Better Homes & Gardens Special Interest Publications - Perennials and Nature’s Garden: "Garden worthy shade plants tend to make me swoon, and variegated Solomon's seal is no exception. Extremely pretty and graceful, each spring it sends up simple, slightly curved shoots tinted pink and green. Slowly, the shoots stretch into leafy stems with leaves that alternate like stair steps. By late spring, the entire stem dangles tiny, greenish-white, bell-shaped flowers in tassel-like twos from each leaf node. A large stand of Polygonatum x hybridum 'Variegatum' that I transplanted here in Des Moines from my backyard garden in New York City is blooming its head off right now, but I've fallen especially hard for a lovely variegated dwarf Japanese Solomon's seal (Polygonatum humile) that only reaches a few inches in height but is definitely not short on charm."
•	Cathy Wilkinson Barash, President Garden Writers Association Foundation, Freelance writer, photographer, editor, author: "Peonies are a favorite. 'Festiva Maxima', a hybrid from 1851, is the most favorite. Early blooming, fragrant and charming with the occasional red splash on white petals. Peonies are so lush, sensuous, and bodacious. To me, the fragrance, reminiscent of roses, is a prelude to the actual season of roses. Unlike oriental poppies (another favorite), peonies stand up to the heavy spring rains that seem to spill from the skies the moment the flowers are fully open. Not only are peonies beautiful in the garden, they are great cut flowers, and the leaves are handsome in the garden until fall. And the leaves are lovely in arrangements, too."
•	Alecia Troy, Marketing Manager, Goldsmith Seeds: "My favorite perennial is Digitalis. I love it for its height and general presence in the garden. It lends a bit of grandeur to beds and borders,but is still very approachable -- not too uptight looking! The colors are soft and muted and the pattern on the flowers is really lovely. Plus, Digitalis is so versatile - it makes great back-drops in beds, is beautiful in mixed containers and can even be cut and brought indoors to enjoy."
•	Peggy Anne Montgomery, Horticulturalist, Bailey Nurseries: "Geranium Roseanne is my favorite perennial. Unlike some geraniums that look wild in the garden, Roseanne has a nice rounded shape. The blooms are a very pretty violet blue. This color is so easy to combine. It’s great in the front of the border, hanging over a wall or in a container."

What’s your favorite perennial and why? E-mail your answer to yardcare@axiomcom.com.