Chicago Botanic Garden Spring 2020

chicagobotanic.org 25 Fill your containers with adventure: When planning your con- tainer designs, group plants with similar needs together: sun or shade, drought-tolerant or ones that need moisture. Then go bold: Experi- ment with extreme color combinations. Group plants with contrasting textures. Most of all, have fun. Evaluating plants for your home garden Feel overwhelmed by the choices at your local garden center? Look to the Garden’s Plant Evaluation program to help you choose top-performing plants. e program uses scienti c evaluation in long-term trials to rate plants on their ornamental qualities, cultural adaptability, winter hardiness, and dis- ease and pest resistance. Plant Evaluation manager Richard Hawke has conducted more than 40 trials, including evaluations of anemo- ne, ornamental grasses, hardy gerani- ums, and phlox. For complete plant evaluation notes, go to chicagobotanic. org/collections/ornamental_plant_re- search/plant_evaluation. Here are a few tender salvias that received ve-star ratings: Salvia ‘Amistad’: purple and purple- black, 46 inches tall; bloom time: mid- spring to autumn frost Salvia Mystic Spires Blue™: purple- blue, 37 inches tall; bloom time: mid- spring to autumn frost Salvia elegans ‘Golden Delicious’: dark red, 44 inches tall; golden yellow leaves; bloom time: autumn Salvia Mystic Spires Blue ™