81745 PACHYSANDRA TERMINALIS GREEN SHEEN BUX HT $ 4.00 Compact selection with very glossy waxy foliage, slightly reduced in overall size. Choice slowly carpeting selection from Dale Chapman at U. of Conn. An outstanding selection of a most popular workhorse groundcover which flourishes in dificult situations.

70317 PACHYSANDRA TERMINALIS VARIEGATA BUX HT $ 4.25 "Silver-edged Spurge" Ground cover Boxwood cousin very slowly and deliberately forming mats of short stems with leathery toothed leaves bordered white Small white flowered Japanese evergreen. Much slower to increase than the solid green cultivars. Genus means "Thick/fat Man" in reference to width of stamen.

81152 PASSIFLORA INCARNATA PAS HT CGH $ 5.00 "Hardy Passion Flower" Native with yellow edible fruit following the astoundingly beautiful pale lavender flowers with elaborately fringed pink-purple coronas. Please remember that this emerges from the ground very late in the spring unless situated in a warm courtyard: the local name of "Maypop" accurately refers to its tendency to pop up out of the ground in late May. Nonetheless, on chilly springs (like that of '05) the first shoots did not emerge until June (and the first blossoms opened on July 3)--so if you become nervous about waiting for late dormancy breaking plants, best avoid this one! Our clump vigorously vines on up to cover a second story window with ease.

81172 PENNISETUM ALOPECUROIDES MOUDRY GRA HT $ 3.75 Wide deeply arching blades form a highly decorative specimen from which emerge "Jet Black Foxtails" (purple mahogany seed plumes creating constant show on into the first frosts)--still the most popular grass at the nursery as it achieves its most splendid show during that late late summer period when so many other garden vamps have lost their vivid punch. Waist high if planted in rich moist soil; but typically much shorter, depending on soil & moisture levels. This is the incredible show-off on the pathways to the sales area here at the nursery that lights up the area from summer on through the first freezes. {Please note: the dramatic purple African fountain grass species are offered in the TROPICAL plant section}

80842 PENSTEMON HUSKER RED [GLACIALIS] SCR HT $ 5.00 Dramatic evergreen wine-purple foliage beautifully sets off the foot tall inflorescence of ivory flowers produced over several months. Possibly more accurate as P. digitata `Husker Red.'

88772 PERSICARIA MICROCEPHALA RED DRAGON POLYGON HT HH $ 4.50 Beyond marvelous rockery or container perennial: two foot stems emerge from a woody crown displaying saber shaped leaves of rich burgundy, chevroned a vibrant pewter fading to deep emerald edges; fleecy blossoms demurely appear late summer. [Polygonum sphaerostachyum]

81514 PETASITES JAPONICUS VARIEGATUS COMP HT $ 20.00 Showy variegated "Butterbur" with brilliantly splashed rounded leathery leaves emerging after the late winter show of bright lime daisy flowers on low spikes; needs wet feet. As this needs cool climates (especially cool night temperatures) in order to keep such large leaves turgid, the gardner needs to consider whether the climate or the intended garden location of this rather demanding creature will allow it to flourish--in warmer sections of the country a tray of ice cubes thrown on the soil every day at noon will still not suffice. We sometimes send mossed divisions mid-season, as potted plants do not hold up well in our summer heat.

81768 PHLOX SUBULATA TANANANAGALEI POL HT $ 3.25 "Candystripe Creeping Phlox" hybrid with pink flowers margined bright white. Believed to be a seedling of this American native species selected in Tasmania

80863 PHRAGMITES AUSTRALIS AUREA GRA HT $ 15.00 "Golden Carrizo" Variegated clone of "Common Reed" with the glaucous blades striped golden & lime; weeping one-sided panicles of showy purple seeds fading to russet in Fall; thrives in moist clay and full sun; tends to wander. But if if wanders too far you can harvest it because this graceful reed has long been used to control coughing and vomiting, to lower fevers and even used to treat seafood poising! We are not making this up.

88810 PHRAGMITES AUSTRALIS CANDY STRIPE GRA HT $ 15.00 Striking "Pink Banded Pampas Reed" with mint green strap leaves and strong stalks banded and striped with clear white and soft pink. Much treasured by those dedicated to the perpetuation of variegation in all landscapes. As is not a vigorous brute (as is the species form), this treasure is very effective when used as a vertical accent anchored in a barely submerged pot in an aquatic tub on your deck or patio.

80363 PHYLLOSTACHYS BISSETII GRA HT $ 28.00 "David Bisset Bamboo" Giant hardy dramatic species with 1" diameter canes reaching 22'; dark leaves attractively curl at tips. A running species which remains brilliant green here most winters; easier to contain than most its kin.

70895 PHYLLOSTACHYS RUBRAMARGINATA GRA HT $ 22.50 Prolific producer of 1" culms reaching 32 feet; wood used extensively for building and for furniture in China; edible shoots--although we have not tried them; yet surely if too many culms emerge some spring, you need only to add this to your lunch menu or support your local panda and thus keep your grove within appropriate boundaries. This is the impressive grove by the garage on our nursery grounds--We have had only two or three winters in the last twenty years in which this grove lost its green foliage (much to the chagrin of our resident songbirds who love to hang out all winter in the lush foliage held on stalks which defeat any cat's climbing instincts). We try to always maintain a stock of gallon sized plants, so that they can be easily shipped. Ask for larger size prices for pickup at the nursery. Digging this is always a challenge.

81128 PHYSOSTEGIA VIRGINIANA VARIEGATA LAB HT $ 4.25 "Obedient Plant" selection with each rigidly angled leaf neatly margined bright white to beautifully foil the lilac "Dragonhead" flowers. Most emphatic with moist roots in horse compost in full sun. Will not easlily survive any competition from surrounding perennials.

81129 PLANTAGO MAJOR ATROPURPUREA / RUBRIFOLIA PLA HT $ 4.50 "Purple Plantain" Basal rosette of purple leaves a rich dusky tone--cultivated form of the weedy "Cart-track Plant." Non-invasive, this is a favorite color contrast plant for Hosta collectors; much used in British gardening. Buckeye butterfly larvae love to munch this--so can you honestly shirk your duties to the pupae spirits?.

80001 PLEIOBLASTUS AURICOMA [SASA / ARUNDINARIA VIRIDISTRIATA in horticulture] GRA HT $ 6.00 Correct as Pleioblastus auricoma now--but popular long enough in horticulture to have garnered at least three genus names in the basic plant books. Nearly waist-high arched stem present wide downy blades (much larger blades than its kin offered below) suffused with yellow stripes. Easy "Gold Striped Bamboo" perfectly hardy and nearly always evergreen (ever gold?) in Ohio. Beware: this astounding beauty can ramp when planted in rich soil.

80075 PLEIOBLASTUS [SASA] OKINASASA [HORT] GRA HT $ 10.00 "Fanleaf Bamboo" Glorious waist high,tightly spaced shoots of rich green tipped with a terminal congested tufted fan of spear leaves always creating a very ornate focus in the garden--especially as these decorative tips turn bright straw colored in winter. A good pot subject also, often pictured growing in a Cymbidium pot in Japanese plant books.

80855 POLYGONUM CUSPIDATUM COMPACTUM POL HT $ 4.00 Compact "Fleece Flower" or "Japanese Knotweed" Formerly Reynoutria japonica compactum. Very condensed small "Mexican Bamboo" with low arched knobby stems covered with rich rose-red flowers in late summer when these bronzy dusky red clusters are much needed in the garden--that they are also sterile means that thay last longer and, significantly for this species, that seedlings will NOT randomly appear elsewhere in your borders the following season!.

81005 POLYGONUM CUSPIDATUM SPECTABILE POL HT $ 9.75 Curious sophisticatedcultivar of "Japanese Knotweed" or "False Bamboo" producing wide brilliant cream marbled and strikingly frosted leaves. Brookside Gardens released this to us originally as Polygonum `Variegate.' This Reynoutria species produces showy panicles of greenish-white flowers in late summer--but we have never observed any viable seed. The variegation is so intense that the clumps of this Japanese beauty never reaches the proportions of the species form. Keeps the best summer color in high shade although maintains the frosted appearance in full sun if the roots are consistently moist.

81868 POLYGONUM [FALLOPIA] JAPONICUM TRICOLOR POLYG HT HH $ 6.75 Yinger introduced this to our gardens (and we will never be able to forget): a quite remarkable clumping (sometimes wandering) member of the Buckwheats with new growth emerging coral in the spring to reach a five foot stature with leaves boldly splashed white, brilliant pink, bronze-green and emerald much valued for Ikebana. The emerging fat bronzy pink stalks in the spring are among the most astounding sight in the world of decorative horticulture--every year visitors to the gardens here take endless photos of this phenomenon of seemingly giant steroidal hot pink Asparagus stalks spearing up out of the soil. Remember that this is a big boned gal--do not plant this near any delicate modest lass in your beds as 'Tricolor' will win the battle for space. Do we love it? Of course, we love it.

71269 POPULUS CANIDICANS AURORA [HYB] SAL HT $ 8.50 Spring leaves emerge a brilliant yellow gradually fading to a summer green; hybrid of deltoides x nigra resulting in a female form of "Ontario Popular." Seldom variegates in heat of the South; indeed, can fail to variegate even this far north in Ohio if the initial springtime temperatures are too high--especially is night temps are warm. Location. Location. Location. There: truth in advertising. Customers assure us that cutting the trunk(s) down to near ground level mid winter encourages a proliferation of new stems in the spring which are far more likely to show impressive variegation than that produced on older wood. Opinion in advertising.

80986 PRUNELLA [GRANDIFLORA] ANDERSONS VARIEGATE LAB HT $ 4.75 The late Bob Anderson's discovery in the local woods: low attractive foliage liberally splashed ivory and cream as they emerge in spring, gradually fading to creamy lime yellow; long period of soft lavender blossoms on short spikes above the low nearly prostrate foliage. Our introduction of this snow struck native has now become a favorite with gardeners in Europe as well.