Calocephalus ‘Silver Bush’

‘Silver Bush’

During the Christmas holidays this year you’ll notice a new component in a number of our arrangements—‘Silver Bush’. Take one look and I think you’ll see why we were drawn to this unique plant. Normally to get foliage like this for our winter designs we need to bust out the silver spray paint.

‘Sugar Rush Mix’

Sugar Rush erysimum is a plant we keep in the design tool box because it provides great value for our landscaping dollar. This unique British wallflower provides two seasons of interest: it flowers not only in spring but throughout autumn as well. As you can see, we get plenty of blooms—which is especially nice heading into the colder weather, when the hunt begins for hardy color to stave off the winter doldrums. 

Now, time is money and this plant demands very little attention once it’s planted so that’s another plus in our book. Sugar Rush erysimum is tough: in addition to withstanding heavy frost and wintery conditions, it thrives in even the poorest soils. As a dwarf variety it reaches only about a foot high, which is a departure from the norm; sometimes wallflowers get a bit too tall and tip over when they’re in full bloom—no worries here. 

These sweet smelling flower spikes are lush and dense—we use them at the front of the border and alongside pansies in window boxes and containers. They’re neat and uniform, yet they branch out nicely to fill a space. 

‘Sugar Rush Yellow’

We have ‘Sugar Rush Yellow’ and our ‘Sugar Rush Mix’, in fall friendly shades of cream, yellow, red, and purple. Both are available in the 4.5-inch pot.

‘Autumn Colors’

This bicolor rudbeckia was new last year—notice how each flower is a little bit different than all the others. It reminds us of the old I Spy game: every time we look at ‘Autumn Colors’ we spot a shade we hadn’t seen before. So far we’ve counted scarlet, orange, gold, bright yellow, maroon, bronze-red, and brown, but you might see even more. As we move from summer into fall these warm tones make for a nice change of pace in beds that have too many pinks and purples. 

‘Autumn Colors’ grows about 20–24 inches tall, so these are large-size flowers on a mid-size plant and there are lots of them—even more if you deadhead the spent blooms. Their classic form adds texture to a combo; we like to mix this variety with standard black-eyed Susans for some extra interest. Of course, ‘Autumn Colors’ is also a natural choice for mass plantings, especially in wildflower gardens where butterflies and hummingbirds can have at it. 

Other than deadheading ‘Autumn Colors’ is fairly low-maintenance, handling poor soil and even a bit of drought. It also tolerates some shade, though we find that it fares better in full sun. You can expect the blooms to last a long time, and if you cut some rather than simply deadheading they’ll last a long time in a vase as well.

Our ‘Autumn Colors’ rudbeckia is available in the 4.5 and 8-inch pot sizes. Please check the Availability section of our website for a complete list of our other rudbeckia selections in beautiful shades for fall.