Four Favorite Plants

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I’ve seen many posts around the garden blogosphere about signature plants. That’s a hard one for me because there are so many plants I like and every year I find a new one that seems to be the best of the best. Picking one plant from the hundreds of thousands of possibilities really seems futile. So rather than talk about signature plants why not just mention some favorites?  These aren’t my most favorite plants, since I’m declining to pick one favorite, but they are definitely plants I think are very worthwhile to plant in the garden!

A Favorite Annual

While I could go with the old standard of coleus (which I plant every year because coleus is cool!) I’m going to mention Persian Shield or Strobinlanthus dyerianus. Its foliage is a blend of green, purple, and silver hues. Here in Tennessee it’s an annual but in areas further south it can be perennial. I’ve been overwinter cuttings of it to plant this spring and they are very ready to see the outdoors again!

A Favorite Perennial

While one of my favorites is salvia and another is ‘Powis Castle’ artemisia I’m going to skip both of those for now and mention one much more common perennial just because it is a favorite in so many beautiful gardens. Rudbeckia is well deserving of that sentiment!  There are so many varieties of rudbeckia (some perennial and some annual) to choose from with a variety of colors.

A Favorite Shrub

I’m really a big fan of beautyberry bushes. In the fall the purple clusters of berries stand out as much as any other plant’s blossoms could. It’s easy to care for, feeds wildlife, looks great, and is very easy to propagate! What more can a plant propagation nut ask for?

A Favorite Tree

For a flowering ornamental tree my favorite is still the ‘Yoshino’ Cherry. It’s a nice shade tree throughout the growing months but very soon it will stand out among all the other flowering trees with beautiful white blossoms. To me, ‘Yoshino’ Cherry trees are the essence of what spring brings pristine, white blossoms that usher in the warmer months. They aren’t the first to bloom, but maybe they are the best!

Garden Blogger Assignment

I bet you have four favorite plants too! Tell us about your four favorite plants by picking one per category and I’ll post a link to your post.  Don’t forget to visit other bloggers who post about their four favorite plants and see what they enjoy.

Completed Assignments:

9 thoughts on “Four Favorite Plants”

  1. Here goes:

    Annual – gotta go with the Coleus especially those that can take more sun since that is pretty much my entire yard

    Perennial – Sedum 'Autumn Fire' is the new leader. Like the flower color more than 'Autumn Joy' and love the multi-season interest

    Shrub – I am a big Viburnum fan and with my wet clay soil they are one of the few that dig it. Hoping with the new red-twig dogwoods on their way they may vault to the front. Anything that gives me winter interest here in NJ is HUGE.

    Tree – River Birch – again the winter interest with the peeling bark and the ability to withstand my conditions

  2. I have to pick Coleus also for the variety and shade or sun types.

    My favorite shrubs would be the Viburnums for their beauty and hardiness, especially Carlesi for fragrance.

    Annuals I have many, geraniums, impatiens, petunias, lobelia

    I love my Chanticleer Pear, very carefree and a beauty all year.

    Eileen

  3. Annual: Texas Sage, salvia coccinea, which is a perennial but not hardy here, so it's an annual for me. Perennial: Fleeceflower. Shrub: Doublefile viburnum, beautiful drapey horizontal shape and gorgeous flowers. Tree: Sourwood (Oxydenrum arboreum). Spectacular.

  4. My favorite annual is impatiens – so trouble-free, so long-lasting, and they reseed! A favorite perennial doesn't come as quickly to mind. I have at least a couple of favorites per season! Guara and speedwell are just two. My favorite shrubs are Hydrangeas and my favorite tree is the dogwood.

  5. Dave, these are great choices, and I know and love them all except the cherry–well, I love it but I don't know that it's hardy here. I go for Makamik flowering crab for flowering tree, though.

    Here are my four faves at the moment:
    annual: heliotrope. Fragrant, purple, awesome bee plant.
    perennial. Echinacea. for the pollinators
    shrub Ilex verticillata, Canada holly
    tree: Metasequoia. Mine is growing like wildfire. Gonna get the gold one this year, I think.

    Those are today's faves. Tomorrow MIGHT be something different, but I doubt it.

  6. Dear Dave : ) This is fun !
    Annual .. I have to say Coleus because it adorns my front step every year and there are so many different kinds to try !
    Perennial .. this is very hard because I love so many .. but I am fascinated by hellebore now that I have a small collection .. even when the flowers die the foliage is beautiful most of the season.
    Shrub .. Summer Wine Ninebark .. it turns the most awesome shade of bugundy in the Autumn : )
    Tree .. well our new one Autumn Brilliance is still very young yet so I might have to say my Pacific Sunset Maple for stunning Autumn colour : )
    This was fun ! Thank you : )
    Joy

  7. Ha! Great idea and great fun, Dave! Here are my faves, and yeesh, is it hard to narrow the list to one of each:

    Annual: Though also tempted to plump for coleus, I'm going with nasturtiums.

    Perennial: Peonies. Form, fragrance, foliage. Even autumn foliage color! Who could ask for anything more? (Except, ahem, flowers that didn't flop over when it rained and foliage that stayed evergreen up here. But we can't all be perfect!)

    Shrub: Blueberry. Four-season interest plus, well, blueberries!

    Tree: Aaarrrgghhh, this is the one that kills me. Sweetgum, sourgum, red maple, white pine, white ash, ginkgo… and the winner is: 'Aconitifolium' Japanese maple, exquisite in all seasons and so brilliant in fall it looks like the sky has caught fire.

    Thanks for hosting this!

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