Joy Creek's Five Easy Plants

Along with writer Kym Pokorny's recent Nursery Destinations: Joy Creek piece in The Oregonian was a series of sidebars. The one titled Joy Creek's Five Easy Plants listed the following plant suggestions for gardeners:

1. Echinacea purpurea, in all its forms. The only way to kill this plant is perhaps give it too much water. (The Joy Creek website lists 'Magnus,' 'Ruby Star,' and 'White Swan.')

2. Sarcococca ruscifolia, glossy evergreen with super-fragrant white flowers. "People have the belief that from the end of October to March nothing is going on in the garden," says Mike Smith. This plant, blooming in February, proves that's not true.

3. Helleborus x hybridus, a perennial with the power to wow in winter. (Numerous options are listed on the Joy Creek website)

4. Clematis 'Polish Spirit,' a large clematis with red-purple flowers that increases rapidly and is very generous of bloom from June to October. Give it some room.

5. Fuchsia 'Old Fashioned,' a hardy fuchsia with carmine sepals and lavender corollas. Once established, it needs water only three to four times a year and "blooms its silly head off," says Maurice Horn.

Image: Sidebar from The Oregonian

© 2007 Joy Creek Nursery