• Red Pasque flower or Pulsatilla vulgaris ‘Rubra’ is the official floral emblem of the city of Calgary. This lovely perennial resembles the native prairie crocus (Pulsatilla ludoviciana) and is readily available at garden centres.
  • Throughout history flowers have been assigned various meanings. The iris, for example has represented faith, wisdom, valor and hope.
 

Perennials

Over one thousand varieties and cultivars of herbaceous perennials are represented in the Dorothy Harvie Gardens. From demure hepatica blooming early in the spring to asters and chrysanthemums rounding out the season there is always something in bloom in the growing season. Many guests will come to the gardens specifically to catch the peak bloom of the peony, iris or lily collection, just to name a few. Our team takes particular care to create perennial combinations that will have successive bloom times, textural variety and attractive colour combinations.

More on our collection 

The following perennials are some of our favorite selections:

Japanese anemone, Japanese painted fern, garden mum, cheddar pink, purple coneflower, blanket flower, dwarf cranesbill geranium, mourning widow geranium, Helen’s flower, daylily, coral bells, hosta, bearded iris, Siberian iris, liatris, ligularia, passion campion, ostrich fern, beebalm, Japanese spurge, Ural peony, garden peony, fern leaf peony, Oriental poppy, dwarf fleece-flower, pink snakeweed, smooth beard-tongue, summer phlox, moss phlox, creeping phlox, Jacob’s ladder, creeping Jacob’s ladder, cinquefoil, auricular primrose, ball primrose, oxlip primrose, Himalayan cowslip, cowslip primrose, long-leaved lungwort, lungwort, Pasque flower, ornamental rhubarb, rudbeckia, naked coneflower, Irish/Scotch moss, perennial salvia, meadow sage, autumn stonecrop, orange stonecrop, showy stonecrop.


What is an Herbaceous Perennial?

Herbaceous perennials are those plants that live two or more years, growing and producing bloom over the summer months and then dying back to the ground each fall.  The roots remain viable over the winter allowing the plant to grow again the following spring.  Herbaceous perennials give gardens a dynamic quality as each species will bloom at a slightly different time over the growing season.  Planning for successive bloom is one of the challenges and benefits of using perennials in a landscape.