Walters Gardens, Inc.

The new and distinct cultivar of Echinacea plant named ‘Raspberry Ripple’ producing lightly fragrant inflorescences with nearly horizontal raspberry-pink ray florets and very large disk florets of deep reddish-pink forming a large center pompon. The new plant flowers from mid-summer to late summer, and is suitable as a potted plant, for the landscape, and for cut flower arrangements.

The new and distinct cultivar of Penstemon plant named ‘Dark Amethyst’ with rounded mound with upright heavily-branched peduncles producing dark reddish-purple petals with light purple throats beginning in early summer for about four weeks and repeating in late summer if deadheaded. The lanceolate foliage is bluish-green, and the plant is winter hardy to at least USDA zone 6. The new plant is useful in the landscape as a specimen plant, en masse or container plant, and attractive to hummingbirds.

A new cultivar of Epimedium plant named ‘Little Bo Peep’ characterized by its compact dense habit and semi-evergreen tri-parted foliage with ovate leaflets that develop as light chartreuse with bronze-burgundy blush in the cooler spring and become medium green in the summer. Medium-sized flowers appear on panicles above the foliage starting in late spring with spurs having a light pinkish-purple tips and medium rose-colored centers, and pinkish-purple sepals. ‘Little Bo Peep’ is useful in the garden landscape as a specimen, en mass, or in containers.

A new and distinct plant of ornamental switch grass named Panicum ‘Smoking Gun’ with broad bluish-green foliage that retains it coloration into the fall. The foliage is upright to outwardly pointing with very little arching in the distal portion. The upright and dense culms produce tall plant with broadly-spreading airy panicles becoming tan seed heads that are retained into winter.

A new and distinct Hemerocallis plant named ‘Bright Note’ characterized by winter-hardy compact habit with clean medium-green foliage that goes dormant in the winter. The flowers are fragrant, single, nocturnal, rounded, with overlapping sunny yellow tepals and a green throat. Flowering begins about mid-July with excellent coverage and reliable repeating until hard frost.

A new and distinct hardy perennial Heliopsis plant named ‘Sundial’ with dense, tall, rounded, extensively-branched habit. The foliage is dark green with burgundy highlighted margins and lanceolate to ovate on strong stems. Freely-flowering single to semi-double inflorescences in a capitulum with overlapping rows of ray florets beginning in early July and continuing for about 6 to 8 weeks. The ray florets begin a burnt orangish-red and lighten to golden yellow. The new plant is useful in the landscape en masse, as an accent, in containers or as cut flowers.

The new Shasta daisy plant, Leucanthemum ‘Dream Big’, is a sturdy dense plant with large, dark-green, serrated foliage and stiff stems. The numerous large semi-double inflorescences produce two to three rows of overlapping, horizontal, white, ray florets and a center capitulum with disk florets that are golden yellow. The new plant is useful in the landscape as a long-flowering border, in mass, as accent plants and containerized for patio or indoor use, or as a cut flower.

A new and distinct Hemerocallis plant named ‘Honey Barbeque’ characterized by winter-hardy compact habit with clean medium-green foliage that goes dormant in the winter. The flowers are rounded, fragrant, single, golden with a dark burgundy eye zone and gold throat. Tepals are slightly reflexed near apices lightly undulate on the margins. The new plant flowers on stems up to 39 cm tall with two to four-way branching beginning about early-June and repeating until frost.

A new and distinct hybrid of Heuchera plant named ‘Sultry Night’ has a medium-sized habit with foliage that is moderately-dissected, moderately-wavy, lightly overlapping cordate bases, light marginal undulation, glossy leaf blades of dark purplish-grey with a lighter purplish-red overlay on short petioles. The leaf blades are shallowly dissected at five main lobes with many smaller indentations. The new plant has upright, moderately-dense, branched panicles producing pinkish flower effect. The new plant is useful in the landscape or in containers.

A new and distinct ornamental Big Bluestem Grass Andropogon plant named ‘Blue Steel’ with broad, distally-arching, bluish-green foliage that develops reddish-purple leaf ends about late summer. The upright and dense culms that resist lodging produce medium-height plants with panicles beginning purplish-grey and becoming tan seed heads that are retained into winter. The new plant is useful in the landscape as a specimen or en masse.